#the art is so so so cute and the 3d cutscenes are actually really good...there's been some cute bits too | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bosskie · 8 months

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More Practicing

I would really like to draw some 'proper' traditional art but I don't have enough time for it since well, then I would like draw/paint for 10 hours barely taking any breaks... So, I just focus on this quicker stuff.

But yeah, I really wanted to draw yet another Molluck from a difficult perspective, and I chose that expression because I love his teeth... And while I was looking for my reference frame (Yes, I look at those cutscenes frame by frame.) I noticed new things about Molluck's head... Man, even I have been looking at him so closely for 2½ years I still notice new stuff!

Frankly, I wondered if I would show that previous sketch at all since I tend to think that my sketches ain't worth of seeing but well, I can still show them like this. Yeah, I'm not personally a fan of my own work and see just a messy sketch here, literally too since my hands and desk got messy while doing this... I drew this before I went to sleep (+ improved after waking up) and it helped me to feel better and relax since I felt quite depressed before drawing this... Molluck just helps me so much to keep my head together...

Also I would like to say that I have been wondering the fate of that 2D Molluck game thing I have been doing and well, I think that the best thing would be that I just finish the stuff I have already implemented and move on since I gotta learn other kind of game development tools but also 3D stuff. I'll show you that 2D Molluck game (again) after I have finished that stuff but in a silly way since well, I can imitate Molluck and the Sligs. I still use quite often my Molluck voice to entertain myself... Frankly, I also miss doing those dubs... I'm just too busy to have time (and energy) for that stuff...

Welp, I can do still some creative stuff regularly for my studies since I'm doing another 2D game project thing but I don't know if I'll release it. But I can say that that game is kinda about my own mental health issues and decisions matter in that game. It's not about Molluck, so I'm not gonna really talk about it here but I can say that yes, I'm studying game development stuff (programming, graphics etc.) since I wish to become a game developer. So, this is the biggest reason why I let that particular Molluck game to be but I just change what I do to 3D Molluck stuff (maybe I still do some 2D stuff but using another programming language). I just see inside my head how awesome it would be to do Molluck and his office in 3D! And well, then make it as something playable and/or animated.

Of course, I won't charge for that stuff if I release something in public since I do not own Molluck and I'm doing that stuff just to learn and out of love. I just cannot help myself but I love that Gluk so much... He just means so much to me... He is like the cutest thing for me too...

Yes, this was my reference for that previous sketch, and I just somehow love his face so much here... His expression is just so adorable... Well, I feel like Molluck looks cute to me no matter what expression he has... I just love the way he looks like when he is angry too, though I don't still like him being angry in a sense of that I wish him to feel good.

Oh, and well, I don't know if you saw that OWI's 'Molluck's Majesty' (Molluck dress up thing but with dresses) post but since I saw it I have truly been wondering what like Molluck would look in a dress... Frankly, it would be a somewhat practical outfit for him! Molluck is such a pretty Gluk like he is but man, I'm actually curious to see him in a dress and wearing some pretty jewelry... He could show off his beautiful hands and arms! I'm not sure what kind of dress it would be but maybe pink with pretty details since well, like you might have noticed, I think that pink does suit Molluck. I'm not even a fan of pink myself, so yeah, that's not the reason for it.

Yeah, some Molluck stuff again, kinda to distract myself too since like I have told you, I suffer from self-hatred and depression. Sometimes I think that there's no darkness when Molluck is around (his eyes glow). It really touches me to think that... He is kinda a sign of that there's still light inside me because he is just imagination. I just feel too bad to really think about my 'real' loved ones, what they would think if I, well, did something awful to myself since my ill mind just wishes that they didn't care, makes me feel sorry for them to have me... I have a difficult condition and it has kinda gotten worse despite of the help, even some stuff has gotten better too.

But yeah, Molluck basically gives me life.

#molluck #oddworld molluck #molluck the glukkon #oddworld #art like a bosskie

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ponett · 2 years

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How did you feel about <SPOILER> at the end of <SPOILWORLD> in Kirbo Forgor? (Personally I thought it was a really fun moment and satisfying, but I don't have the sheer amount of kirby games under my belt most people do, this was the first one I've played to completion) Also on that note, what games would you recommend to someone who is somewhat new-ish to the games? (Outside of watching Right Back at Ya when I was younger and having vague knowledge of certain Kirby game plots)

(vaguely worded Kirby spoilers)

I'm assuming you mean a certain secret boss at the end of the extra mode? I thought it was really cool. A very challenging fight by Kirby standards, but a satisfying one, and the reward for it rules. Also as an insufferable Kirby lore nerd I kinda liked that all the extra stuff was actually canon for once instead of just a bonus what-if scenario

Anyway, the answer to "what Kirby games should you play" is, basically all of the mainline platformers by HAL lol. (And some of the spinoffs, but there are a lot of those.) Kirby games are generally fairly short and easy, so it's not a massive time commitment compared to, like, playing all the Final Fantasies or whatever. But to me the MUST-PLAY KIRBY GAMES are:

Kirby's Adventure (NES) - One of the crowning achievements of the system and also the game that introduced Copy Abilities. It has a popular GBA remake, Nightmare in Dream Land, which is also good, but I personally prefer the art direction in the NES version

Kirby Super Star (SNES) - The one everyone knows, for good reason. A series of highly varied shorter adventures packaged as an anthology (including a condensed remake of the original Kirby's Dream Land), and it added a fun co-op mode on top. Responsible for a lot of the most famous iconography in the series, including... basically almost everything in Smash. Its DS remake, Super Star Ultra, is even better, with a bunch of great additional content

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (take a guess) - The best of the "Dark Matter Trilogy" (Dream Land 2, 3, and this) imo. Perhaps a bit clunky as a platformer, but it features a unique power mixing system, very cute cutscenes, and a famously cool final boss for completionists

Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Wii) - Kirby's big back-to-basics comeback after a long absence on home consoles. Set the standard for all the modern games

Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS) - Probably my favorite in the whole series, and the most overall refined and satisfying take on the modern style. The titular Robobot is a very fun gimmick. (I would recommend playing at least Super Star first, though, so you recognize some of the wild continuity references this game makes.) Its predecessor, Triple Deluxe, is almost as good, but if I'm trying to make a short list then Robobot's the better game

And, now, Forgotten Land (Switch), but you played that

There are several very good Kirby games I left off this list - perhaps most egregiously Dream Land 3 (SNES), Triple Deluxe (3DS), and Star Allies (Switch) - but if I'm trying to cut it down to a manageable must-play list that isn't just "the whole main series," then that's it

#anon #ask

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blazehedgehog · 4 years

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Hey Blaze, what are your thoughts on the Sonic Storybook gameplay formula, both in concept and execution? If they were to reapproach this gameplay style, how do you think they should go about it? (Btw, I know you've stated you don't really remember the Storybook games' stories and don't really think Shiro Maekawa is a good writer. However, I highly recommend rewatching SatBK's cutscenes because Sonic's personality and philosophy really shine through and SatBK is among the best Sonic stories imo)

I don’t mind the way Secret Rings plays. Like I guess it’s the sort of thing where modern 3D Sonic is this weird half step where it doesn’t give you enough control.

But Secret Rings says, “No, the entire game is literally on rails and all the gameplay is based around the fact you’re running non-stop.” The worst levels in the game (Levitated Ruin, for example) are ones where they actually do force you to stop and lock you in a room with enemies or whatever, because maneuvering in that space is extremely awkward.

Obviously, I don’t like the grindy gameplay of Secret Rings, to be clear. Having replay each stage 10-20+ times doing different objectives and filling up an EXP meter sucks. Maybe if the objectives were better, but the classic example is “Break all the pots!” followed directly by “Don’t break any pots!” Just the cheapest, easiest, fastest-to-implement stuff they could think of, because they had a small budget and very little time.

I’ve often thought Secret Rings would probably work really well if they ported it to Android and iOS. Mobile platforms are getting powerful enough now that you can probably run that game just fine on the average phone or tablet, and they support gyro so you could have all of the tilt and thrust stuff, too. Different d-pad abilities could be mapped to swipe gestures real easily (swipe up for time break, down for speed break, tap to jump, etc.). It’d work very well, in my opinion. One of the things that’s annoyed me about Sonic Dash is that it actually didn’t inherit more from Secret Rings.

I don’t like Black Knight’s gameplay. The sword play is absolutely pointless and the whole game has a vibe to it that doesn’t feel very Sonic-y. They got all these American musicians to contribute music, so the tone of the soundtrack is super weird, they got rid of or changed a bunch of common Sonic items like rings, and the art style is this very odd generic fantasy setting with extremely forgettable orcs and stuff. It’s a game that makes me wonder why Sonic has to be in it at all. Feels like it would be better suited to having an original character and was just using Sonic to bank on brand recognition.

The story to Secret Rings is very unmemorable to me (partially because I never finished it) but I do remember the plot for Black Knight pretty clearly because it’s so weird and it takes such a turn. I actually kind of enjoy Black Knight’s story, because for the first 75% it feels like a very standard “Sonic fights the big bad and saves the world” plot, but then the final chapter twist goes unexpectedly dark and suddenly you’re in The Never Ending Story.

