#so i think their gameplay is slowly clicking with me

[maranull]

Songbirds and Little Gems are stealth weapons. Mmhm.

[iamsuckateverythingtobehonest]

Between The Wall

Pairing: Sagau!Aether x Reader

Summary: Aether finds solace in the voice, he once hated and now loves.

!Warning!: First Time Writing, might be bad!

Part 2/3

"—Argh...! Stop it, Aether!" you scream in frustration, putting down your phone on the bed with an annoyed face.

it's been a few weeks since you started to play Genshin Impact after being tempted by your schoolmate to download the game. They already told you the gist of what you should know before starting the game itself.

But, they never mention about this game has the main character a self-aware implement into their character.

At first you notice the way Aether's face scrunched up in discomfort after the prologue. It makes you creep out but then you remember that your schoolmate has told you about a few of their self-aware elements, though they just told you about their reaction when you cancel their movements by jumping.

You assumed that your schoolmate probably wants you to experience it by yourself which is nice but a head up would be great too.

"Gacha game? more like a horror game." you snicker as you continue to play on your phone.

As time goes on, Aether's 'behavior' becomes worse. From making a lot of negative responses to you controlling him, now he even tries to defy your control over him by doing the opposite of what you want from him from time to time.

"Aether, you little shit! Stop swimming in a circle and go back to the shore repeatedly!" you shook your phone like crazy, and there was a small smile curled on Aether's face making your anger flame harder.

"T-this game is shit!"

While anger consumes you, you log out from the game.

You sigh leaning back to your gaming chair as you spin around on it before standing up, moving to your door, and walking down the stairs to grab some water.

because of this problem is the reason why you are slowly about to snap and quit this game.

You arrive at the kitchen, open the fridge, grab a small bottle of water, and quickly drink it up.

While doing so, you heard a rapid clicking on a keyboard coming from your sibling's room. A curious look on your face before you slowly walk to their and casually open the door by the knob.

There you see, your sibling screams while her finger moves steadily on the keyboard before slapping her hand on her table in frustration once she loses.

"GODDAMN IT!" Your sibling shouted, it looked like she had died fighting in the Spiral Abyss, no wonder.

"Calm down," you shook your head, walking inside to stand by your sibling. "You will wake Mom up from her sleep at this rate."

They turns to you, "Oh, you, sorry," she slowly calms herself down and sighs.

"This level just gets my shit up to a hundred, who told Hoyoverse that this is fine, all I wanted was the Primogem." They grumbles.

You softly rub her back with a small smile, "It's still many days left until the limited banner is gone, I am sure you will get em."

They put down their headphones, "Talk about it, what AR are you now?"

"Well, it's, I think...AR 23 or more..." You thought absentmindedly.

"That's quick," your sibling mused, "How is your experience so far as a beginner?"

"Well it's fun, I love the world-building, the colour, the gameplay, and the Ui..." You trailed, listing what you liked about the game until an irritated look appeared on your face that made your sibling perk at it. "Except for Aether!"

Your sibling flinched at your outburst before she raised a confused eyebrow at you, "Aether? The traveler?"

"Yes!" You grip your hand into a fist while seething in anger. "I don't know why they implanted such a feature, Like every time I try to play, he gotta need to defy my game control, it's creepy! He used to follow me but now he keeps making ugly faces at me like excuse me!"

"I really, really hate him!"

You keep rambling about your frustration with the traveler which leaves your sibling gaping.

"I don't think they have that..." Your sibling uttered out.

"Well, I did! And it needs to stop!"

"Do you contact Hoyo Customer Service? Is it probably a bug?" Your sibling suggested.

"I did but they never replied." You said crossing your arms.

"They probably will get back to you, one of these days since I am sure they have many people to attend to." Your sibling reassured.

"I hope so,"

Your sibling then chuckles, "But I don't think you would hate him for so long."

You frown with an eyebrow raised, "Why so?"

"They're gonna be a certain quest when you reach AR 28 or above which gives more lore about him." She elaborates.

"I don't think I would." You squint your eyes.

"Well the fact you still using the Traveler despite the bug he has, say so." She snickers, "Just give him a chance, hate the bug instead of him."

You scratch your cheeks and sigh, "We will see."

You decided to give the game, a second chance.

"Aether, don't you think...you being too mean to the Creator?" She whispered scratching her cheeks floating, looking down on Aether crouching down inside the bushes.

They currently watching over a couple of boars walking with Aether having his sword in his grip.

Aether glances at Paimon before smiling, "Well, it's not that bad, it's a small price for them to control my body." He turns his attention back to the boars.

Paimon deadpanned, "What a lie! You just did that so they left early!"

He doesn't respond and just quickly dashes out from the bushes and thrusts his sword onto one of the boar, quickly he pulls back the other sword and slashes the boar sprinting toward him.

Quickly he used his Anemo ability to pull back the almost-escaping boars and slashed them in one go.

Blood splatter on his face, outfit, hair and his swords.

"Ah," he wiped the blood on his cheeks with his thumbs, "I need to get better at dodging the blood-splattered," He said out loud.

Aether suddenly flinched and turned his body to see another boar is running up to him.

"Hi-ya!" Paimon shouted, hitting the boars with a rock on the forehead. "Don't you dare to attack Aether!"

Aether blinked and smiled, "Thanks for the help, Paimon."

Paimon perks up and throws away the rock somewhere else, "Hehe, you're welcome~ praise me more~" she giggles happily.

"Now calm down," Aether chuckled.

Aether then gets to work after cleaning himself with a towel to cut the boar meat, one by one.

After that was done, Aether decided to sit down to open his notebook, and start writing some alphabet and spelling again.

Paimon sits down beside the Traveler, watching the letter he wrote with knowing looks.

"Is that the Creator's language?" She asked, quietly after watching her surrounding.

Aether nodded, "Yeah, I managed to decipher some of it."

"Oh! What is it? Let me see!" Paikon excitedly asked and leaned over to look at it.

Paimon curiosity slowly turned into a horrified look, "Did the Creator say that?"

"Yeah," Aether said amused at Paimon's reaction, "surprising huh?"

"There is a lot of cursing! Outrageous mean word!" She blinks rapidly, "The Creator has very interesting wording..."

"Most of the curse directed at me, I am not surprised." He smirked.

Paimon looks at Aether's face still has a smile and a fond look on his face. "You like them?"

Aether stops writing, "Huh?" He turns to Paimon.

"The Creator! Do you finally like them?" She excitedly asked.

"No!" Aether quickly stood up and took a step back, "Ain't no way! I just tolerate the Creator better than before!"

Aether is very obviously in denial with his cheeks adorned with pink blush, averting his eyes.

It's very true that Aether slowly but surely started to understand the creator, whether their language and their intention choosing him as a vessel.

The first word he managed to decipher is 'love' from the Creator's language, it's when Aether has fallen from the Statue Of Seven that the Creator for some reason controlled him to do so.

He had a fatal injury caused by that, and while he was whimpering in pain, he heard the Creator change of tone.

Aether's eyes widened, and he looked up at the sky, the creator rambled a lot but he could hear the concern and care for him which gave him goosebumps

"...Aether!$%-#&#!"

Aether perks up again when he hears his name between the rambling and his eyes widen more.

"...Aether&%$%...love#%#&#-!"

His lips parted when he understood the word, Aether's cheeks burned red and his eyes turned hazy.

He doesn't realize what happening to him but Aether for sure has stopped functioning at this time.

Aether shook his head from his flashback and continued to scribble some more. His ear is red as his scribbling becomes faster but much to his chagrin, the scene keeps playing in his head.

Paimon, who watching at his side had a small smile adorning her face. 'Aether surely has grown to like the Creator and that's good.

Both of them will stuck together until they reach their intended goal, they are both important to me, so please help each other."

Paimon hands intertwined. together to prayer, eyes closed with her forehead leaning to her clasped hands.

