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jigensass · 11 months ago

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Part 1 - Video Games

Part 1 – Video Games.

The more I wrote this list, the more that I realized I played a lot of games this year. More than average.

First off, the one shot sittings.

Unpacking – made me cry 10/10.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. Best April fool’s Joke ever 10/10.

Papa’s Freezeria Deluxe. 7/10 because nostalgia.

Now, let’s start off with the real shit.

Persona 4 Golden – Yes I am aware this is a 10 year old game. I don’t care.

I have known about this game this its inception, most likely due to the now defunct playthrough from Super Best Friends. But not gonna lie, the pony version of this version was way much better.

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I’ve ranted on Persona 5 so damn much but I actually enjoyed this game and the critical issues of the teenage psyche that it delved into alongside the purpose of the main villain, who I am not going to spoil. Even the mascot character was bear-able to hear because you could literally bench the guy since he didn’t become a member of your party until halfway through the game. And Teddy was never in my face on what to do and didn’t creepily live in my house. The game just gave me suggestions when important events would happen to nudge me to say ‘hey, you should probably do this thing.’ Unlike Morgana who kept saying ‘Hey, Hey. We must sleep. Do as I say and obey.’

Overall I just found it more engaging and new mechanics weren’t always being shoved down my face during every new chapter and if there were new mechanics to use, I hardly ever used them because I mostly stuck with the same four core of Yu, Yukiko, Yosuke, & Kanji. I really wish I could have had more time to play with Naoto but by the time she enters your party, the game is nearly entering the final battle and any missed content you forgot to pick up along the way.

And I obviously picked well to romance the goth girl Marie, because I got a secret ending.

Overall, solid 8/10.

Sherlock Holmes the Awakened.

So the Gigachads at Frogwares have done it again and managed to make a sequel to their prequel ambiguously gay Sherlock game and as a remake of one of their first point and click adventures where Sherlock takes on Cthulhu.

Meanwhile in the background of all this madness (and how maddeningly they played the ending to a remake be a sequel to the original), kept throwing this about.

I’m just saying, if they announce the remake for Nemesis, I will live stream it.

And for those who don’t know what Nemesis is, it’s Lupin Part 6, the way it was supposed to be.

There is a demo on steam, the game is very short due to its age and if the old puzzles frustrate you, the game has an entire guide to how to solve Lupin’s shenanigans built in. If you love old point-and-click Nancy Drew like games, you’ll like this.

Giving it a cocktease/10.

Final Fantasy XVI & Final Fantasy Crisis Core (I’m lumping these two together).

Crisis Core is…Crisis Core. It was my first time playing it and because I set it down I believe last year or when it first came out, picked it up again, and finished it in maybe two or three more sessions and a few guide reads later, it felt…eh. It’s been a while since I’ve played it so since it really didn’t latch on to me like some further entries into the list, I would have been able to remembered some more.

However, I played FFXVI and there are only two things you need to take away from it.

The gays are winning.

Sex on the beach.

TORGO IS BEST BOI.

Cildilfus

No really that’s it. The combat for XVI is certainly something new. And at some points, it did make me cry. But overall because the game was so small and finite, it felt…unfulfilling. I wanted to spend more time in this world to get to know these characters. Yes, I am still a bit petty that when I played the demo before I bought the game they teased that you could also play as Joshua, maybe other characters, but that never came into fruition in the final version. Which makes me believe that this game had a lot more going for it than intended.

Just like the next game on the list…

Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

This game was probably the fastest I had explored a map within one sitting. My playthroughs for FFXVI and AC Mirage were about the same length. The return to form with the old stealth mechanics was refreshing, although I only played a small bit of Valhalla and that main character drove me nuts. However, I could have cared less about the story. It was all about that sweet, sweet map exploration. The very instant I was given free reign after the tutorial, I flipped off the first objective and went off to go explore the entire map. The glaring issues of how little work went into this game showed when I just waltzed up to the final area of the game with ease or how it felt boring that to have to backtrack through the plot to get half the armor and weapon upgrades that I went out of my own way to get on my own. At that point, I just didn’t care and the ending…yeah the ending made no sense to me at all.

5/10. Very mid.

But let’s go from mid to god tier and talk about the latest Yakuza- sorry Like a Dragon game, shall we?

Like a Dragon: Gaiden – The Man who Erased his Name

AFTER 7 YEARS, HE HAS RETURNED- No wait this is Joryu Jozuma, but everyone is calling him Kiryu Kazama? WHO IS HE?

Jesus Christ I hope the people at SEGA got paid well for making this DLC into a masterpiece in six months. https://automaton-media.com/en/interviews/20231030-22625/ (link it here)

Not going to lie, this is definitely one of the better titles in the RGG franchise to date up with Yakuza 0 and the original Ishin (more on this in a bit). It’s essentially ‘Yakuza Lite’ for anyone who wants to get into the series. It’s not the best place to start if you want to get invested, but it’s a good swallow pool to get your toes wet.