That’s the kind of stuff I like. Like a Kirby game, right, where 99% of the game is this bright, cheery thing, with cute characters just having fun.

But then you get to the final boss and it’s something legitimately kind of scary. The normally innocuous cutesy game suddenly has a credible threat, this moment of having to get serious and stop playing around because you were secretly fighting for something that was real and deserves to be protected. It gives weight to the cutesy stuff earlier on. That’s rad, to me, and Black Knight’s story kind of taps in to that energy a little.

#questions #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team #secret rings #black knight #kirby's dream land 3 #dark matter #sonic dash #Anonymous

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silverselfshippingchaos · 3 years

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👀👀👀 THREE. - @gentle-horrors

@gentle-horrors

THREE?!?!?! YOU SPOIL ME, MY FRIEND.

THANK YOU.

let’s get this rolling.

(however i do wanna add that this ended up MUCH longer than i expected LOL)

First up is a picture which I have posted several times but you know what??? It’s beautiful. So I don’t care.

Aha. Ahahahahahha. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

*screams*

Now first off, I just wanna say it’s almost 1am and I’m tired so my apologies if this comes out as a bunch of nonsense.

This picture is beautiful. His eyes are the prettiest color. Funny enough, I can never tell what it is. Sometimes they’re a blueish gray? Sometimes they’re light blue? Sometimes they’re purplely gray? Sometimes they’re just purple??? I don’t even think that squeenix themselves know what this man’s eye color is. But you know what??? That’s okay. Because it’s really pretty. His wiki calls it a violet gray, so I guess we’ll roll with that.

His eyes look gorgeous in this shot. I mean, they always do, but even more than usual.

Other than his eyes, his jaw!!! I wanna give him a little kiss right there!!! And his lips ofc but 😳. I think he’d get a bit flustered if I were to do that, and that makes me so soft. He’s normally so composed so the idea of me being able to make him all mushy makes me feel all mushy. His jawline is really damn sharp??? It’s beautiful. He better watch out 👀 I’m on my way to give him a little kiss! It’s what he deserves.

Oh and don’t get me started on his hair!!! This might just be my favorite picture of him tbh. It’s just so good. His hair is such a nice silver color and you can see it being a bit messed up in the wind. His hair looks really soft and I’d love to just run my hands through it. That also brings me to the thought of Y.aag with his hair down. I was rewatching some cutscenes and his ponytail is a lot longer than I remember???

His hair always looks so nice and I think it’s so cute!!!

To wrap things up for this one, he is very handsome. I’ve spent more time than I wanna admit just staring at that image. He’s really pretty aksjwkejw

Okay. Moving on. It’s also now the morning so hopefully things are a bit more coherent from here on out.

Speaking of pretty!!! My little pirate boy!! The dandy of the seas himself!!! Specifically his character art from the 6th game.

All of the art in this game (and the series as a whole) is absolute stunning but this one!!! Ahhh!!! The background has waves and dragons, two things that are very important to his character and his moveset.

He looks absolutely badass here. His pose!!! Is so!!! Cool!!! I also absolutely adore his outfit in the 6th game. There’s so many small details and they’re all so cool. I think that out of all his outfits in the series, this one probably fits him the best. I think my favorite part is his sash? It looks epic. I really like his jacket too. I want it!!! Time to steal >:)!! Ugh, knowing him he’d probably say something stupid to make me all flustered.

“Aw, that desperate to see me shirtless? All ya had to do was ask, babe.”

Yeah.

And you're probably wondering, yeah to him shirtless or yeah to being flustered?

Yeah.

Also the recolors he has??? AMAZING. There’s a character customization mode so I have him in dozens of colors, but I think one of my favorite looks of his is with his jacket black and his hair dark red and messy. On that note, his post-battle taunt is just “man… you messed my hair… :(“ and his mid-battle taunt when an attack messes up his hair is “my beautiful hair!” What a dork. 🥰🥰🥰.

I main him and it’s usually my go-to just because of how good it looks??? Look at him go!!!

(However I also really love 5’s jacket with the fur!!

But then again, I do like it more than his outfit in 4. He has consistently had great outfits, but his look in 4... It's interesting. Not bad! Interesting! I diss it a lot, but it's starting to grow on me quite a bit.

4 is kinda like M.axi's emo phase. He's been forced away from all his friends, all his crew and family are dead, he's had a creepy ritual done on him, and now he isolates himself in order to not drag anyone down with him and also to do shady crap now. Oh also he now has a shard of an evil sword inside of his body that's constantly telling him to take lives. It's like that one vine with the souls of the innocent and bagels. It really messes with his head. He leads a life of darkness and crime, and is pretty harsh and rude.

"I've sacrificed everything for this moment! No one can stop me. Not even you!" Is a line that will hurt me till the end of time. He says that once to my s/i during that time period and yes!!! Angst!!!

Truth be told, I love that side of him, and I think that seeing him like that after everything he had gone through was so interesting. He has nothing to live for but his revenge anymore, and he'll do anything to get it. Even if it destroys him.

And hey, it does! He goes through a lot in these games. Sir can I hug you please

To wrap things up here, 4 was super interesting with what they did with his character and I love angry M.axi so much, but his outfit... It really did fit the vibe of his character and I love it for that, but I guess we can't have it all, huh? 5 is 17 years later and he's just the cool uncle and is back to his chill, confident, and flirtatious self. This was supposed to be a gush about his outfit from 6, but look where we ended up LOL.

These games are fighting games, but they're also very story-heavy and I love that. As someone who loves both, it's great.

Heh, you thought this was a gush post? No. This is actually just me trying to make more people play SoulCal.

Just kidding. It's a gush post.

But not really. The 6th game is a total reboot of the timeline because 5 was... questionable! (thanks for the good gameplay, ost, and designs, but... the story?!?!? the characters?!?!?! oh god... Thanks, but I'll take it from here LOL) So 6 it's the perfect place to start. Out on ps4, xbox1, and pc!!! And if traditional fighters aren't your cup of tea, it's a 3d fighting game so it's pretty easy to pick up!!

Also I love the story.

Back to the post.)

Another thing that really gets me about this picture is the art itself!!!

(we’ve gone well over three images at this point but. oh well!)

Look at all the lines!!! All the details!!! The colors!!!!! It’s so nice to look at. This design and pose... amazing beautiful perfect marvelous gorgeous magnificent legendary-

To wrap things up here, I love his art in 6 so much. He looks amazing and so badass!!!

And, last but certainly not least.

Alright, there's a lot to talk about here. This is the art you get when you marry F.elix in game. And, as someone who has married him in 8 out of my 9 playthroughs, this whole scene still makes me squeal.

This scene was great because we got to see a softer side of him. But then he went back to his usual self and pins the protagonist to the wall and it made me an absolute mush. It's very romantic and I wanna give him a kiss :(

The art itself is beautiful. I really like a lot of the art in this game but this one is definitely one of my favorites for reasons other than me being head over heels for him. His hair and outfit still make no sense to me but he looks stunning. He looks so good!!! I really love the background on all the s-support images as well.

I think that him tilting up her chin is what really got me. It's so sweet ajfnakjlenf I love him so much!! I can't think of anything more to say because my brain is just an absolute keyboard smashing mess right now. i just think he's neat.

#that was super fun!! thank you for the ask my friend #i love talking about my boys so much #thank you again :D #gentle-horrors #f/o picture gushes #answered

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badgersighted · 4 years

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PS5 Game Reveal Thoughts

Below the cut I’m gonna write a brief paragraph or sentence or whatever about each of the 25ish games that were revealed last night at the PS5 thing.

Don’t have much to say about this one; I never played GTAV, the series has never really been my thing, but I think it came out in 2013ish? I think the time has been and gone for re-releases and they should be working on the next game. Too much more and this’ll quickly become the new Skyrim/Todd Howard meme.

Okay so I never played Spiderman, but I did watch the cutscenes because I never thought I’d go out and buy it (before I later got it free with a ps4 pro). This is one of those games where, like, I’m not invested but I can both see the appeal and am happy for those who were waiting on it.

I think there’s diminishing returns on realistic racing games. Stuff was coming out on current gen that looked near enough realistic, so it gets excessively hard to tell the difference.

The first one that caught my eye. Despite the last entry being a bastardized, hollow remake that encapsulated everything the original stood against while missing two thirds of the content, R&C has a place in my heart and I hope they can actually get back to standard now they don’t have to work around a terrible movie.

My hot take here is that Ratchet has a wrench and his name is Ratchet. Girl Ratchet has a hammer, ergo her name is Chisel or something. I just wonder if this is a look at the future and Ratchet’s kid, or if it’s an alternate, gender-flipped dimension. In which case Clank would probably be the same because he’s a robot, but I fear for the possibility of Captain Qwark.

Legitimately can’t remember a gosh darned thing about this one.

I feel like the trailer proved that Stray works better as a short film than a game, but I guess we never saw any gameplay to prove that assumption. I like the art direction and you get to be a little kitty cat.

Ellen Degeneres goes to space and the mind fucky wucky happens. I got some Prometheus vibes for this, but the only thing that really left a mark was the aforementioned Ellen jokes we were making on discord.