Until it's snapped open, Paimon turned her head with a frown. 'Who?'

She scanned the surroundings when she sensed something wrong again. 'Behind that tree." Paimon narrows her eyes.

She was about to move and check it out but suddenly Aether stood up which gained Paimon attention back to him.

"Aether? Why are you standing?" She called moving to him, "Where are we going?"

She tilted her head when Aether didn't answer her which was odd until she moved in front of him.

There she sees Aether standing still with his eye twitching in irritation. 'Ah, the Creator is back.'

Paimon smiles sympathetically at Aether.

Aether's body then quickly moved in a sprint which made Aether's eyes wide with Paimon followed in tow.

As they move away, neither Aether nor Paimon didn't realizes that someone is watching them from afar behind a tree, the arrow they grip in their hands is put away.

The unknown eye glints with mysterious light, "The Creator..." They breathe.

You are lying down on the bed, empty and in pain.

There are tears stained under your eyes, your eyes are red from crying so hard for a long time. Akin to a person on the brink of death gate and barely gripping onto life.

"i can't believe it." you hiccup, "Lumine, why are you doing this?! Reunite with your brother, come on!" you shout in frustration, kicking your feet into the air.

You just recently finish the 'We will be reunited' quest and it broke you down from the inside hard. You are mad at Lumine but at the same you try to understand her but what actually fueled to your anger against her is Aether.

After the quest, Aether's face have trail of tears and hurt plastered that you didn't have a heart to do anything that often making you in verge of crying. Often you have started to not using Aether, in hope his expression will be better but it just become worse and you even begun to miss his smirk from before.

Everytime you try your best to help the boy even though it's probably a waste of time. After using him back again for daily mission, his face become focus like he try to pull his mind away from the events. It's like he try to move on, his expression look so real which should not be possible since Aether is a character game.

"I can't seem to leave him alone," You rub your eyes and slowly calming yourself down. Getting up from the bed you reach for your phone and open your messaging app.

After a back and forth messaging with your sibling and friend, you finally come to conclusion of what to do now.

You get back with soda and snack by your side as you open up Genshin Impact in your phone with a determined face.

"I can't believe that I am doing this for a game character that I hate..." you mutter as you sigh before focusing to the screen again.

"My money..."

"OUR MONEY!" Paimon scream, "Why are the Creator even use it to but a freaking expensive firework!!" she whined into her hand.

"We could use it to buy more Sticky Honey Roast!" She cried out, step onto the ground pr air repeatly.

Aether just sigh, "Well we can't do anything about it," he keep jogging forward to somewhere that even he doesn't know with the Creator controlling him. "We will gain it back in no time, so don't worry so much Paimon."

"Okay... but where are we even going?"

Aether narrow his eye as he climb up the boulder, "Hm...I don't know but this place seem familiar."

The more they walk and climb, the more familiar the surrounding area looks, Aether is now crouching down to set down the firework under a cliff before his body starts to sprint up up to the cliff where from there, he could see Mondstadt.

"Are the creators trying to light fireworks in the morning?" Paimon wonders out loud, "What the point? It's not even night!"

But then a miracle happened, the day quickly went back to nighttime time and both Aether and Paimon's eyes widened at the sight.

The sky that once had a sun on its landscape now has a moon and star decorating It.

At the right time, the fireworks shoot up into the air and burst into many colour.

"Wow...." Aether breathed out in awe.

"Aether..."

Aether suddenly glances at the sky when he hears the Creator speak his name. Each word the Creator utters makes his heart skip a beat, flushing red and his eye sparkling.

"....With this, I hope you will cheer up a little bit."

A trail of tears goes down his cheeks as the Creator's words end. He can't understand some of it but the way his heart thumping, he just knows for sure that.

Aether has fallen in forbidden love with the...

Creator.

[todorokis-girl]

All on up Stream - Kenma Kosume

Part of my Haikyuu confession series!

Masterlist

Kenma's fingers moved with practiced ease across the keyboard, navigating his character through the intricate virtual world of his latest streaming session. The soft glow of his monitor illuminated his focused expression, a stark contrast to the chaos of the chat scrolling endlessly beside the gameplay footage. His audience was lively tonight, sending a constant stream of comments and questions that he occasionally glanced at between intense moments in the game.

Amidst the flurry of interactions, a familiar username caught his eye: "LoveStruckFan123". A donation accompanied the message: "Hey Kenma, do you have a special someone in your life? 😏"

Kenma's cheeks flushed faintly, his fingers momentarily faltering on the keys. He wasn't used to such direct inquiries about his personal life during streams. He chuckled nervously, trying to deflect the question while keeping his composure. "Uh, well, that's a pretty personal question," he muttered, refocusing on the game to distract himself.

But the chat was relentless, and more curious comments flooded in, pushing him to address the topic. "Okay, okay, I'll answer. But just this once," he relented with a soft sigh, his voice barely audible over the game's soundtrack.

"There's... someone I've liked for a really long time," Kenma admitted, his tone softening with introspection. He glanced briefly at the chat, seeing the flood of emoticons and excited messages. "Since we were kids, actually."

The chat exploded with curiosity and excitement, words scrolling so quickly that Kenma struggled to keep up. Despite his initial discomfort, he found himself smiling faintly as he thought about Y/N. They had been a constant presence in his life, a source of comfort and understanding that went beyond mere friendship.

"They've always been there for me, you know?" Kenma continued, his voice growing more contemplative. "Through everything. They're amazing, and I've... I've been in love with y/n the entire time"

The confession hung in the air, the weight of his words sinking in as he realized what he had just revealed to thousands of viewers.

The before the realization settled he saw the screen of his phone light up, notifications had been muted for stream. ‘Y/n 🥰’ the only thing he could see. When the screen when dark, it happened again, and one last time.

Panic surged through him like an electric shock, and he instinctively reached for the mouse, fingers trembling as he struggled to regain control of the situation.

"Uh, I—I think that's enough for today," Kenma muttered hurriedly, his voice betraying his anxiety. "Thanks for watching, everyone. See you next time."

With a quick, frantic click, he ended the stream, the screen fading to black. Kenma slumped back in his chair, his heart pounding in his chest as he stared blankly at the now-dark monitor. He couldn't believe he had let slip such a personal revelation in such a public forum.

Moments later, his phone buzzed yet again with a notification. He glanced down, feeling a jolt of nerves as he saw a message from Y/N.

‘Ken’

‘Ken, are you serious?’

‘Ken’

‘Please… can we talk…?’

He swallowed hard, his fingers hovering over the screen before typing a shaky reply. "Sure. When?"

‘Now… 5 minutes’

A few minutes later, Kenma found himself standing outside in the cool evening air, his thoughts racing faster than his footsteps could carry him. When Y/N arrived, their presence was a grounding force amidst the whirlwind of emotions.

"Kenma," Y/N began softly, her voice filled with a mixture of concern and curiosity as they stepped closer. "Did you really mean what you said? Was it an accident?”

He nodded slowly, unable to meet their gaze at first. "Yeah. I did, it was an accident, yeah, but I mean it.” he admitted quietly, a mix of embarrassment and relief coloring his tone. "I'm sorry you had to find out like that."

To his surprise, the reaction he got was not the one he expected. He felt her warmth all over his body and he could feel her lips against his neck, pulling herself even closer to him, tightening the hug. “Me too dummy”

Kenma's breath caught in his throat, disbelief mingling with a joy so profound it left him momentarily speechless. He wrapped his hands around her, and angled himself to attempt and make eye contact, you allowed her pulling her face away, meeting Y/N's eyes, seeing the sincerity and affection reflected back at him.

"Really?" he managed to ask, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Really," Y/N confirmed with a nod,

Lacking restraint he grabbed both sides of her face and stared into her eyes, giving her a second to pull away if she needed; when she didn’t, he pulled her closer crashing his lips into hers; years of love present in the interaction, escaping through every nook and cranny of their souls as if a flood had opened.

