#xc3 artbook

[chubby-aphrodite]

this cammuravi concept art along with some of the bangin outfits for the main party in their concept art has made me form a headcanon:

the concept art is the kind of appearance/clothing they'd have in the normal versions of their universes/post universe merge. like this is what cammuravi chooses to look like as a normal (flesh eating) blade.

mio chooses to wear that cute dress. noah chooses to wear that jacket with the puffy sleeves. eunie with the leather jacket and spiky shoes. sena with her fire pigtails further cementing her role as Definitely The Morag/Brighid Lovechild. lanz ripping the sleeves off his parka being a universal constant. only taion not looking like that actually. (the green/yellow doesnt do it for him, and also white taion jumpscare.)

LOOK AT THIS. except taion. BUT LOOK AT THEM.

[anxious-lorf]

Man I can't believe Seven was Seven this whole time

[dobercorgis]

I rlly want to replay xc3 I swear I’ll finish ffx soon

[alt3rnata]

Me, seeing the world of XC3 for the first time: wow, guys, you are really in trouble here. By the way, aren’t you surprised by these boulders hanging in the air that don’t fall down? Ah, you're too busy surviving, okay. Plot: Artificial intelligence is involved here. Me: Ah, now it’s clear why everything is so bad, no questions. Artbook: Well, it's kinda virtual reality. You know, like, controlled by the source code running in Origin. Me: Oops, it's NOT BAD ENOUGH in this world, it has to be WORSE. What can you expect from a complex project that is being tested in production only? EVERYTHING GOES TO HELL, GETTING STUCK IN TEXTURES ALONG THE WAY.

[barrelcat]

Holiday Pickups 2022

Happy New Year!

A little late, but thought I’d share some pickups from right before Christmas to now. 

I’m very lucky to be a mod of a great writing community on discord and this is the second year that we’ve engaged in Secret Santa across the server. @grimbims, who was my Secret Santa, sent me Hades on the Switch! I was also delighted to discover that the physical copy of the game comes with a code for the soundtrack, as well as a small artbook featuring all of the game’s characters. It’s also my first roguelike (again, recalling that whole “broadening your gaming horizon” thing), and while Hades is difficult for my novice skills, it’s a terrible amount of fun. I’m not too bad at it, either. I favor the spear coupled with blessings from Artemis and have made it just past Asterius on Elysium, but that battle of attrition always leaves me struggling to survive afterward. 

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is the other game I’m shuffling between right now. I had asked for XC3, but there was a mixup during my gifter’s order and I ended up with this one instead, which may secretly have been what I actually wanted. I know that XC3 is supposed to be amazing, but I like to get the whole story, even if the internet tells me that I don’t need to play 1 and 2 before diving in. I’m about twenty hours deep so far and can confidently say that I’m going to play it to the end. The world and premise are interesting, the characters and story are compelling, even if the dialogue is a bit painful at times (my writer's brain can be overly critical even at the best of times), and the gameplay loop is satisfying. It feels very MMO to me. As an avid FFXIV player, that’s only a good thing. 

I was excited for Harvestella the moment it debuted on the Nintendo Direct back in June of ‘22 (oh my gosh, is that really “back in” already???). Even though I’ve only dabbled in a handful of farming/life simulators, I’ve obsessed over the ones that I have played (minus Stardew Valley - I know, I’m awful, but it just never grabbed me like it did others. Conan Exiles, though? I lost days to that game.) The anime aesthetic coupled with farming and crafting in Harvestella spoke to me like a game hasn’t in a long, long time, and I knew I needed it as soon as it launched. This was later confirmed when I blasted through the Switch demo shortly after. As excited as I was, though, I’ve decided to set this one aside until I finish the first Xenoblade. Then I’ll discover what was really going on with those Seaslights. 

I played Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the first time just a couple months ago. The two weeks I poured into it were gone all too quickly, and while I told myself and friends that I wanted to do a replay for the other endings and storylines, I just couldn’t bring myself to betray Edelgard. After 70+ hours together, her character meant too much to me. Color me excited when I realized that Fire Emblem: Three Hopes was another story featuring those characters, but in the style of the Dynasty Warriors games. (Note: to be honest, I’m not sure what the deal is with the story, but I’m excited to find out!) So once I get to this one, I’m sure it’s going to be another non-stop ride. 

Not gifts per se, but I did pick up a Byleth amiibo with some Christmas Cash, as well as a copy of Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright for the 3DS from the local used game shop. I wanted to get a copy of an FE Fates game so I could download the third not-so-secret storyline to that series, Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations. If you didn’t know, the online shop for the 3DS (and the Wii U, I believe) are being shut down in March of 2023. Apart from purchases made before that date, nothing will be available on those marketplaces to buy or download. Part of a string of odd choices made by Nintendo, recently. 