Fuckin love me some Littlebigplanet, so this was a welcome surprise. Odd to see that they’re not implementing a create mode (as far as we know) but I can see how impossible it is to both make a fully 3d create mode (see: LittleBigPlanetKarting) and also go up against Dreams which was made by Sackboy’s original home studio.

I have a soft spot for LittleBigPlanet’s story modes, though, especially the second game’s - so this will be a welcome addition for me. I just hope they reference the previous stories and don’t act like a plot is something new to the series.

This game feels born out of the hangover of games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, leaving it feeling at least one year outdated. But if it’s your sort of thing, more power to you.

So Kena was another of the more subdued, new IPs that I think a lot of people will have forgotten but I actually quite liked the look of it, or at least some aspects. I’ll always have a soft spot for ‘young girl with bow and arrow’ games but I also liked the art direction and the little puff ball fellas, as well as the bad guy seeming like a legitimate threat in a world that tricks you into thinking it’s all cute. The contrast serves the narrative in that regard.

So following a game I’m interested in is a game I could not be less interested in. Horrendous character design, pseudo-deep narrative that are a dime a dozen for indie tumblr bait visual novels. The logo and the fact they’re [barely recognisable as] dinosaurs presumably suggests this will end in a meteor destroying everything and, frankly, I have never rooted for an inanimate rock more in my life.

This 2d platformer took itself very seriously. I never understood Oddworld nor saw the appeal because its protagonist is very... not nice to look at. But more power to those who wanted a new Oddworld game.

I found this one kind of interesting, then the First Person gameplay kicked in and that very quickly faded. It’s a shame, really; the visuals were really good.

All I got from this is that it’s called Jeff, and it’s a low concept blend of the movie Gravity and Katamari. It’s one of those deep, arty games I’m just honestly too dumb to appreciate. Or maybe it’s false depth.

This is a weird one. I find it intriguing how a game can have so much going on on-screen, and yet none of it stand out. It really does feel like this game pulled inspiration from several places, but failed to embellish or add any value on top of it.

This is another one of those arty games I’m too thick to understand. I’d say it has slight hints of Journey in it, but I never played that so I can’t be certain.

Hitman reminds me of the Community Paul Rudd quote: “I see the appeal, and I wouldn’t take it away from anyone, but I’d also never stand in line for it.”

As much as a corporate Mario Odyssey knockoff as this game may seem, I’m honestly interested as I’m gagging for any Odyssey-adjacent content in my life. It looks like it could be mindless fun, at the very least.

Like JEFF and Solar Ash before it, I don’t know what this game is and I don’t think the trailer did enough to make me want to bother finding out. I liked the big cat dude, though.

Would the world suffer if it didn’t have the same set of games reskinned and rereleased each year, with a single number in the title changed? I never understood the appeal of sportsball games. Is it for the people too unhealthy or too lazy to actually play a sport? Why do they have to make one every year when there’s nothing new? It’s not like the sport has fundamentally changed in a year’s time.

So they had me in the first half expecting a Crash game reveal, I’ll be honest.

But this is, oddly enough, the game I find most interesting of everything we saw here. I have no idea what the fuck it is, but I’m determined to believe there’s hidden meaning - that it’s a satire on Pokemon, that it’s a commentary on the phrase ‘you are what you eat’, that it’s a game that lulls you into a false sense of security and drops you in a horror game like Doki Doki Literature Club. Prove me right, Bugsnax.

I never played the original Demon’s Souls, so I can’t say much on the remake. I don’t even know if Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls are part of the same series.

Are we going to ignore that, fundamentally, this game’s unique selling point is that it has checkpoints?

Full transparency here, I had this game pegged as a Resident Evil game as soon as there was an old man in the trailer, and I’ve never played a Resident Evil game. I just associate old men in video games with horror, and Resident Evil is one of the first horror games that come to mind.

Looks like someone saw Death Stranding and thought “I can do that, too!”

Yeah, well, you can’t.

Given the hype I saw surrounding this game, I feel like I should probably play the first one. I’m just concerned it might not be my sort of thing. It’s one of those things I want to like, but I’m not sure I want to put my money where my mouth is before being sure - so we’re stuck in stalemate.

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atsushishelteredinmoonlitjasmine · 4 years

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Fire Emblem: Awakening Thoughts

As of the date May 20th, 2020, I finished my playthrough of Fire Emblem: Awakening on its one year anniversary of when I got it. It is now June 5th of writing this. This post will be my thoughts and feelings on Awakening, much like the KH3 Grievances and Blessings post last year. Let's get into some history between me and Fire Emblem before I go into Awakening.

As I've said before, Awakening was both my first Fire Emblem game and my first Tactical RPG. Smash Bros. was where I had heard of Fire Emblem but it wouldn't be until Ultimate came out that I would start to get interested. It was because of my friend's preference for Lucina that got me into playing as her in Smash and that's pretty much how she became both one of my mains and a favorite. It honestly wasn't till I listened to the Smash remixes of Id, Conquest, and Lost in Thoughts All Alone that I decided to play Awakening and then Fates. So thanks go out to both Smash and my friend Eric for converting me to Fire Emblem trash!

Much like the KH3 Grievances and Blessings post, I'll be going over every aspect of Awakening I can think of, from the graphics to the gameplay to the story. I'll even include a Best/Worst Girl and Boy of both generations because that kind of thing seems to matter to some people, along with my reasons for why X is Y. Keep in mind that whoever I choose as those categories, it is just my opinion and you're free to disagree with me. I say this because I know that, no matter what I say, some diehard fans will get pissed at me and come at me for daring to shit on their favorite character. I already know some people are gonna get mad because they think X should be Best/Worst and that'll be fun to see (You can interpret that as sarcasm if you want).

Listed below are Awakening spoilers, so if you want to play the game and don't want to be spoiled, now's your chance to stop reading. I know Awakening came out in 2013, meaning 6 or 7 years ago, but there may be some people who haven't gotten around to playing it yet so I want to be courteous to them. Here are my thoughts on Fire Emblem: Awakening!

First off, the graphics. I think they looked really nice for a 3DS game that came out in the early 2010's and I believe this was Fire Emblem's first fully 3D game as well so that's really impressive. The in-game models were nicely detailed, the in-game sprites were nice looking, and the prerendered cutscenes were beautiful. This doesn't mean they're not without their faults, though. I wish the in-game cutscenes were more animated because it's easy to tell when an animation's been used over and over again, I feel as if the in-game sprites have some dissonance with official art, and there are times where expressions or animations for the prerendered cutscenes have looked pretty awkward. In terms of the first and last point, I'm giving IntSys some slack because, as I stated earlier, they were developing a game for the 3DS, a powerful handheld device but it's still a handheld, and this was FE's first 3D game so there may have been issues transitioning from 2D sprites to 3D models. I'll explain what I mean by my second point. I've looked at Cynthia's official art and when I see her face, I tend to see what I'd call a baby face, pudgy cheeks and all. Her in-game sprite, however, her face is sharper, more mature, if that makes sense. Maybe it's the pigtails throwing me off or it's just a difference between two art styles, I don't know. I'm not an artist so there's not much weight behind this but I'm just saying there's somewhat a dissonance between official art and in-game sprites.

Secondly, gameplay. I loved how easy it was and how I could switch between a simple and complex UI if I wanted to see which attacks could hit or what the enemy's stats were. This may sound stupid but I honestly thought it'd be way more difficult due to this being a Tactical RPG. I know strategy's a big part of Fire Emblem but strategy's not a big problem if you're like me and you grind to hell and back. Speaking of which, I played on Easy Casual mode so that might be why it seemed so simple from the get-go. Just to give you an idea of how much I grinded, I put in 200+ hours and that mostly consisted of buying a shitton of Reeking Boxes, spawning Risen on some of my favorite grind spots, and fighting them over and over again. I went through the 3 basic classes each character could have, maxed out their default class one last time, promoted them to their advanced class, and maxed out those classes 2-3 times over. I have a video on my Twitter that shows the stats of these characters and most of them are over 220 (The shapeshifters 300). Needless to say, I loved each and every fucking crit I got. Cordelia even got what I call a miracle crit, which means she got 2 crits in one round and after the enemy attacked, she got another 2 crits. Level grind ain't a joke in this game.

Thirdly, the music. Considering it's part of why I got into this game in the first place, I loved it. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to the OST and it sounds so much better when you don't have the ambient sounds and you're not listening to it through the 3DS speakers. The song that hit me the most and just gave me the overwhelming feels was Id~Sorrow as it played in Chapter 21. It fit so well with the tone of the scene and I just sat there for a few minutes, letting it play in the background as I did shit. Other notable mentions are Id~Purpose, Destiny, Conquest, and the song that is just ellipses. If the music is this good in Awakening, I can't wait to see what's in store for Fates!