As they stood together under the fading light of the evening sky, Kenma felt a weight lift off his shoulders. This unexpected turn of events had brought them closer together in a way he hadn't dared to hope for. It was the ending of their friendship, but the start of their future.

[ezlo-x]

“Wow I hope BotW gets a sequel someday…” - my TotK summary <3

It’s been a year, and honestly. I did not complete that game at all. I watched lets plays and cutscenes in youtube and a few playthroughs of my friends. And every time, my regret of buying this game grows ever so slightly. I know I sound mean and harsh but I prommy I got nothing against ppl who actually enjoyed TotK. This is more of my personal experience of how my excitement playing this game completely burned me out less than halfway through the game.

Gameplay

I’ll start with gameplay first, as I have issues with it. Let’s start with the physics of the game itself. Ngl, there was a small worry in the back of my mind when I realized there would be in-game physics and that you have to rely on those said physics. I personally don’t have a good experience with game physics and they usually tend to frustrate me. Which somewhat happened when playing the game. It didn’t happen too often, thankfully, maybe because the zonai parts didn’t tend to last long. Speaking of Zonai parts and builds

I wish building Zonai stuff was a bit more fun. Or at least give us more time to experience our builds. We already have a disadvantage by having a limited amount of batteries that you have to slowly upgrade throughout the game. So, seeing that one of your Zonai pieces starts to flash and disappear is annoying. I understand we can obtain more zonai parts throughout Hyrule, but I wish it lasted long enough. Also, the fact that you can’t really travel a lot in many of the builds, oh how disappointing it was to build a cool Zonai truck with big ass wheels but get frustrated that it couldn’t pass through a few bumps on the road. I feel like the Hoverbike is the best Zonai build of the game.

The Ultrahand is fun when trying to solve puzzles or merge random items. Fusing weapons, on the other hand, is my favorite thing in the game. There’s something really satisfying about fusing a really powerful weapon together. I really don’t mind that the weapons are breakable if that means I have a spot to make a strong weapon. Weapon durability never really bothered me. Both games push you to explore around to look for weapons. I think it would be boring if they weren’t breakable.

The shrines are a big improvement from BotW's shrines. I wished there were more challenging Shrines over the many King Rauru blessings. I can't really say much about the dungeons as I only completed two out of the five. But I think there was a bit to be desired; it's almost a Zelda dungeon.

Sage abilities. I want to speak to the game designer who thought it was a great idea to activate the sage abilities with the same button you click to pick up items on the floor. A total downgrade to the way you’d activate the Champion abilities in BotW.

Rupees. I would like to speak to the game designer who thought it was a great idea that you now have to manually press A to pick up rupees from the floor rather than casually walking in front of it to automatically pick it up. From my previous point, do you know how many times I’ve tried to pick up rupees only for Tulin’s ability to fly them away from me?

The sky islands, ohh boyyy, finding out that they had to reduce the amount of sky islands is disappointing, but I understand in a game design aspect. BUT it is disappointing that the game was advertising itself for the sky islands, only for there to be very few in the final. Like remember back in 2021 when they were advertising SkSw HD, and then i think a year later a totk teaser dropped and Link was falling from the skies? Good times ❤️

The Depths: I enjoyed the Depths a bit more than the Sky Islands. But it does get boring after a while if you’re not there to fight monsters or look for treasure, which is also disappointing. I love the OST descending down a chasm and entering the depths. Also, don’t get me started on how frustrating it is to use Zonai builds there compared to the surface or sky islands.

I think those are all my thoughts on the gameplay. I still have a few more issues with it but I feel like it mixes with the story so lets get that over with

Limitation vs Freedom

My biggest issue with this game is that it gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. However, there is still a story attached, and the story still wants to play out linearly. So, we have a game that grants you total freedom on how you want to play this game, but the story is still linear. But even if you decide to experience the story while doing dungeons and shrines. The game doesn't update with the piece of information that you discover.

The Dragon Tears are a really flawed way to experience the story. Zelda's memories are scattered across Hyrule; the number of times I've seen ppl say they accidentally got the tears out of order cause they thought it was similar to BotW's way of getting the memories. Basically, if you happen to be near one memory, you might as well get it cause it'll get annoying to go back and forth. Only to the person's shock, they got a cutscene meeting the Queen and King and then going up the Hebra region as that's the closest memory from the previous one. Just to see Queen Sonia dead on the floor.

What also bothers me is that the game doesn't update when you make a discovery in these memories. For example, I found out that Phantom Ganon can transform into Zelda in the memories and walk up to the NPCs in hopes of a change of dialogue. But getting nothing, walking up to Purah, Tulin, then Yunobo, and seeing no change of dialogue got really tiresome. It's as if the game doesn't believe you're smart enough to connect the dots.

Also, for people who decided to explore and get the Dragon Tear memories before entering any dungeon. There is very little change of dialogue, suddenly the game strangely punishes you by not letting the npcs acknowledge what you just discovered. While it's not an actual in-game punishment, you're stuck with characters asking a million questions that you already know of. Suddenly, the game's freedom to do whatever you want gets put to a halt because you decide to have the freedom to experience the story however you'd like.

NOW I get to move the part that I’ve been waiting (dreading) for!!

Lore

Sheikah Tech…I don’t care how simple the explanation is on why they are gone. It is probably the dumbest explanation I’ve seen. The fact that it wasn’t even questioned in-game and by the developers baffles my mind. How does it vanish in thin air? Their explanation is that the Calamity no longer exists doesn’t make sense to me either. The Sheikah tech has been there for more than 10k years but only in a dormant state. I don’t want to ask any more questions, or I’ll be here all day, but it drives me up a wall how the lore of the Sheikah got shafted to the side for the new stone technology aesthetic. Speaking of which-

Zonai in general. The fact that WE DONT EVEN GET LORE from the Zonais aside from being viewed as gods is sooooo ughhhhh I wish there was more. Why are there two remaining Zonais? (This probably got answered tbh but idc to look) Who’s the ancient hero and how come he looks like a Zonai or just in fact a different race we’ve never seen before?

Draconification…god. I have many thoughts and also many thoughts about the secret stones. It is an idea that I find interesting and could’ve worked for me. If it didn’t contradict itself in many aspects, as in how becoming a dragon, you will lose your sense of self. I think it would be a nice foreshadowing of the fate Zelda could’ve had. I think making the other dragons take a role in that and expand on it would’ve worked. Idk I think instead of implying it, it could’ve been expanded and shown a lot more severity of the situation.

Apparently I don’t got much on lore, but you know what I got much of????

STORY

This one is going to be a FAT one so bear with me. God where do I even begin here, I'm going completely omit the part where the game feels like it’s gaslighting you through the npcs cause I feel like everyone knows that.

My biggest frustration with this game is that it has such interesting story concepts and cinematic moments. But I can’t but feel like these moments were there first, and everything else was built around it. However, whatever suspicion I feel about how they created this story, only to my shock and horror that there isn’t a credited group of people in the credits, only an outside team (company?). Before I continue, I think it’s dumb when people say TLoZ didn’t have much of a story when previous Zelda games had a storyline to follow (OoT, MM, WW, TP, fucking…even Link’s Awakening, and more). So yes, TLoZ does have stories. It’s not just about the dungeons if I'm being honest.

What I find so odd is that Monolith Soft has games such as the Xenoblade games, where the latest game of that series does have a credited team of writers. Hell, BotW had two credited writers. But I won't go far speculating why they decided to hire a company outside the team to write TotK; it is only interesting to me why they did that. Since there really isn't a solid team of writers, I will focus my issues on Fujibayashi as a story writer; after all, he is the director of this game. And I've seen multiple interviews after the game's release where he explains a lot of the game's "lore" and story that should've been easily explained in the game in the first place. I think this will be me sharing my opinions rather than critiques... boy where do I even begin...