I’ve been eyeing these books since the newest printing was announced sometime last year. Both volumes of the Encyclopaedia Eorzea are gazetteers of the world of FFXIV, and feature stunning art taken from the game. They’re filled to the brim with world lore, and remind me more of a D&D campaign guide than anything else. I have half a mind to use them to run a game set in Eorzea using these books as source material. Maybe then I can get my group to join me in the MMO. 

This mug is from Etsy and brings me immeasurable joy. It features a memed version of Gaius van Baelsar’s famous line from the end of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn and makes me cackle every time I read it. I actually received two of these in duplicate, a 16oz and a 12 oz. The larger has worked its way into my mug rotation (because we all have a thousand mugs at this point, right?), and the smaller has earned its place among my small-yet-growing FFXIV collection next to my handcrafted moogle (a birthday present from my sister). From his perch, Gaius will always be there to remind me to drink more coffee. 

Probably the coolest gift I received this year was an ocarina from the Nintendo 64 classic, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. I’m not sure if the picture does it justice, but the craftsmanship is stunning. The blue gloss is deep and shines wonderfully under light. It fits perfectly on the shelf with my other Zelda mementos. The box came with sheet music for several melodies from the game, so I’m definitely going to try and learn a couple tunes. Physical items from games like this are the best. I’ll admit, I have a soft spot for action figures, but having something tangible from a game world you’ve invested hours into is so, so cool. 

The final, and arguably largest, pickup for this update is a Nintendo Wii that I was able to find locally on CraigsList for a fantastic price! I didn’t have a Wii when I was younger (well, I did briefly… but that story might be for another time) and I’ve had one on my list for a while. Everything works, minus some battery acid damage on one of the Wii remotes, but I’m going to invest some time into repairing that soon. 

The seller lived about an hour away, so we met halfway at another used game shop that I hadn’t been to before. After the transaction, I popped inside to grab a couple games as well, including Nights: Journey of Dreams and SSX Blur. I read the Nights comics when I was kid, which were Sega and Archie Comics attempting to see if the series could survive the market. They didn’t, unfortunately, but they were a major influencer in my perhaps misguided desire to become a writer, so I’ve always wanted to try the games. As for SSX, Blur is the only one I haven’t played in the series. SSX Tricky on the GameCube was a gaming staple when I was a kid, so I couldn’t pass this one up when I found it. 

All in all, exciting additions to the collection with a lot of games to enjoy. 

[tisorridalamor]

XC3 coming out in July??? What the...

[xenobabble]

B talks about Mira for a post

Contains some endgame dungeon spoilers for XC3, too, but only in passing.

So I'm thinking about Mira and like. How strange it is.

It's such an anomaly and it's so interesting to me? Like... Just thinking about how it almost seems like an endpoint for so many species? You can't escape, no matter what you try.

Can't leave orbit -- the Ganglion tried and they couldn't. Can't even time travel out -- Professor B learned that the hard way. If you end up on Mira, you're staying on Mira whether you want to or not. But it's not like the planet is trying to kill them, either.

Yeah, the indigens can be a problem, but only as much as if you get in their space, story wise. If you leave them predators spots alone, chances are you won't get much issue. Not to mention the odder things...

Namely: The existence of the water Orphe use to propagate their species. Something from their planet just... on Mira? Or the fact the Zaruboggan have plenty of Voltant iirc. Or the whole. Lifehold core being broken, all their data destroyed, and yet humanity persists? Mira traps you, but then keeps you alive.

Another interesting note is the like. Mechonis-like architecture in Oblivia? And the fact it apparently came from a superweapon used by one side of a conflict to try and wipe out the other side. Given some things about 3, namely Origin having some Mechonis-esque architecture. Uhmmmm.

Especially because the artbook calls Cauldros Old Wroth. Which could imply Mira holds pieces of a bunch of dying/dead worlds? Which is. So interesting. Multiversal failsafe that keeps species within it until they can grow and spread their wings again??

[sir-teatei-moonlight]

what is and isn't canon to you? xenoblade 3 probably isn't

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

All the major plot scenes in XC1 (+FC) and XC2 (+Torna) are canon. Some small changes may need to be made for things to flow better or patch up plot holes, but nothing major.

As many sidequests as possible are canon. For those that split into a choice, I try to leave them in the background and as ambiguous as possible so I don't have to force either path.

Side material, such as stuff from artbooks, is "half-canon". If it fits above-established canon well, it's fine. If it's out of left field or is directly contradictory, not so much. (example: the XC1 artbook claims the High Entia age rate is 5.5x, but from my affinity chart research, it has to be between 4.5x and 5.0x)

Any opinions on XC3 will wait until they are valid. In the meantime, I'm drafting a framework for either option.

I am leaving XCX on the side for the moment.