Fourthly, the voice acting. For a game where most of the voices come in forms of clips, I thought they were good. Each of the actors tried their best to convey their characters in the clips they were allowed to have and I think it shows. The only critique I have, and it's not the actors' fault, is that some of the characters' voices don't fit them. I'm not saying they miscast these characters, it's more like the direction was off, if that makes sense. Let me bring up Cynthia, Kjelle, and M!Morgan as examples. I don't think it's a stretch to say that, sometimes when you look at a character, you kinda imagine what they'd sound like before you hear their actual voice, right? I already brought up Cynthia's looks so I imagined her voice to sound very high-pitched and maybe a little childlike. I hear her voice and, while she's high-pitched and some of her voice clips do go into that childlike territory, she's nasally sounding and more mature. Kjelle is a complicated case in that, her voice fits her appearance (minus the armor) but not her personality. Her personality is similar to Sully's so I figured her voice would sound gruffer and not...cute, if that's the right word. M!Morgan's, I think, everyone can see the problem with. He's supposed to be the youngest of the kids, right? Since he's the only third generation character and all that? I think he just sounds a little too old for the supposed baby of the kids. Again, I'm not saying the voices are bad or that the delivery/emotion was bad, I just think the direction in which they were voiced don't fit some of the characters. Maybe I'm just thinking in terms of archetypes or something.

Now we move on to the story. I can't say as to whether it was good or not, mainly because I spoiled myself on it way before I decided on playing Awakening, so I don't think I can say much to the quality. The least I'll say is it's serviceable. I'll admit, the one thing I was shocked by was the appearance of the Grima Avatar because I thought Grima was inside Robin the whole time and I didn't think he'd have a separate vessel. I straight up thought Grima!Robin was either my mother or a twin I wasn't aware of so I'm giving credit to the writers for surprising me. Anyway, I think the only flaw I have with the story is with the pacing. I thought the first half was fine, it wasn't too fast or too slow. It was the second half that the pacing couldn't find a middle ground. Now I'm going to say that this half was stretched out over months of my playtime so whatever I say next might be exaggerated because of my procrastinating ass so... I feel like the Valm arc was way too slow and the Grimleal arc had so much trouble finding a middle ground. The beginning of the Grimleal arc was quick but Grima himself decided that I had to finish 2 and a half chapters before I finally got to beat him and you have to deal with constant reinforcements before you kill off the target. I think if it weren't for my overleveled as fuck units, I wouldn't have finished Awakening in time for my birthday.

Just for shits and giggles, I'm gonna say what I picked for my choice with both Luce's judgement and Grima's fate. I picked the self-sacrificial choices, which means I accepted Luce's judgement and allowed her to kill me and I dealt the final blow to Grima so Chrom didn't have to. While I knew the outcomes of both choices and them ultimately not meaning anything, I wanted my Robin to reflect what I would've done and I'm a very self-sacrificial person. Because I made Chrobin happen in my playthrough, which meant Luce was my daughter, I believe that, if my child who came from an apocalyptic world told me I was the reason for that happening and that she came back through time to stop that future from happening so she and the others wouldn't suffer, I would've let her kill me. Parents would and should do anything for their kids and if my death possibly gave my daughter the chance for a better life, I'd take it in stride. As for me dealing the final blow to Grima, if it was to save everyone I loved, I would've done it. Although there's some feelings of wanting to give a big "Fuck you" to Grima and to permanently end the problem so any future descendants wouldn't have to deal with it. This section may sound more philosophical and personal than I usually write but I think it deserved it.

Now we're on to Supports and who I chose to be together. I don't think it's wrong to say that this is where the characters really get to shine and it's because of the Supports I love these kids and how much I'm going to miss them when I move on to other FE games. As for the "canon" couples, I mainly went with characters that I thought would complement each other and this was one of the few things I tried to choose for myself. I tried my best to go for pairings that weren't fan favorites but I'm also not very connected with the fandom as of writing this so I may be completely wrong in which ships were favorites or not. So here are the pairings I got for my playthrough!

Chrom-Robin

Frederick-Sumia

Virion-Miriel

Vaike-Nowi

Stahl-Sully

Lon'qu-Cordelia

Ricken-Lissa

Gaius-Maribelle

Gregor-Cherche

Libra-Panne

Henry-Olivia

Lucina-Inigo

Owain-Cynthia

Brady-Nah

Kjelle-Laurent

Severa-Yarne

Obviously, there are some characters missing from this list and I can explain why. I didn't recruit Kellam and Tharja and it's because your girl is a dumbass. Kellam, I thought, was already on my team, he was just labelled as an ally so I didn't need to recruit him. They really should've made that clear. Tharja, on the other hand, was an even bigger dumbass than me because she decided to charge after Robin, who happened to be in front and was way overleveled, and got her ass promptly beaten with a crit. I regret not getting Kellam but after hearing how awful of a person Tharja is and how many fans are willing to put aside emotional abuse and stalker-like tendencies to have a chance to fuck her, she can stay buried in the sand where I electrocuted her ass. Unfortunately, this does means Noire didn't pop up in my recruitment list and that fucking sucks. The only characters left I didn't have a pairing were Gerome and Morgan. I think Gerome wouldn't really care for a romantic partner because he's all about not wanting to create ties in this time and shit and, since I see Morgan as the baby of the kids, I figured he'd be a little too young to be in a relationship. Despite that, I wish I got him and Nah together because I found out after she was shipped with Brady that Morgan's the only S-Support she'll say "I love you" to and I was immediately filled with regret.

Before I move on to the Best/Worst contest, there's something I need to bring up because I can see what sensible fans have shown now. This game is HELLA gay. Like, holy fuck, how many instances are there where you have two characters of the same sex and they have dialogue that seems to have been written with romantic intent but the writers decide it's meant to be platonic? Maybe I just have this weird line of thought on how straights are because there's no fucking way some of these gay moments would be a thing with even the most accepting straights. Maribelle calling Lissa darling and other pet names, Robin blushing from some of the girls and even mistaking Flavia's proposition for a marriage proposal, Severa looking at Kjelle's abs, the list goes on. I'm not straight because I'd be doing some of this shit with a potential girlfriend if I could! Why did it take IntSys until 3 Houses to implement LGBT+ pairings when this game is right here?! At least this game doesn't have the weird student/teacher relationships 3H has and believe me when I say that, if it weren't for the fact I could give less of a fuck for 3H, I wouldn't play that game for that reason! Anyway, Awakening is hella gay and it should've been the first LGBT+ FE game instead of 3H.

The Best/Worst contest... As I said in the beginning, there'll be a Best/Worst Boy and Girl for both generations because that's fun and it seems to matter a lot to some people. Repeating what I said, this is just my opinion and you're free to agree or disagree with me. One rule I'm putting in is I will try my best to not pick fan favorites. Don't get me wrong when some of the crowd pleasers are good but there are other characters that deserve just as much love as the fan favorites so this is why I'm putting in this rule. Without further ado, here are the rulings!

1st Gen

Best Boy-Lon'qu

Best Girl-Panne

Worst Boy-Virion

Worst Girl-Miriel

2nd Gen

Best Boy-Owain

Best Girl-Cynthia

Worst Boy-Inigo

Worst Girl-Severa

Let's see how many people I piss off with these judgements. So, my reasoning: Best Boy for 1st gen was a big toss-up. I kept wanting to choose between Chrom, Frederick, Stahl, and Lon'qu because they really endeared themselves to me but I chose Lon'qu in the end because he's honestly such a dork (I mean, all of them are) and I gotta admire how he tries to overcome his fear of women and try being there for his wife and daughter if he happens to have one. There's also the fact he has to literally psyche himself up to talk to women if you check in with him in the Barracks and I'm just like "Fucking hell, that's adorable and I GET it". Best girl is Panne because believe me when I say that the moment I see this woman and hear her voice, I'm immediately gay for her. Then she transforms into a giant rabbit, kicks so much ass, and I'm in love. Funny story, I'd talk to my friend about my progress in Awakening on Discord and the moment he asks me who best girl was and I answered Panne, he called me out for being a furry. Granted, I would've automatically said Luce but I'm trying not to pick fan favorites so I get his criticism. If a woman like Panne existed in real life, bunny ears and tail and all, I'd probably become a furry for her, no questions asked. As for worst boy and girl, Virion and Miriel are characters I honestly don't give much of a fuck about. Not that they're bad, I just don't care about their archetypes, if that makes sense. Miriel I found to be boring and Virion's of the Casanova archetype and I've always kinda hated that archetype so that's why they're on the ranking.

Oh boy, 2nd gen. So, best boy being Owain. This boy is going to kill me. He's so adorable and sweet and he's just a good boy. There are literally Tweets on my Twitter where I just gush about him and he deserves so much love. He's just a sweet boy who loves his parents so much and is so proud to be their son and how he manages to rope his cousins (Luce and Morgan) into going with his fantasies and how they just go along with it! Owain is a cinnabun and I want to protect him and love him. Anyway, best girl being Cynthia is sorta the same reason as Owain. She's just so bubbly and happy and just adorable. Yeah, she may get carried away with showboating but I just love her earnest desire to be a hero. I think everyone can see why I paired Owain and Cynthia up. Now for the worst. Inigo and Severa are probably the only characters in this whole game that straight up got on my fucking nerves and for different reasons. Outside of his supports with Olivia and Henry, Inigo's constant flirting with the girls and Robin and inability to take no for an answer just rubbed me the wrong way. I actually put out a Tweet saying how Inigo's like an r/niceguy and I still think he is one. Course, this doesn't mean I didn't have my fair share of laughs from him. I fucking died at his and Gerome's A-Support where he ends up pathetically crying after the emo loner got more game than him and Gerome has to comfort his ass, that was hilarious. It also helped the fact that Liam O'Brien, who I've only heard him as the brooding emo loner role, voiced Inigo as the complete opposite of that and I had a blast. Severa, on the other hand, was...really unpleasant. There's a reason I hate Tsunderes with a passion and it's because they're unnecessarily bitchy towards everyone they know, even if they have no reason to be. Severa, however, was somehow worse because she went out of her way to be horrible to people. My dislike for her was cemented the moment I saw her and Cynthia's C-Support and she chose to make fun of her, despite Cynthia minding her own business and Severa just going "fuck it". However, I should express that I understand why Inigo and Severa are the way they are and that's why I'm not being as harsh on them as I could be. They still have their good moments and I can appreciate them while also raking them over the coals.