Sages—the ancient sages, not counting Mineru, are pointless. I felt no connection seeing the Ancient Sages meet their predecessors. Can't believe Age of Calamity made me feel more strongly about the Champions meeting their predecessors than the ancient sages did. - I also think they really don't share anything important. Maybe the first time, yes, but you could easily remove their cutscenes and just have Mineru explain how everything went down, and nothing will change. - Now, to the present Sages, I can't really say much, sadly. Tulin and Yunobo were the only characters for whom I completed their quests, and I enjoyed their character arcs, especially Yunobo's. If I could pick up TotK again, I would try to do Riju's arc, as it seemed really fun to play from the playthroughs I've seen my friends do. I don't really care for Sidon. Before I dropped the game, I was going through his quest and got really irritated fast for many reasons that I have mentioned here previously.

King Rauru and Queen Sonia – There has never been a character that I've enjoyed where I think they deserved much better than what they were there for. I get it; Sonia was only there as the character to be killed off to move the plot forward, but oh my god...I could've saved her. I wished we could've seen her more involved in the story than just standing by Raruru's side. - King Rauru, my brain turns foggy when I think of this man, and sometimes there are too many words to explain my issues. But to water it down, I feel we centered ourselves too much on these characters who don't even affect the main protagonist to some degree. Sure, King Rauru first appears at the beginning to show you his magic hand abilities. But I guess I was hoping something like how the previous TLoZ games had your companion help you throughout your journey and are the key fact of many things in the story (Midna and KotRL appear in my head when I mention this).

Zelda—sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I think this game would've been 10x better if she had been the protagonist. I know it probably wouldn't make sense because she turns into a dragon by the end but Idc. What frustrates me about Zelda is that she's given very few options. It's a war or nothing. It's becoming a dragon or being stuck in the past forever. I guess that's the tragedy of her story, but instead of me feeling sad, it frustrates me.

Link—Oh god, here we go. Link has a very small role in this, and you can disagree with me. But how is it possible that this is one of the few Links that has little involvement in the story? Link just happened to stumble into a bigger mystery than it already was. Link didn't even prove himself to Ganondorf why he's a threat to him aside from the first cutscene and Rauru.

Ganondorf - .........I hope this is the last time we see Ganondorf in the series. I know that sounds shocking, but if Fujibayashi is going to take the lead in storytelling for future games, I don't want him to make another iteration of Ganondorf. To me, Fujibayashi works better by making completely new Zelda villains. Ghirahim and Kohga are perfect examples. Ganondorf in this game was so underwhelming and disappointing. He never directly confronted himself with either Link or Zelda. Gameplay wise, he's great, but the story? What is he doing here? Literally, it feels like they only brought Ganondorf back because people questioned about Ganondorf back in BotW.

Conclusion

There are many aspects of the game that I enjoy; however, in my case, the bad outweighs the good. That's why this game frustrates me: There was a lot of potential to be seen. There is probably more for me to say that I'm either intentionally leaving out or just forgetting cause there are many things. Happy one year TotK 🎉🎉🎉

[oodlyenough]

so i'm (slowly) playing aa6, midway into 6-3 and so far, i find that the investigation days in SOJ are generally pretty fun. in no small part because the game is actually letting me investigate again, you can click stuff! there's dialogue about the stuff! the npcs talk you about the stuff! much of the lore in/about khura'in is batshit stupid but at least it's interesting to me. there's some fun character interactions in investigation days.

then i get into a trial day and my god does that shit drag. i like insight and i think it's an interesting new gameplay device that makes me use my brain. but then that portion ends and we're back to a regular trial and i'm trying to figure out why it feels so interminable in this game and in DD, vs in the first four, where trials were also often long and full of perjury etc.

what gives? this is a genuine question. i know SOJ is generally unpopular but i am curious if anyone else feels a discrepancy between investigation and trial and why trial feels like one of nahyuta's layers of hell.

[thydungeongal]

What system would you recommend for an epic fantasy narrative?

Running a political epic fantasy game in 5e is slowly driving me insane please help

If you want a game that specifically involves political intrigue and character ideals and beliefs affecting gameplay I would recommend looking into the Burning Wheel. Fair warning: Burning Wheel is a lot to take in all at once. You will have a better time running it if you get players invested in actually learning the rules. You will have a bad time if players don't understand how to interface with the game mechanically and expect you the GM to handle all that stuff for them. It's also a relatively crunchy game, but it supports political intrigue and, in general, characters being internally motivated miles better than D&D.

For something simpler, Free from the Yoke is a game of political fantasy where players will run factions within a kingdom they will collaboratively create as well as individuals from those factions. It's a hack of Legacy: Life Among the Ruins, which is a PbtA game that specifically chose to focus in on Apocalypse World's multiple levels of gameplay, so as a game it's meant for supporting a level of gameplay beyond just "some guys fighting things in a dungeon."

I also think RuneQuest could support that type of gameplay to an extent, but it's also heavily tied to a specific setting. (Although that specific setting owns.) There is currently a way to get a lot of RuneQuest for relatively little money through this bundle.

The issue is that RuneQuest is very much tied to Glorantha, which is a cool setting but not necessarily what you're looking for. For basically a setting neutral and modular version of the same system I would look into Mythras. The thing that makes Mythras click for this type of gameplay is that it's not just about characters growing in power (power scaling eventually plateaus in the game) but also that character ideals and beliefs and passions inform gameplay. Also, it has mechanics for tying characters into factions.

RuneQuest and Mythras are the most "trad" of these suggestions, with the other two games being different flavors of indie. But like. These are all good games on their own terms imo.

[prokopetz]

On the topic of the Halloween tropes post, I could think of at least one example of most of those tropes, but I don't play enough indie horror games to get ALL of them.

Got some relevant recommendations? Spooky Season doesn't end 'til January!

(With reference to this post here.)

Sure, with the caveat that I'm not going to specify which of the cited metanarative horror tropes appear in each example – that would be spoiling things, after all. I'm also going to skip anything super widely reviewed and focus on the more obscure stuff, so no giving me a hard time for leaving out Doki Doki Literature Club. =P

Discover My Body is at the top of this list for alphabetical reasons, but it's also a great one to kick things off with. It's a narrative point and click game where you play as a medical intern observing a volunteer as their body is slowly consumed by a fungus. Packs an amazing quantity of body horror into a very short playing time. Free to play.

eversion is one of those games where everything looks cheerful and then surprise it's really a horror game. Sort of a precision puzzle-platformer, though light on the "precision" and heavy on the "puzzle" – most of the challenge comes down to routing, not execution.

The Fall is a point-and-click adventure game masquerading as a light metroidvania, in which you play as the onboard AI of suit of powered armour, tasked with getting your incapacitated pilot to safety. At the time of this posting, it's 80% off for the next 12 hours thanks to the Steam Hallowe'en sale.

Lily's Well is, I'm going to warn you right up front, one of those "awful shit happens to a cute little girl" games. It's handled in a mostly text-based, fate-to-black fashion, though, without any of the leering that often characterises the genre. It's about a girl who's been left alone and told not to leave the house; she, of course, does not listen.

NaissanceE is a first-person exploration title of the "you wake up in some alien ruins and need to find your way out" variety. Mostly a walking sim with some puzzle elements. Free to play.

Ossuary is a surreal quasi-RPG set in purgatory, in which the gameplay is built around inventory puzzles based on gathering and equipping various sins (which are apparently physical objects). Nonlinear and kind of obtuse – don't be afraid to consult a guide.

Perfect Vermin is a gory, low-bit first person action game where you're tasked with identifying shapeshifting monsters that impersonate furniture and killing them with a sledgehammer. If the aesthetic of this one grabs you, you should also check out the developer's prior title, Swallow the Sea; both are free to play.

Please, Don't Touch Anything is sort of pushing the definition of "horror game", but my post, my rules. As the title suggests, it's a locked-room exploration game where you're presented with a mysterious control panel and sternly advised not to touch it.

Stray Cat Crossing is what you might get if you took one of those super-artsy psychological horror JRPGs and took out all the combat, leaving only the exploration and puzzle-solving elements. Content warnings for child injury (including eye trauma) and death.

The Swapper is a twin-stick puzzle game whose central mechanic involves the use of a gun which can create copies of yourself and "swap" your consciousness among them. In spite of the visuals, the horror is almost entirely psychological rather than visceral.

They Breathe is a linear survival game about a frog exploring a flooded forest. Short, minimalist, and unreasonably effective at communicating a narrative with no narration whatsoever.

We Know the Devil is a branching-path visual novel about a trio of kids at a Christian summer camp being forced to participate in a bizarre ritual where they're left alone in a cabin overnight to confront the Devil. Strong themes of religious abuse, in case that wasn't clear!

(Widely reviewed games that I considered but ultimately left off in order to avoid loading down the list with stuff you've likely already heard of include Axiom Verge, the aforementioned Doki Doki Literature Club, INSIDE, Omori, OneShot, Oxenfree, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Yume Nikki. If I've guessed wrong and any of these have escaped your radar, definitely check them out as well.)

EDIT: As a reminder for everyone trying to add their own recs, if you include off-site links in a reblog, Tumblr automatically hides it from the notes pane and nobody but you can see it. Drop those titles without links if you want your recs to be seen by anyone who isn't you or me!

[a-crumb-of-whump]

what's degrees of lewdity like?? ive been wanting to try it but i don't know whether its something id enjoy

dude. i've been grinding the shit out of this game for the past week or so. It's surprisingly addictive and definitely something that i'd recommend to NSFWhump enjoyers.

Essentially, you're playing as an 18 year old stuck living in an orphanage and trying to make money. There's plenty of ways to do this, some of which are legal and some are not. You'll meet new people and discover new places, along with developing relationships that will help you in the long run.

Click the 'read more' for reasons why i would/would not recommend it:)

Content: Rape/non-con mention, beastiality mention, pregnancy mention, pedophilia mention.

Why i'd recommend it:

The gameplay is incredibly customisable, including all the main characters. You can choose which kinks do and don't appear in the game, adjust body part size limits, what percentage of the population has certain genitalia, and opt in and out of beastiality/monsters. What animals/monsters do and don't appear are also something that's customisable. All this can be changed after the game begins, too.

There is so much whump to enjoy. Whether you enjoy lab whump, stockholm situations, kidnapping, rape, conditioning, etc. there will be something for to enjoy. My personal favourite so far involves being sold to a farmer who keeps you as cattle and slowly transforms you into a cow/bull for milk.

There's things called 'feats' that basically work as achievements. As you progress through the game, you'll earn these by doing certain things for the first time or raising/lowering your stats.

Creating outfits and changing your hair style/colour is so much fun.

While the orphanage is your home, you do find safehouses throughout the game for sleeping, redressing and reducing stress/trauma.

There's sex toys, muzzles and gags. You can gift these to partners or use them for yourself.

The animations during sexual interactions is surprisingly hot.

While you are able to eventually have children, I don't think pedophilia is an option in this game.

Things to watch out for:

You cannot opt out of name calling (slut/bitch/whore/etc.). Characters will do this no matter what your settings are adjusted to.

While the game is very accepting of transgender characters, everyone is still gendered.

While there are people who will rescue you, rape is extremely normalised in this game.

The asylum is probably one of the worst things about this game for me personally. There's a lot of gaslighting and abuse, and it can be triggering for those who've had similar experiences in real life.

Due to it being a text-based game, the day-to-day interactions with people will start to get repetitive.

There's a LOT of grinding to be done when it comes to stats. I personally really enjoy it, but if you're not someone who likes that sort of thing then it's probably not the game for you.

[starryoak]

Thoughts on Undertale Yellow

Just wanted to write some thoughts down on this amazing game! Spoilers below, obviously.

I’m going to split my thoughts into the positive and negative, because while it is an amazing game, there were a couple pretty significant flaws that IMO brought down the experience.

THE POSITIVES

This game positively oozes creativity and passion from every pore. The fact that I’m going to be complaining about some things shouldn’t take away from the fact that this is an amazing game that took 7 years to develop, and clearly shows in how polished as a product it is. The criticisms, when they come, should be taken as just a part of life; nothing can be perfect, and I don’t think that pretending that a game is flawless does it any favors. It’s certainly better than I can do, just for releasing a finished product, lmao.

This game is visually gorgeous. Obviously it’s still a pixel art game in the style of the original game, so it keeps itself simplistic, but there are so many little animations throughout that are so smooth and charming that I really was impressed. Genuinely just very pleasing to look at, from the animation to the character designs, which fit perfectly in to Undertale’s universe, which I found very impressive.

The game’s humor is very reminiscent of Undertale, and I was really surprised by how much the incidental dialogue and setpieces felt like they would fit right in with Undertale’s humor, while still being original and clever in its own right.

The game’s worldbuilding was really impressive to me, it felt like the Dunes fit perfectly into the Underground in such a natural way, the lore of the Wild East, I really loved the underlying story of how it used to be the Meadows before the Mines uncovered a massive swelterstone, a giant heat generating gemstone that slowly turned it into the desert it is in the present. It felt very true to the melancholy nature of the Underground and how the Monsters are running out of space, wishing on gemstones in the ceiling because they’ve never seen the stars, it just really clicked.

The story is just. So good. Well, up until a point. I’ll get to that in the negatives, but like. 80-90% of the story is just full of the same infectious fun that Undertale itself had, Starlo’s antics and getting accosted into being his deputy, the rest of his gang, the Wild East in general, game just really gets you to love these characters so much. And in the Neutral Route, killing Starlo and how it leaves his family worried about his sudden disappearance, how nobody really suspects you, it’s a very good gut punch! Starlo is definitely the highlight of the game, but he’s not the only one, just one that really was plain to see.

The ending and final boss of the Neutral Route is just. Very brilliant. Yes, technically a retread of Omega Flowey from canon, but it’s just so good at it that it can really get away with it, it takes it even a little further than canon in very fun ways. The art is just fucking gorgeous in every way, I’m so impressed by what they pulled off with that. Bravo, bravo.

In general, there are so many little details that really shine in the different playthroughs, like El Bailador’s fight in Merciless reverting to the traditional bullet box gameplay instead of the Guitar Hero style it normally takes, stuff like the long final chase in the Steamworks changing from Axis chasing you to you chasing Axis in Merciless, the music in battles being unique for each area and also if you’re in Pacifist/Neutral vs Merciless, it’s incredibly impressive and really helps set the mood.

Most of all, what I found the best part of the game, and really the most interesting and amazing, was the innovation in the battles! Undertale did a lot of fun things, but I felt like this game really pushed the limits of what I was expecting from the bullet box gameplay style. Stuff like aforementioned fight with El Bailador’s Guitar Hero gameplay and the way his fight changes in Genocide, Starlo’s lasso holding you in place and how you have to snap the rope, not just the unique bosses; even the regular enemies have incredibly clever attacks, like Goosic’s attacking in the same side of the bullet box as the music is coming out of your speakers/headphones, genuinely just very interesting and clever. They clearly thought a lot on how to innovate the gameplay of Undertale, and it really worked. Incredible, really, cannot praise the gameplay enough.

THE NEGATIVES

This is most likely going to be an unpopular opinion, but I did not like Martlet, and she’s such a major character that not liking her is a problem when we spend so much of the game with her. For one, the audio clip used for her dialogue was grating, but that’s really a minor quibble. The more important reason I disliked her is that it felt like the game was constantly yelling in my face “LOOK HOW FUN AND QUIRKY THIS CHARACTER IS (: DON’T YOU FIND HER CUTE AND/OR RELATABLE?”. There were times when she was enjoyable, but the overall experience felt like they were trying to recreate Papyrus without really succeeding at making her an interesting or unique character. The fact that she’s the final boss in the Merciless Route feels very… predictable. Like, there wasn’t really a possibility that she wouldn’t be, y’know? They couldn’t avoid it, what with the decision to parallel canon, they were going to have to have someone be Undyne the Undying/Sans. The thing is, the boss itself isn’t bad, because as mentioned above, the actual mechanics of this game are brilliant, but narratively it felt very expected. Plus, I don’t really remember if they ever adequately explain why she has the serum in the first place, it feels like it raises too many questions.