So that concludes my review/experience of Fire Emblem: Awakening! Despite some moments of frustration and annoyance, I had fun playing this! I mean it when I say I'm gonna miss these kids but I had plenty of time to spend with them so it's time to move on to newer lands. Next up on the list is Fates and I think I'm siding with Hoshido first. It's funny how, despite me spoiling the story for myself 3 separate times, I still can't remember much, if any, of it so that may say something about the quality. I also know Fates is pretty divisive among the fandom but the thing I know it for is the weird pseudo-incestuous ships it has so that's going to be fun! Hopefully, I'll get around to playing as one of my other mains in Smash, my water horse dragon Corrin, sometime soon and I'll be sure to let everyone know when my journey will start!

#fire emblem awakening

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vgwriter · 6 years

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Breath of the Wild: A Review

A Little History

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out in 2017 to universal acclaim and helped to successfully launch the Nintendo Switch. While that is far from a surprise, (the Zelda series is one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful franchises of all time) Breath of the Wild does take the series in a much different direction. It's focus is almost completely on exploration and is the most nonlinear of the series. It is the second biggest jump the series has made outside of going 3D. So, does it work? Well, the rest of the world and their mother seem to think so but here's my take on this game.

What I Loved

*SPOILERS*

#1-A Story to Remember

It seems odd to focus on the story when the game doesn't but behind the vast world and great characters is a subtle yet amazingly well executed story. The player finds Link in a DBZ healing pod after he is just awakened from a hundred year slumber of healing. He is told by the disembodied voice of British Zelda to defeat Calamity Ganon but wait, there's more! Turns out Link has amnesia from the fight he had 100 years ago trying to protect Zelda. After obtaining the Sheikah Slate (the games multi-tool), the player discovers there are photos Zelda locked in the Slate to help Link recover his memory. This is how the story is unfolded for the player. The struggles of the Five Champions and Princess Zelda are seen through flashbacks that explain how Hyrule went to sh*t. It is a simple and traditional method but it is effective when coupled with the games minimalist piano soundtrack and isolated atmosphere. It gives a heartbreaking insight into just how lonely and broken this version of Hyrule is and how much Link and the others lost.

#2-The Puzzles

The games dungeons are split up into two catagories: shrine and divine beasts. The shrines are smaller and have a variety of challenges in their 120 locations while the devine beasts are 4 large challenges with several moving parts. Most shrines are designed to be easy to follow but still make the player feel creative. This feeling of creativity stems from the developers themselves that made each level doable in multiple ways. Each dungeon is designed to test the players use of the games mechanics, the player can play it how it was designed or try to tackle it from another angle. One example from my personal playthrough was using a bomb arrow to light fire because I couldn't figure out how to light a torch through a gate. It worked but probably not the way it was designed to. While not every shrine has a variety of ways to solve them (mostly the trial by combat shrines), they are all intriguing challenges designed with fun in mind and feel rewarding when completed. The divine beasts are a similar story with a few minor details. The player must first find the map of the dungeon and then go about reclaiming terminals to free the divine. The map is a 3D rendering of the dungeon with an interactive portion that moves key parts of the beast around. This was a great design choice because it challenges the player to think of the dungeon as a moving puzzle and to consider how moving the pieces will help them advance to the boss.

#3-The World and Character Design

To say the world is stunning is an understatement. The design of the enviroment feels so natural to explore and interact with that finding Koroks is like spoting cognitive distortion in a high school drop outs racist rant on Facebook. I usually find map towers annoying in games like Assassin's Creed but in BOTW they are better integrated into the games exploration. Some towers are actually challenging to climb if Link doesn't have enough stamina or if the player just throws him onto a tower without looking for enemies first. They are like little challenges all their own and it is a great take on something that has been bland and stale since it was first introduced (to me at least) in AC1. Outside of the towers is the vast world that pulls the player into it with rewarding exploration in cute and helpful ways. The shrines are an obvious reason to explore but there are also Koroks, fun and unique side quests, and just cool stuff to find as well. The variety and density of things to do justifies the games gigantic map. It is one of the few games to live up to the idea of an open-world and keep it interesting throughout a 100 hour playthrough.

The art design, oh my cel shaded god, it's amazing. I'm not gonna pretend like I'm some art history major but the regional designs do some pretty interesting things with the enviroment. The five peoples in Hyrule have all appeared in previous titles but have been tweaked in some way for BOTW. The Gorons have a theme of raw strength throughout their entire section of the map, from their weapons to the steel planks on the streets of Goron City. The Rito's design is more centered on their freedom and ability to fly with the entire settlement resembling a nest. Seriously, everything has feathers. The Zora have an elegance in everything they own from the large city built from one large carving to the silver weapons. The Gerudo seem to be a shell of their former selves like the Hylians with ruins surrounding their two settlements. Their quality in construction and bejewelment of everything that shines shows what matters most to them, beauty and effectiveness. The Hylian design is European with a mix of far east in certain pockets. Hyrule castle is a great dungeon that actually lives up to the title of castle. Kakariko village is a weird area that doesn't fit into the Hylian design but c'mon, you can't go wrong with far eastern architecture. Each region has its own design that both fit its surroundings and its people and feels natural, like the people and land are truly living together. It's impressive that Nintendo was able to pull that off because it is not easy to do.

The characters are simply iconic, mostly. The four champions don't get a lot of screen time but they use what they have effectively. Daruk is a stubborn strong man with a great admiration for strength and brotherhood. Mipha is the white mage of the group with a thing for Link (which I prefer to Zelda). Revali is the arrogent prick of the group that comes around eventually. Urbosa is basically the group mom, being the most mature out of everyone. Each of these characters are simple but fill their role effectively and are all quite likeable (even Rivali). Their present day counterparts aren't as memorable though. I mean, outside of Sidon. Sidon makes me feel like I can do anything just by smiling. But everyone else I had to look up for this review. Yunobo is some shy kid that finally lives up to his potential. Teba is a proud warrior but really not that memorable. Riju comes close to being memorable but I still had to look her up. Outside of the champions and their descendents, Kilton made an impression on me. The Bolson company had one of my favorite quests and some of the funnier cutscenes. Each side quest character has that quaint old fashioned rpg vacuum writing. They all live in their own world and interact with Link for one reason.

Overall, the characters and how they interact with the enviroment are what make this game a masterpiece. The mechanics and story are what make it a great game but the world design is that extra step where most great games stumble to me.

#4-The Combat

The combat is simple but has a multitude of uses against the games enemies. Link has three moves: attack, shield, and shoot. Everything beyond this simple moveset depends on how the player equips Link or uses the Slate Ruins. If an enemy is mostly ice, fire weapons are super effective and vice versa. Thunder disarms anyone, including Link. It gets better than simple elemental weapons. If you bring a cucco to a battle and an enemy hits that cucco, a swarm of bird will rain hell on that unassuming bokoblin. Seriously, that alone gives this a 5/5! Also, the enviroment can be used as a weapon if it's set up correctly. If Link fells a tree and lines up the path right, it will attack the enemies. There is just so much to do in this game and it all works off of three simple actions. Perfect.

#5-Misc.

Some other things that stood out enough to mention but not enough to make a paragraph. The crafting is useful and not intrusive. Link can buy a house, which is always fun. The outfits are all great designs and useful in their respective enviroment. There are throwback outfits from previous titles (mostly through amiibos) and that is always cool. Zelda became a scholar and that was a great take, not just on Zelda but on the idea of fictional princesses in general. Link can cut grass. The variety of weapons is astounding. Oh, and uh, all this fits on a small little card no bigger then the last knuckle of my thumb.

What I Didn't Like

#1-The Weapons Fragile Weaponinity

The weapons break way too easy. That's it. That is the only thing I have to complain about this game. That shouldn't be all I have to complain about. I should have two more points to make at least but I don't. Nintendo has made a masterpiece.

The Score

This game shouldn't exsist, it's too good. The gameplay is simple but versatile. The enviroment is peaceful and relaxing while also being desolate and dangerous and this makes it fun to explore. The story and the enviroment fit so well together and compliment each other every time they connect. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a 5/5 and the definitive way to make open-ended games.