As I said, like 80/90% of the story is really good!… but the thing is that the entire last bit of the Pacifist ending just completely collapses in on itself, and it’s really such a shame, because the rest of the story is dragged down by it. What’s such a shame is how it felt like it was going somewhere, I was incredibly invested right up until the reveal of the tapes, and the somewhere it was going is just. So disappointing. In some ways it was inevitable, what with Clover’s canon fate being what it is, but it felt like, just like with Martlet, they really stumbled over themselves in their desire to parallel canon’s plot beats. It feels like they wanted to copy the original Pacifist ending, with the Amalgamates and all, and it just wasn’t a good fit for the story whatsoever. Part of it, admittedly, is just that I disagree with their take on Boss Monsters not being specifically Asgore and Toriel’s species, but the thing is, it’s not just that. Chujin in general just feels like a massive tumor on the plot once he stops being a robotics engineer and suddenly for some reason is a generic mad scientist who suddenly has the knowledge and ability to be experimenting on Not!Determination and suddenly is a Boss Monster and suddenly we’re supposed to care about him and it just all becomes a muddled mess, built around living up to twists that it can’t successfully emulate because they were a one time success.

Ceroba is just not compelling as a character! The thing is, actually, I’m lying, she’s compelling and fun and interesting as a character right up until they actually reveal what her deal is, and suddenly it’s just, like. Well, suddenly I don’t like her all that much. Her husband specifically asked her not to involve their daughter, and then her daughter asks nicely and she does? Her daughter is like six or something! Why on Earth did Ceroba listen to her? I saw people say that, well, lots of Undertale characters have done bad things, but the thing is that those bad things are either not taken very seriously by the narrative, like how everyone tries to kill Frisk before they make friends and are forgiven, or make logical sense for them to do, like Asgore’s whole deal. Ceroba and Kanako’s story is in a unique cross section of ‘taken seriously by the narrative’ and ‘makes no logical sense to do’, where it completely destroyed my investment in her as a character, where suddenly she’s a woman who killed her daughter through her own stupidity against her husband’s wishes, while claiming she’s fulfilling them. And in another world, that could be compelling, but the game doesn’t seem to recognize that’s what she did, so I’m just left feeling numb to her entire deal, and given she’s the final boss with multiple cutscenes where I’m supposed to be invested in her plight, that’s not a good thing!

This is just a completely unfair nitpick, but what’s up with Ceroba’s name? The rest of her family and her last name follow Japanese style, if not specifically real names, but her first name is just. Gibberish?

This one is more nitpicky, but it ties into the final problem of the game, where felt like the 5 previous children didn’t get mentioned enough for being the entire motivation Clover has for being here. They’re mentioned in passing several times, but it feels like they could have done more with it. This is mostly a minor problem, though, it felt much more like something that needed just a little tweaking, rather than a huge flaw or anything. But the problem is that at the end, it really doesn’t feel like Clover has a compelling reason to give up their SOUL, and I wish there was something more to justify it when they just spent a huge fight to not give up their SOUL to Ceroba, y’know? It just feels like the game falls apart at the end because they couldn’t figure out how to end it while keeping to canon.

The thing is, the complaints I have don’t detract from how fun the game was or how much I loved most of the story, but I just had to share them because they were weighing heavily on my mind. My complaints are so long because it’s easier to put into words what I disliked, when going into every little thing I liked would take much longer and feel more like a liveblog of the game itself.

[wistfulwisp]

More Phoenix wright ramblings ahead (first game only):

GENERAL THINGS I ENJOYED:

-as a kid, I was a massive massive fan of the professor Layton games. I loved solving all the puzzles and following professor Layton around, and that style of game is always going to be super nostalgic to me. So, having a game that I can play on a newer system that brings me right back to the nostalgia of my childhood has been super duper comforting in a particularly stressful time in my life, that’s not really something on purpose but it’s something that I think is worth noting. The whole classic anime style and music and point-and-click navigation has made this game a really big point of comfort for me, despite the high stakes surrounding the actual plots.

-for a game that clearly had the graphics budget of a cucumber, I was very surprised at how fast-paced the game feels. As mentioned before I’m not someone that really needs a ton of complicated gameplay mechanics in order to enjoy a game, even though the idea of the only game mechanic being more or less the A button was something that kind of threw me off of the game before I initially purchased it. The game manages to have quite a bit going on that makes up for the lack of actual involvement the player has and while I can definitely understand why it would be an acquired taste, I could definitely see myself recommending this game to people that wouldn’t normally play this kind of game because every other quality of it, like the dialogue and the drama and the different scenarios you’re put in, make up for it.

-I think that all of the absurdism within this game is also something that’s really kept me enjoying it as much as I have been. I think it’s super interesting how this game balances the grounded reality of cold hard evidence, and the drama of a courtroom with so many fantastical and absurd elements that had me laughing out loud at many points. it’s definitely not something that you would expect from a court drama, so it was very welcomed and I think that even though you wouldn’t expect something like that to work, the game makes it work because it’s taken seriously within the game itself, no matter how crazy the trials get or how much people start grasping at straws for answers. That suspension of disbelief is something that I’ve been really enjoying. ((This game really is like real housewives of the courthouse and I’m here for it))

-the characters themselves are something that I will probably touch on a couple other times in this little ramble, but they truly are incredibly well written characters (at least the returning characters are). Phoenix has been a really awesome protagonist and makes for a very smart and witty character to follow that you can easily get behind. All the supporting cast have been amazing, particularly Gumshoe and Edgeworth who are characters that start out pinned as one archetype in the beginning of the game and then slowly transform into something else once you find that you have common ground with them. I really enjoyed seeing these characters grow and change throughout the episodes and I absolutely loved seeing your relationship with these characters grow and change too.

[miyakuli]

A Space for the Unbound

Stand by Me

After the emotional When the Past was Around, a game I was particularly fond of, Mojiken and Toge Productions are back with another hard-hitting title. A Space for the Unbound plunges us into Indonesia in the 90s, where we follow young high-school students Raya and Atma as they confront the end of their world (I won't reveal any more than that, as the story is well worth the candle). What can I say, I can only recommend it, because once again, it's a game that left a deep mark on me:

❤ A truly moving story that touches on singularly human and mature themes. The script skilfully juggles between sweet moments and much more psychologically harsh scenes, and easily draws us in with the way it gradually distils clues about our characters and the world around us. And I'm not even going to mention the masterful ending - I still think about it with great emotion. A little gem of writing! ❤ Endearing characters, both human and animal ;) (ps: you can pet and name all the animals in the game, I'm screaming!) ❤ I'm a big fan of pixel art, and I can say that in terms of design, it's superb. From the detailed and nostalgic backgrounds, to the distinctive and memorable chara-designs, to the beautiful gameplay animations and cinematic sequences… it's a real treat! ❤ Not to mention the excellent soundtrack that accompanies the game. The music is pleasant, comforting at times, but also emotionally charged in the strong moments. And yes, the song at the end totally helped to make me cry :') ❤ Gameplay-wise, it's partly a fairly basic point & click, with little puzzles here and there that aren't too hard, but the game also offers different gameplay phases (such as QTEs and even an Ace Attorney-style court phase :p), so there's never any real sense of redundancy.

+/- I found all the quests relevant, even the more secondary ones; each one allows us to really learn about the protagonists' neighbourhood and its residents, and therefore to really feel at home there, which reinforces the nostalgic aspect of the game. On the other hand, some of them perhaps take up a little too much time for what they add to the story.