#legend of zelda #zelda #botw #nintendo #video games #reviews #spoilers #5/5 #prince sidon #lady mipha #mipha x link #urbosa #daruk

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husbaano · 6 years

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Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition HD Review: A Bite-Sized Disappointment

Final Fantasy XV is a staple for modern day Square Enix that has one of the most bizarre development cycles and releases in gaming. When it originally launched for consoles in 2016 it had been 10 years since its conceptual reveal trailer, underwent both a system change as well as a director change, and a 3 month release delay. After such a long developmental cycle the game receive mediocre reviews including from myself who was extremely confused to how the game was considered “finished” in the first place with laughably unexplained cut scenes, bad animations, a simple combat system with no depth and just overall lack of polish; all of that development time and the game just ended up being bizarre and incomplete. Square Enix even stated that this was intentional in order to promote a “games as a service” model in order to keep providing for the consumers. Final Fantasy XV has continued to grow as its own brand since its release nearly 3 years ago with a full length feature film, an anime series, two mobile games, DLC and free updates to further “polish” the game. Square Enix is continuing to expand the reach of this multimedia powerhouse with the release of Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition for the Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One; an HD port of a “demake” originally made for mobile platforms. This demake somehow manages to capture the spirit of the original while adding some minor adjustments to make the originally once bumpy road trip a little smoother.

Final Fantasy: Pocket Edition HD retains the exact main plot from the original console release, even going as far as using the same audio and cutscenes; just chibi-fied. Set in a fantastical modern land, or a “fantasy based on reality”, Prince Noctis of the kingdom Lucis, must travel with his three companions to be wed to Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae to complete a peace treaty. Thing don’t go exactly as planned as the peace treaty is very soon breached by the enemy nation, Niflheim, and the four boys must go on a journey to save the people of Lucis. In the original release I was baffled by how little of the story there was in the main game; a good chunk of it was found in supplemental material, specifically the anime series and the movie, like how the four boys became friends and how the peace treaty was breached in the first place; all of which are kind of crucial to the plot. To put it frankly the original story was a mess, important battles and events occur off screen, characters aren’t introduced or have purpose but the player is expected to care about them, time-skips happen often, almost no time is spent on the rival empire Niflheim and a lot of the characters associated with it go nowhere. It's just a weird occurrence when a randomly introduced man named Jared gets three main story quests devoted to him when the main antagonists get no screen time, some characters even only appear for one in the entire game. The main four characters, Noctis, Ignis, Prompto and Gladio, and their “roadtrip” are meant to be the heart and soul of the adventure; and they really are. Their interactions are charming, amusing and downright funny I love the brotherly bond the four share throughout the journey and during gameplay; its just annoying to realize that there is no in-game explanation as to how the four became friends in the first place! The story was, and is still, definitely a mess but the game developers tried to alleviate some of these issues through updates and DLC; although not perfect, the game is in way better shape than it was when it originally released.

Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition HD contains most of the major hiccups of the original release since its story is almost 1:1 with the original just with a new coat of paint, but it still manages to improve in some areas. One thing that stood out to me the moment I started it was the added “context” found before cut scenes; text blurbs occasionally appear to inform new players about the lore and the general story which helps comprehension immensely and is something that should have been in the original release to begin with. Another way Pocket Edition HD improves upon the story is by providing NPC dialogue strictly regarding the plot; this helps with world building and keeps the player invested in the story. One of the most common complaints about the original release was the lack of urgency since the plot seemed very “linear” but the game itself was open world so a lot of that plot tension was lost. Since Pocket Edition HD is a linear experience, the plot isn’t lost upon the player and is almost always the focus.

The entire game has been compressed into a cute, chibi art style that is very similar to the 2007 FFIV Remake for the Nintendo DS and 2013’s Bravely Default for the Nintendo 3DS. The art-style is distinct and translates the character designs well but the animations leave a lot to be desired. It feels as though they cheapened out on animations during cut scenes rather than it being part of the “demake” experience. The voice clips are all ripped from the console edition so some dramatic scenes come off as goofy rather than emotional. Pop-in is common and the game chugs while in docked-mode; in handheld mode the game runs at a smooth 60 fps most of the time. The menus are nothing special either; they feel pretty empty, boring and bare bones. It's not horrible for a mobile title, but for a $30 Nintendo Switch game this is bit disappointing.

Pocket Edition HD takes the console version and streamlines it to become a linear adventure rather than an open-world one. The world of Eos in the original release was vast but empty; it was just big for the sake of being big with nothing to do. Pocket Edition’s linearity is actually a benefit since the game seems a lot more focused, the plot is more cohesive and it feels more like a game rather than a walking simulator. The combat system has been overhauled but not for the best. As someone with 90 hours in the original release, I learnt the “depth” of the combat system but it wasn’t entirely enticing; it eventually watered down into mashing warps and holding buttons to block every attack in the game. It wasn’t deep or engaging,it kinda was just there. Now PE: HD takes this already watered down combat and dilutes it down even more. Each party member fights on their own while the player can only control Noctis. A single button is held to automatically attack the enemy you’re targeting, while occasional prompts appear that give you the option to perform a special attack with one of your teammates. Noctis can warp-strike to any enemy on the field at the cost of MP, and occasional QTEs can give you a brief window in which an incoming attack can be dodged or parried. The combat system is very bare-bones and fun at first, but it begins to drag once you realize it doesn’t get any more intricate. It’s stale and just plain easy; there is almost no challenge whatsoever. You can pause the game at any time to consume many readily available Potions to restore HP and the enemies go down fast.

In a similar fashion, the progression system is a watered down version of the console version. XP is awarded to party members after each battle and is applied at the end of each story mission. Leveling up party members allows for upgraded stats and AP to be gained. These Ability Points can be used on the bare-bones skill-tree to obtain new skills for the party; the skill-tree is just kinda basic and boring especially taking into consideration that enemies die easily to basic attacks as is.

Final Fantasy XV is Square-Enix’s new cash-cow and as such is being distributed to every platform imaginable. Square’s newest venture with the XV brand, Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition HD is a bizarre one and tough sell. This mobile app “demake” up-scaled for HD on the Nintendo Switch is a strange concept that lands in the story department for the most-part but lacks greatly in regards to game-play. It's a very strange release that serves little purpose considering the original release is a bit cheaper than this mobile title ported to the Nintendo Switch. It gets the job done if you want to experience XV without access to any other console but the price-point is just too high to justify the purchase.

#final fantasy #final fantasy xv #xv #review #game review #pocket edition #switch #noctis

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dlamp-dictator · 7 years

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Allen’s End of the Year Rambling: Fighting Games

So now we get to the part of my End of the Year Rambling where I actually Ramble. This... this is gonna’ be a long one, and I haven’t even gotten to the RPGs yet... Lord help when I do.

So yes, video games. I can’t just talk about everything in one go, I’ve played so much, played too much to be honest. So for the sake of my sanity I’ll be breaking this into genres, starting with fighting games.

I’ll be honest here, I’m not the best at fighting games. As much as I love a lot of the characters, as much as I enjoy writing lyrics to the character themes and fanfics for the lesser known fighting games, I really couldn’t play at a competitive level for my life. My best game is Blazblue, and I can barely keep a 10% win rate on rank.

No, my love of fighting games comes from the aesthetics and the animations.

Fighting games just tend to look very pretty in motion, and as someone that loves action and shounen and all that, games like these are right up my alley in terms of hitting those aesthetics. I don’t mind trying to learn how to play the game, but... well, “Git Gud” is a phrase that will forever haunt me for a reason.

But yeah, I gave just about everything a shot as far as fighting games go this year. I played 2D fighters, 3D fighters, Brawlers, Side-Scrolling Beat-Em-Ups, and so on. If it went on sale on PSN or Steam, I tried it out. So here are some of the highlights and my general thoughts on some of these games.

So first I gotta’ talk about Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Blazblue’s older brother in a way. I’m not gonna’ lie, my opinion of Guilty Gear is a tad... negative due to a lot of Guilty Gear fans putting down on Blazblue fans in the early years of Blazblue’s rising as a fighting game. I know I shouldn’t let that color my view of the game, but it does make it harder to make posts like this, and I can’t help but compare so many things in terms of characters and aesthetics. I tried a bit of Xrd when it came out, the original Xrd back in 2014. I mainly played Chipp and Ramlethal, then mostly Ramlethal since she was a bit easier than Chipp (online anyway). I liked a lot the visuals and animations, it was a bit grittier than Blazblue, and had a much easier story to follow despite being the 3rd (major) game in the series than the time-traveling, multi-dimensional, quantum-mechanical science-meets-magic craziness that was Blazblue. Hell, the voice casting was actually pretty good, even if it felt like they used literally 10 voice actors at times (I swear every English voice actor was playing at least 2 characters). I put it down after awhile and went back to Blazblue and Under Night In-Birth.

What brought me back to Guilty Gear was actually Answer, and not Baiken to everyone’s surprise. As much as I love samurais and tough girls, Answer hit every single Ninja aesthetic I could ask for in the world of Guilty Gear. His suit, his style, how he talks on the phone while he fights, his theme, oh lord, his theme. I bought Rev 2 with every intent on Maining him.

Then I realized I had to learn how his scrolls worked to do that, and went right back to maining Ram.

As far as the story of Rev 2 goes, I... I really don’t care for it. I honestly didn’t bother with it after chapter 2. And honestly, it was because this game didn’t get dubbed.

Yeah... sorry if I’m bringing up an old point of complaint, but when games have visual novel-style cutscenes, or a CG movie in the case of Guilty Gear, to showcase their story I’d really prefer a dub. It’s just easier for me personally to follow the information a bit more. The Japanese voice actors sound fine, and I do prefer Ramlethal’s Japanese voice as a oppose to Erin Fitzgerald if I’m being frank, but... I need a dub for these kinds of story scenes, hearing it in a language I understand helps me. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between, and I’m especially not cutting Guilty Gear a break because of that. The only reason I tolerated it in Blazblue is because it was the finale to Ragna’s story, and I was personally invested in Ragna’s character after 3 games. Sol and the cast of Guilty Gear... don’t get that advantage with me since was my first time really caring about the story. I played a bit of Guilty Gear XX beforehand, but not enough to care.

In terms of how it plays, it’s fine. Personally, I think Guilty Gear is way more strict with inputs. You can’t just fumble around with joystick and expect to combo into a DP like in Blazblue, you need to be accurate. You also have to account for close and far-ranged normals like with Slash and Heavy Slash. Guilty Gear is... just a different animal for me. A more strategic and precise one that punishes mistakes heavily.

I do like a lot about it though. It’s music definitely surpasses Blazblue in terms of quality, my favorites of the Rev 2 track is One Dawn, Dizzy’s theme, and Enough is Enough, Answer’s theme. I’m... trying get lyrics together for those songs, but... eh, it’ll take some times.

Next up, we’ve got Street Fighter 5. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of the Street Fighter series, but I do like a handful of character in the sense of aesthetics. Makoto and Ibuki are my favorites, but yeah, I actually bought this game since it was real cheap at the time and I wanted to see if I could actually get into it despite it’s focus on competitive play. I heard this game wasn’t for those looking for a single-player experience, but I needed to see that for myself.

And man, this game is actually tough. Sorry, for the sudden segue, but mechanics of Street Fighter so different to the fast-pace style of an ASW fighter. Doing combos is so hard for me. I know Guilty Gear was tough and punished mashing, but Street Fighter is so much slower paced with how you need to approach it. This game does not want you to button mash for combos. Like, at all. In fact, the main reason I like Ibuki so much is because she one of the few characters who has a handful of combos that you can mash. You need to time things carefully, and that makes things a nightmare for me in netplay sometimes.

But, back to my time with the game. I know I’m beating a dead horse with this critique, but the lack of a true arcade mode or any really single-player experience outside of Survival Mode really bugs me. As someone that isn’t good on a competitive level, nor has an interest in the competitive scene of Street Fighter, I feel like there’s nothing keeping me around. Maybe I could find a group of beginners like me and just pal around with them and improve, but... I don’t know, I don’t think it’s worth it.

In terms of good things about this game, I like the presentation very much. We can... talk about character models and their hair another time, but I like a lot of the outfits and style of the characters. Certain outfits I just had to get for the aesthetics of them. Like I said before, Street Fighter has aesthetics, but... not much outside that is keeping me playing it. Eh, maybe I write a fanfic about the series, who knows?

Alright, next is something I was meaning to get to for awhile, King of Fighters 14. Between this and Street Fighter, I much prefer this one. The inputs took me a minute to get use to, realizing that special inputs could be combined into super inputs and all that, but I like the combo system in this game. I find it a little faster paced than Street Fighter, but not as fast as something like Blazblue. It’s a nice middle ground given my experiences, something I’d be willing to stick a little bit more time into.

I had to uninstall this due to... certain events happening this year with my PS4, but I’m hoping to buy a physical copy of this game at some point in 2018 and try this out in earnest. My favorite characters to use were Mian, Luong, and Mui Mui. I messed around a little with Alice and Vanessa too at the time before... the event. I’m just hoping there’s still a community afterwards when I get this game later.

And last one my fighting game highlights, I tried to get into Tekken 7. I really tried too, but there’s just a lot that’s dissuading me from it. Much like Street Fighter, I feel like the focus was on online and competitive play instead of making a single player experience. Story mode I didn’t care much for since I’m apathetic to Tekken’s storyline as a whole. Arcade mode... is barely there. There’s Treasure battle, but it doesn’t feel like much of a game there. Honestly, I think Tekken 6 was a little better at this. I feel like a lot of previous fighting game titles did more for the single player experience to be honest. I mean, it’s fine if they want to focus on multiplayer and online,but that just didn’t keep my attention. I’m not really interested in reaching a higher tier of playing a fighting game unless we’re talking about Blazblue and Under Night In Birth.

Now if there’s one good thing I can say about Tekken, it’s the animations. If there’s any reason I get 3D fighters, it’s for how fluid all the characters look and move. It’s why I like Virtua Fighter, it’s why I like Dead or Alive, and it’s why I like Tekken. Your character just does cool stuff when playing them, and unlike 2D fighters, it really feels like you’re doing all the crazy martial arts action. Spectacle is probably the main reason I love Tekken so much, and even if I feel this game is lacking, I’ll probably come back to it eventually... eventually.

Honorable Mentions

Blazblue Central Fiction 2.0: I’ll talk about the Blazblue series in depth another time, but I do want to at least finally welcome Jubei to the cast, it’s nice to have you here Cat Person, here’s hoping we can see you in Cross Tag Battle.

Dead or Alive 5: I actually played this a bit more often over this year, not enough to talk about it in depth, but I’ll admit there’s more to this game mechanically than the breast setting... plus I... spend roughly $100 on cute outfits for the girls... hehe... what can I say, I’m a bit of a shameless pervert.

Absolvers: While technically not a fighting game, there’s enough fighting and martial arts in this game for me to give it a quick mention. I liked it well enough, I just wish it ran at a higher frame rate on the PS4 though.

The Plethora of Small-Scale Fighters/Old Re-Releases I Bought This Year: If I talked about all the fighting games I bought and I’d be here all day, so I’ll just list them off here.

Brawlhalla

Chaos Code New Sign of Catastrophe

Garou: Mark of the Wolves

The Last Blade

Melty Blood

Blade Arcus from Shining: Battle Arena

Arcana Heart 3 Love Max Six Stars

And that’s it for fighting games. Again, I care more about fighting games in terms of aesthetics and animations, something I’ll probably Ramble about in the future, but for now... I’ll see you all when I talk about the Fate series... yeah, I’m really hesitating to talk about RPGs guys, just... give me a week at least.

#guilty gear #street fighter #king of fighters #tekken #your dictator is speaking

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illdothehotvoice · 4 years

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i didn’t know if i should do a first impressions for this game or not because to my knowledge only a chunk of the ace attorney fandom has actually played it but then remembered these are mostly for me anyways so whatever djgkfj. Hit the Keep Reading if you want to see me ramble about an archaeologist and a lawyer.

[Okay so a quick disclaimer i should get out of the way is that I’ve never played a Professor Layton game and I don’t like doing Courtroom segments at night so I just got to Phoenix and Maya]

The opening cutscene was really nice, Phoenix is a quarantine icon.

Luke??? Is so fucking cute. I have never seen a cuter little boy in my life, I would like to hug him please. What a sweet boy.

The animation is really good! And the voice acting for the Professor Layton characters are really nice. This is a given but i’ve never had a chance to actually bring is up but I ADORE the Professor Layton art style it’s s round and cute. goals.

I mentioned the voice acting for the Professor Layton characters was really good because it is, but boy howdy is Phoenix’s voice not that good rip. I can get past it because Trevor White is really good at capturing Phoenix’s vibe so far it’s not his fault he doesn’t sound anything like the voices he’s had before.

Maya’s voice is also not the best but I have too much respect for voice actors to go in depth about why i don’t like their performance. It’s also not Samantha Dakin’s fault that Maya’s voice is super inconsistent in the series. (this coming from the kid that hasn't gotten to Maya in SoJ yet making the only Maya voice she’s heard be from the anime.)

Going back to the animation (which is beautiful btw) I personally think this is my favorite depiction of Phoenix. The above screenshot isn’t a good example because of the lighting on the plane but his skin tone is closer to his skin tone in Apollo Justice which is nice because gdi i may be the palest person i know but i at least understand that you can’t just give a character darker skin one game and then turn around the next and make his skin tone lighter than it originally was, you have to commit to that shit capcom. Again above screenshot is not a good example but his facial features just look really nice in this style too.

3D models looks great! Except for Phoenix’s gdi this man just isn’t allowed to look good in a 3D environment. He’s so skinny rip Phoenix.

I’m not finding myself boredly waiting for the next Ace Attorney segment which is something I was really scared of, but the Professor Layton segments so far are really nice and charming, and again I fucking ADORE Luke. The puzzles are fun and charming and ngl I prefer this was of investigating over Ace Attorney’s. Though I do appreciate that Ace Attorney’s investigation segments have more flavor text.

Lastly I was sad because I saw Edgeworth’s concept art and then saw that in game he just has the same outfit he has in the trilogy so I was scared because I thought he was just going to be a tutorial character and then fuck ff for the rest of the game but at least to my understanding it seems Edgeworth is going to end up in Labyrinthia at some point and I think that’s wild I want to see this logic man end up in a world full of magic and if he doesn’t then my canon now. Also speaking of concept art I’m curious to see if that Phoenix concept art I was talking about actually happened or not but since I’ve convinced myself it didn’t i won’t be disappointed if it doesn’t.