✖ Some actions require you to go back and forth quite a bit at times (and long!) ✖ Atma walks so slowly that you end up running all the time. So what's the point of the walking option x)

This is the second game from this studio that has brought tears to my eyes. They have a real talent for gently conveying emotion, through both storytelling and gameplay. I regret not having played it sooner, as it would definitely have got my vote at the Game Awards 2023, where it was nominated in the 'Game for Impact' category. Because yes, I'm not likely to forget it, and as the game wanted to teach me, cherishing your fondest memories is important for living and moving forward <3

➡ My Steam page

[lets-just-daydream]

I just saw that you answered my ask, oof, would you write something about Genji with an s/o from this universe, who talks about how they main Hanzo, and his reaction to that?? Maybe even some how they are able to show off their skills, lol. Thank you so much!! Like I said, I've been following you for forever, but this might be like, the second request I've ever sent you, I mostly lurk on your content.💖💖💖💖💖💖

LMAO OK

*

"You're into video games?" Genji asked, slack jawed.

"Mhm," you nodded proudly. "There's a video game based on Overwatch. Have you played it?"

Genji shook his head. "It would feel weird playing a game with all of my friends in it based on my life. Do you play it?"

"Like, everyday! I'm a Hanzo main and I rec-"

Genji stood up, shock and lock hurt on his face. "A HANZO MAIN? What's wrong with Genji?!"

You laughed at his outburst and grabbed his hand. "Nothing is wrong with Genji. I'm just not very good at him."

"I'd beg to differ," Genji said, kissing your neck.

You let out a breathy sigh before turning back to your computer. "Anyway, lemme show you some of this skill, right here."

Genji sat beside you once again and watched as the game loaded up. You queued up for a match and went into the hero gallery as you waited, clicking onto Genji.

"Oh," Genji started. "Don't do that."

"Aww, come on. Now that you're here in front of me I can see if they got your ass right."

"Excuse me?" Genji asked, bewildered.

"Yeah look," you said, turning your mouse around slowly and turning the Genji character around. "I think the real thing is better though."

Genji blushed and breathed a sigh of relief when you finally loaded into a match. He watched as you immediately selected Hanzo and waited around for the game to start.

Now that you had Genji sitting right in front of you, you were a little nervous. What if you sucked? What if he judged your gameplay?

"5

4

3

2

1"

The match started and Genji watched as you landed headshots left and right. An impressed scoff and a couple of impressed nods came from him as he watched. An choked sound came from him however when you headshot the enemy Genji who had just popped his ult.

"You killed me!"

"Sorry….." you said, not really meaning it.

The game ended and VICTORY flashed up on your screen. You turned back to Genji, beaming.

"How'd I do?" You asked.

Genji laughed before telling you, "I think you're a better Hanzo than Hanzo is."

[gamergirlboy]

July indie horror impressions

Playing a lot of indie horror lately, if you are looking for something of this genre consider grabbing one of these on steam in the next sale. I'm learning that if you love Silent Hill, there are better games out there for you than what you will probably encounter in the upcoming remake (yes I am a hater).

An English Haunting 

Crow Country

Murder House

An English Haunting (2024)

Another point & click adventure from Postmodern Adventures. I liked it a lot! This is another perfect steam deck game for fans of the genre that enjoy vibing with cozy horror. The vibe is perfect for anyone who has ever gone through an Edgar Allan Poe phase. While I would not rate it higher than Nightmare Frames, I found this game deeply charming. I love the little horror trivia game in the bookstore especially. I don’t think this genre gets enough love or attention in general. 7/10 

Crow Country (2024)

I grabbed this one despite the not so generous sale (it’s a $20 game, I got it a few dollars off) because the survival horror community has been gushing about it since it released, and I’d had my eye on it previously after watching someone play the demo. I thought it was overhyped at first, but it actually owns so much. Despite being a little on the short side, I found everything about the formula to be satisfying and entertaining. The gameplay is very Silent Hill and Resident Evil as many indie survival horror games are, but it manages to embody its own ideas, the end result being a modern ps1 horror game with its own identity. I liked the story, but the sound design blew me away. The puzzles were engaging. The vibe off the charts. 9/10 

Murder House (2020)

Absolutely despised this game when I played the tutorial, but slowly I started to respect what this game does the more I pushed through it. The gameplay is more true to older survival horror games in that the next steps are always not that obvious, and you’re being actively hunted for most of the game, which genuinely terrified me. I hadn’t played a game with tank controls in a while, so trying to remember how to do combat with those controls was hard for me. I found it very fun even though the difficulty was a little frustrating - and I can appreciate the difficulty is part of what makes it special. Even finding a weapon requires you to put some work in, and at certain points I had to look up what the key in my inventory unlocked because running around a dark house knowing I could get grabbed at any moment with only three saves available to me was stressful - but I think that’s part of the charm! I don’t need every new game to totally reject the game philosophies of the 90s, but I know some people hate that formula. The puzzles were fun and the characters were ridiculous. Being terrified in a game with ps1 graphics was refreshing. 7.5/10 

[cosmicheartzone]

Tails and Cosmo Super Smash Bros. Crusade/CMC+ V8 Arcade Routes

While technically unrelated to this blog, since this does actually star what's meant to be Sonic X Tails and Cosmo rather then the blog's what if Cosmo was in the main series. Thought I'd share it here anyway. These are arcade story routes in Super Smash Bros. Crusade/CMC+ V8 that were entirely written by myself... and I admittedly may have gone a little overboard in basically writing a crazy crossover fanfiction alongside into it lol

Before you watch, keep in mind that cutscenes are very limited. You can only have one image per scene with no animation. So in many cases the text has to catch up to where the background scene is. (Ex: When Tails faces Wario on his route, most of the dialogue before the fight is actually post-fight with Hercule. But Wario's portrait stands there the entire time anyway)

Also keep in mind that between the both of them. This is a little over three hours long. I tried to give each scene ample enough time to read naturally as the video goes along. If it's too slow, feel free to fast forward. And also skip the fights/gameplay entirely if you just want to read the story. There's at least two occasions, one in each of the vids where I think I went a little too fast but I didn't want to re-record the whole thing just for one line. I'll just leave a timestamp and what was supposed to be said below the videos.

Another thing, some stuff veer into headcanon, stuff that have no actual evidence, and even some inaccuracies along with a part that implies both Sonic X and Frontiers happened on the same timeline when obviously they're not connected whatsoever. CMC+ however has a crazy cast from having Obama and Ronald McDonald amongst it's characters. So excuse me if a story that purports of the "floodgates being open" when it comes to crossovers. Doesn't exactly make a whole lot of sense even when parts of the story are kinda taken seriously.

Anyhow, here are the vids. I'd recommend seeing the Tails one first since the Cosmo one is also a sequel/follow-up.

The two parts where I moved too fast are as follows

51:24 in the Tails story

Tails: I won’t lie… I did feel like that for a while

But… Cosmo, you were doing what you believed would save us all

And… it worked. The Meterex is no more, but…

if I had never heard of Shenron and if you had died for real..

It… would have left a large hole in my heart, for as long as I lived

11:32 in the Cosmo story

"But instead of acting shyly waiting for Tails to find the right words. 

She instead scooched closer. Her face moves slowly closer to Tails’ own

Cosmo: I don’t suppose you mean… this?