Anyways I’m REALLY enjoying this so far I really hope I don’t fall in love with the black sheep of the series again but that seems to be my thing so whatever.

#emily rambles #ace attorney spoilers #plvpw #long post

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tisorridalamor · 5 years

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Early 3H opinions

This game is really fun and I’m enjoying it a lot so here are my thoughts (I’ve only gotten through like 2 months so no spoiler stuff here)

Big Echoes vibes between the full voice acting, art, and combat, which is great because Echoes was my fav 3DS fire emblem. However, there is way more character interaction with supports so that’s awesome

Opening cutscene was really awesome I feel like I need to say that

WOW the writing has improved. While a few characters still feel a little one note (Raphael and Lysithea in my opinion) one of my first support convos I got was between Lorenz and Claude and it was really really interesting

I’ve also liked a lot of characters that I didn’t think I would. A really good example is Manuela. There was a line from another professor about seeing her drop a sandwich, say “3 second rule,” pick it up and continue eating. It was so unexpected I now find her entire character hilarious

Not sure if this is good or bad but I’m surprised at how much of a “silent protagonist” Byleth is considering they have the least amount of customization options between them, Robin, and Corrin.

Running around the monastery is really fun. I like the quests, talking to everyone, finding stuff to regift or give back to someone, there’s just a lot to do and I enjoy that

Haven’t quite figured out teaching yet but it’s fun

This one is really unexpected and maybe controversial, but from how much the students have emphasized that Byleth is basically their age, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m actually uncomfortable pairing Byleth with the other professors. Like this is just me, but considering a lot of the profs are your dads age I’m not super into that. Haven’t gotten anywhere NEAR romantic relations with ANYONE but these are my current thoughts, possibly subject to change

Music is good

Graphics are good but tbh I miss the cute 2D sprites

You can recruit a LOT more characters from other houses than I thought you’d be able to and that is very very good

#take literally all of this with a grain of salt I'm just putting my thoughts out there #fe #fun talk tag

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birdboyjustice · 7 years

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ACE ATTORNEY MASTERPOST - UPDATED 04/09/2017

Strap in everyone, this is 16 years worth of content. Disclaimer: may contain minor spoilers and Opinions™. Also, I tried my best, but this still isn’t a conclusive list. If you have any additions/corrections, please let me know! (under the cut for length so mobile users need to click through)

Contents:

Main series games (including availability)

Spin-off games (including where you can access)

Other official media (including stage plays + links)

Notable fan media (musicals + Youtube)

MAIN SERIES

First things first, the core six games (release dates are of western release) :

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2005 [DS])

The game that started it all. This game deals with Phoenix’s first cases as a lawyer, and has a really solid internal arc that has appeared in so much other media now that I don’t appreciate it as much as I probably should anymore. Edgeworth is main prosecutor. Five cases. Available on DS, 3DS eShop, Wiiware, and iOS.

PWAA: Justice for All (2007 [DS])

The second game carries on character development and gives more background on the Fey clan, introducing the concept of Psyche-Locks. The last case of this game is my favourite in the series because I live for the #drama. Franziska is main prosecutor. Four cases. Available on DS, 3DS eShop, Wiiware, and iOS.

PWAA: Trials and Tribulations (2007 [DS])

This game finishes off the initial trilogy of games. Includes flashbacks where you play as Phoenix’s mentor Mia when she was a rookie, so you get to see young Phoenix. The last case of this one is another one which completely owns me. This game gets kinda fucked up. Godot is main prosecutor. Five cases. Available on DS, 3DS eShop, Wiiware, and iOS.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (2008)

Takes place 7 years after the previous game, focusing on new lawyer Apollo after Phoenix was disbarred. Introduces the ‘Perceive’ feature that lets you see people’s tells when they are lying. This is like…… a really good game, you guys. Separate from the original series, could be played as a standalone easily enough. Klavier is main prosecutor. Four cases. Available on DS, iOS, and Android.

PWAA: Dual Destinies (2013)

Phoenix Is Back. This game features anime cutscenes and voice acting, which was Very Exciting at the time and Sam Riegal is there. Introduces Athena and her ~mood matrix~ which lets you work out the truth from people’s emotions. Mixed opinions these days but most people are fucked up about the Phantom. Blackquill is the main prosecutor. Five cases + DLC. Available on 3DS eShop and iOS.

PWAA: Spirit of Justice (2016)

This game is mainly set in a separate kingdom and the revolution of that legal system. Adds a new branch to the Kurain mythos linked to the Fey clan that doesn’t make loads of sense but I loved the game so whatever. Introduces seances so you can see the victim’s final moments. Nahyuta is the main prosecutor. Five cases + DLC. Available on 3DS eShop.

SPIN OFF GAMES

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (2010)

This game series focuses on the investigation part rather than the court part, and you can run around the map which is pretty cool. You play as Edgeworth as more bad things happen to him and you get to see some more of the prosecutors and police. Origin of Deid Mann. Five cases. Available on DS.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor’s Path

The sequel is arguably better than the original and there’s flashbacks to Edgeworth’s dad which is heartbreaking. It’s not released in the west, but instructions and links to play it in English with an emulator can be found here.

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2014)

This crossover features elements from both games, so you solve puzzles and do court cases. Also it’s medieval and there’s magic. It’s another one with cutscenes and voice acting, which is great but also TRAUMATISING. Barnham is main prosecutor. 12 cases + DLC. Available on DS.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Bōken

The DGS games follow Phoenix’s ancestor in 1800s Japan, though it is partially set in Victorian steampunk London with Sherlock Holmes. It’s really, really good. Another one not released in the west, but you can watch the entire thing subbed here.

Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2: Naruhodō Ryūnosuke no Kakugo

This one has only recently been released in Japan and so is not subbed in full yet, and can only be played on a Japanese 3DS. Looks good though. The subbed trailer is here.

OTHER OFFICIAL MEDIA

Kodansha Comics Manga

I don’t know loads about this series but the one I read had a giant spider mutant in so. Phoenix and Maya are the protagonists. There are 15 overall, and you can get them through Amazon.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (manga)

This manga series is based on the AAI games but there’s a lot more to it. The protagonists are Edgeworth and Gumshoe. There are 25 overall, again I think they can all be found on Amazon.

Ace Attorney (Film) 2012

This live-action film features cases 1, 2, and 4 from the first game. It’s got a great cast and some real tongue-in-cheek humour about how ridiculous the game is. It’s also just really cute in the way they show the characters and relationships and stuff, I would definitely recommend. You can watch it subbed here.

Anime 2016

There’s currently only one season of the anime, covering the first two games and including a couple of extra bits, like more detail on Larry, Miles, and Phoenix as kids. I’m not a massive fan of the art style and find the writing a bit dull, but the story is obviously good, the OP is a Jam, there’s good voice acting and it’s cool that it exists. You can watch the whole season for free on crunchyroll here, which I assume is legally supporting it also.

Turnabout Spotlight/Farewell, My Turnabout

It’s hard to tell, but these seem to be official stage plays. The former is a new story, whereas the latter is a dramatisation of the final case from the second game. They can be downloaded in Japanese here, though I’m not aware of any full subs available sadly.

The Truth Reborn: Musical

Capcom teamed up with Takarazuka Revue to make this all-female musical. It’s really good. It’s based on the fifth case of the first game but altered so Phoenix is more in the middle of it. It is all in Japanese, but the music is good, and it’s all very professional. You can watch it subbed here. Its success led to two more musicals, though I can’t find the second one anywhere and the third one (you can watch here) hasn’t been subbed yet.

Special Edition CD Dramas

These Japanese stories are companions to the games. Translations can be found here. [Note - the linked blog translates many other AA-related media]

NOTABLE FAN MEDIA

There’s loads of great fanworks in this fandom so this is by no means a comprehensive list, but it’ll get you started.

Turnabout Musical

Honestly? If you like Ace Attorney and you have any interest at all in musicals, you need this in your life. It’s incredible. This fan musical covers the first four cases of the first game. The songs are amazing and sample relevant music from the games, and the characterisation and interpretation of relationships is on point, in my opinion. There’s some great counterpoint too. You can watch a live production of the musical here (where the third case was cut for time), and download the full soundtrack here. The team(?) are also currently working on an Apollo Justice Musical, and you can follow their progress here.

Phoenix Wright: The Musical

This one is more of a parody, with some dumb jokes and silly costumes. Maya is arrested for murdering Larry. There aren’t a lot of actual songs, but the ones that exist are pretty good (especially Franziska’s, and, weirdly, Payne’s). You can watch it here.

Youtube: Boot to the Head

Listen. I wasn’t gonna not include this. The MOST iconic ace attorney meme, audio from a comedy sketch put to sprites. Link.

Youtube: Gay or European?

This one uses the audio from a Legally Blonde song to be about Klavier Gavin and it is canon. Link.

Youtube: Bohemian Rhapsody

This is a slightly less well-known video but it makes me emotional and I still think of it every time I hear Bohemian Rhapsody so yknow. Link.

Like I say, please message me if you have any additions or corrections!

#ace attorney #this is too much right... this is too much #listen. i just love ace attorney.#and i have no skill setting things out #most of this is from memory #who will even.. read this #it took hours #m

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