Cosmo’s lips move straight to Tails’ own for a kiss

A strange clicking sound is heard in the distance, but they both ignore it"

[apollos-boyfriend]

i would love to hear about indie horror rpg number 957!! i adore indie horror rpg games

WELL since u so kindly asked. it is now time for one of my Many corpse party rants ^_^ and yes ik corpse party is not as like. unknown as like, jimmy and the pulsating mass or smth (which is something i REALLY need to get around to playing, actually) but with the recent sequel announcement i have been spinning it in my head much more than usual. more accurately, how bad the writing got by the end and how disappointing the ending to the heavenly host arc was, because it had SO much potential!! the initial game was such a hit for a reason!! (initial referring to the like, DS version era, which feels weird to say but you get my point. initial full version of the main story.)

book of shadows highlights this issue the most for me, because like. it has Such a good concept. the idea that everything is contained in a horrifying time loop in which these characters slowly regain the memories of their past loop, including their gruesome deaths. that’s fucking terrifying!! having to face the fact that not only have you done this before, but you didn’t survive, and maybe you’re fated to never make it out of this alive, no matter how hard you try. that your fate will actually worsen the deeper you go into the loops. that nothing you do matters. it never did and it never will. (it also does some other things i like, such as delving into the alternate endings/realities and fleshing out more characters, dynamics, and backstories. that was good!! i enjoyed that!! largely bc the new stuff they introduced was actually yknow. new. and not characters from a novel they just threw in and acted like you should already be acquainted with them.)

the issue with book of shadows for me is that like. the characters are SO stupid. like. fucking mayu?? she REALIZES the marks on her body are there because that’s how she dies, then just. never fucking tells anyone?? and SPLITS UP??? i don’t care how self-conscious she is i will never excuse that choice. she recognizes the room that killed her. she makes a conscious decision to not enter it. and then enters anyway!!! because fuck you!!! if she’d ended up there again in any other way i wouldn’t have cared so much because like. again. they’re fated to always die in exponentially terrible ways yadda yadda. but the way they got her there is SO stupid. had she not ran into i THINK ayumi and yoshiki(???) it would’ve made everything a hundred times better. have her panic over her situation and not pay attention to where she’s going. running into others and not saying anything just makes it all so frustrating to play through. the concept is fun but it just becomes annoying instead of horrifying because you’re forced to sit through these characters being idiots and get distracted by that instead of the actual horror of the situation.

book of shadows just has gameplay issues as well, like jesus christ did we need such insane completion goals 😭 having to spam click through 30+ endings is more torture than anything they ever put their characters through. it’s not even worth it considering how much the ending sucks either. you had a good premise!!! an amazing one even!!!! why did you do her like that!!!

anyways. mods are asleep post mayu splatter dot jpg

[professionallyunprofessional]

The 7th Guest VR

If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that The 7th Guest is one of my most favorite games ever. I have talked about pretty much every iteration of it on here, except for things like the mobile 'Infection' game and the T7G board game (which, sadly, I don't own). It is time for me to talk about it again. :D

This past year, a VR remake of The 7th Guest was created by Vertigo Games. It was teased both on its own Facebook page and on Trilobyte's pages as well. The game was released on October 19th, 2023. I would be lying if I said that I didn't want a VR headset just for that game. I got both a headset and the game for Christmas.

As always, spoilers below the cut. But the TL;DR version of this review is thus- This game is very good. 4/5 stars. From the moment I first started it up, it already had the gloriously spooky vibes of the original. For this review, I'm going to break it down into parts, wherein I'll be talking about both the good and bad of each.

The Gameplay

When I first heard that a VR remake of T7G was being made, I was excited. I had such fond memories of the original, and it was an absolute treat to revisit the Stauf Mansion. Experiencing it now is a whole new level of amazing. Not only are the graphics much sharper, of course, but you can see so much more of the house. Instead of a still frame backdrop like the original, you’re able to freely wander around the rooms and interact with objects. A few rooms were scrapped (the art gallery and laboratory were removed entirely, and the maze/catacombs were reworked into a storage room and basement), but I feel like it doesn’t take anything away from the game. If anything, the removal/revamping of certain areas streamlined things.

A new mechanic added to the remake is the lantern your character walks around with. With the lantern, you can spawn in items, see hidden messages on the walls, and get hints for some of the puzzles. It took some getting used to, but I thought it was fun. The original game was point-and-click, so it was cool to see something new added to it.

Slightly less successful, at least for me, were some of the spooky effects in the remake. The original game had the occasional cutscene that wasn’t necessarily plot relevant, but they were still fun. Hands coming out of a picture, floating table settings, a clown ghost appearing in the game room, the Woman in White beckoning you to follow her, etc. The remake's spooky effects come in two ways- One is blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments of shadowy figures appearing in rooms and hallways. Another is paintings that change when you shine your lantern on them.

The Story

Both the original 7th Guest and the VR remake tell the story of one fateful, bloody night at the mansion of the disgraced toymaker Henry Stauf. Six guests were purposely invited, and a seventh was very much in the wrong place at the wrong time. The original game had an opening blurb about the events leading up to the story of the game, but the VR remake takes it a step further. Not only does the story of Stauf’s childhood slowly unfold throughout the game, but each guest’s room has little lore bits sprinkled throughout that give deeper insight to the characters' histories. Pictures, newspaper clippings, etc. Frankly, I love this. Those pieces of backstory were what was missing from the original game.

The Characters

The six guests from the original game make their glorious return in the VR remake. In the weeks leading up to the game’s release, Vertigo Games put out various teaser images and video from the game. At first, I was skeptical (a few of the characters seemed not quite right for their parts), but I think most of the actors did a fantastic job. In particular, I adored both Temple and Elinor. The game's narrator wasn't my favorite, though. There was a certain oomph that was lacking.

The Music

The soundtrack for 7th Guest VR was composed by Jonathan van den Wijngaarden, and I think he did a fantastic job. His score has the same delightfully spooky, but still strangely beautiful quality to it, especially with several of the tracks including familiar tunes from the original. George ‘The Fat Man’ Sanger himself even contributed to the piece of music that plays when you enter the chapel. I honestly have no complaints about the music. It was my favorite thing in the original and it might be one of my favorite things about the remake.

The Puzzles

I was very curious as to what the puzzles would be like in the remake. I have to say, I’m impressed. They have been reworked entirely, with each puzzle now being distinctly themed to whatever room it’s in. Temple’s puzzles all have to do with stage magic tricks, Julia’s puzzles are about either drinking or her fear of getting old, the kitchen puzzles involve things like finding ingredients for soup, etc. The only one that hasn’t changed is the puzzle with the 8 queens in the game room. If I had to nitpick something, it would be that it’s not always easy to spot the puzzles. Unlike the original game, there is no pulsing brain icon to show you what’s a puzzle and what isn’t.

The Easter Eggs

The 7th Guest VR is full of delightful nods to the original 7th Guest. The achievements you can unlock are all named for bits of dialogue from the original game, the dining room has a few glorious nods to the original dining room scene, and there was one particularly delightful music-based Easter egg I stumbled upon purely by accident (pro-tip: Explore every wardrobe, cabinet, and closet).

The Ending

I have thoughts on the ending. The 'final game' was a very weird choice, IMO. For the entirety of the game, the puzzles either relied on strategy or had very clear steps to how to solve them. The finale, however, throws you into an RNG based game against Stauf, where you roll a die, move pieces across the board, and the first to collect three souls wins. Switching up the formula like that honestly pulled me out of the game for a sec. On top of that, there were no actual consequences to losing. If Stauf beat you, the final game just started over from the beginning. It would have been nice for there to be a bad ending, especially since the original game was supposed to have multiple endings as well.

I do love the final cutscene, though. In the original game, a combination of budget and technology constraints kept Trilobyte from fully carrying out the vision they had, so it wasn't entirely clear what happened to Stauf. The remake's ending, though, there was no mistaking how Stauf meets his end. The last bit of dialogue/narration in the game strongly hints at the possibility of a sequel, though, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. If anyone from Vertigo Games happens to read this: if you *are* planning a sequel, I would implore/encourage you not to draw too much inspiration from 11th Hour. That game was not good.

All in all, this game is fantastic. Not quite perfect, but almost. If you have a VR headset and you like puzzle games and spooky atmosphere, I highly recommend you get this one.