The story, depending on how much you know about the series, will make you cry during the end. RGG (the studio, not the game), brought their A-game with the animations and it has been a long time coming.

Most of the fan favorite minigames are here so there’s a little bit of everything for everyone. And although most of the game does feel like busy work, which it’s a Yakuza game. The whole vibe it is supposed to give is to get you invested in something so unrelated to the main story that 40 hours later you go, ‘wait, what the fuck was I supposed to be doing again?’

And I’m not going to lie, I’m glad the finishing of the completionist list and maxing out the Akane network to level 30 being completely optional is a breath of fresh air. Because the trophy list was so easy to attain, minus a few snags here and there, I am proud to say that RGG Gaiden is my first platinum trophy on PS5.

9/10.

Meanwhile on the other hand…the meme is dead.

At the beginning of this year around February, Yakuza Ishin Kiwami dropped to the mainstream western audience, officially making it localized. I’ve already played Ishin in its prime form, so to see the state the game was in was…very depressing.

This was the first RGG game to run on the Unreal Engine and it shows that the team was not well-versed with it and the time constraints on getting the game out did not help at all. I believe this game went through six or seven patches before they said ‘enough was enough’ and just let it be.

I even broke a portion of the game on a substory with the final mail delivery race. What happened is that I took a different path than the AI so he went off screen and sooner or later I realized I was kicking his ass. Upon further investigation, I noticed that he had gotten stuck in a loop on a bridge, which was not supposed to happen.

OH AND THE AUDIO BALANCING WITH THE NEW VOICE LINES IS REALLY GOOD WE SWEAR!

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Just go find a copy of OG Ishin on Ebay or somewhere. I can hardly read Japanese and still had a good time. I did not have a good time with the clunky combat, the necessity of using the tropper cards (I never used them in my original playthrough in Ishin, why should I have to use them NOW? Shinada card OP.)

6/10. – Because Majima’s lines are obviously re-used, unlike Kiryu’s who got to have most, if not all of them, re-dubbed.

Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice.

It took me so long, but I did it. Coincidentally, right around the second trilogy announcement for consoles came about. I sat down and played the current final game in the Ace Attorney series.

And what did I think of it?

Well, it’s a mess that is for sure. That fourth cock tease of a trial with Athena may or may not be getting her own game soon…eventually… is possibly the worst case in the entire series. And no, it’s not just because of this is the case that gave the internet the sheer thought of…………….clussy. It was boring, bland, uninteresting, and there were no stakes or ingenuity to use your brain to solve the case.

Apollo? Trans? High probability. I didn’t feel any kind of deep connection to what was going on and the plot twist at the end was…too be honest kind of dumb. Like in the…’oh you had no idea but look at this cool thing we did so it feels kind of empty’ rather than how I felt when it hit me like a truck about the obvious plot twist with Bridge to the Turnabout did. Listen I’m just linking HBomberGuy’s video on Sherlock because the analogy of the 12 hour trial and Bridge to the Turnabout are identical to Moffat’s Sherlock and the OG Sherlock serials. It was his idea first.

Really the only thing I can remember is the one post I made that popped off about Athena calling out Apollo for being flustered about Klavier.

Speaking of posts that popped off…

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8. Obey Me! Nightbringer (aka dear god why do I make terrible decisions with my life).

So, the gacha otome game that ruined my life last year is getting a sequel prequel!

I’m not going to play it! The gameplay will probably be just more of the same-

It’s a rhythm game.

It’s. a. rhythm. game.

*audible screaming*

ANYWAY SO NINE MONTHS AND ABOUT TEN THOUSANDS ANALYSIS POSTS ABOUT HOW EVERYONE IN THIS GAME IS AWFUL- (no I’m not joking. I’ve analyzed Lucifer like I analyzed Jigen and dare I say this man is more akin to my inner struggles than Jigen will ever be.)

Don’t worry, the money spending has been a lot more sparse and comes in giant dumps during events of a card that I want rather than a consistent cash flow since the game is more of a way to have fun rather than a way to escape humanity. Due to how much my workload has becoming, I’ve just gone down from playing daily to just playing weekly to play the new story chapters. I’m probably just going to do the bare minimum to get anything out of the Christmas event (the plot is so silly it made me laugh, ngl).

Because the story is ongoing and my opinion on some characters has changed drastically over the course of the last week. I’m just going to make a tier list of how I feel the story have been IN ACCORDANCE TO THEIR ACTIONS. (mild theory spoilers) as well as how I actually see the characters.

PLOT OPINION

CHARACTER OPINION

Overall the game is enjoyable when it takes itself seriously.

But now we must address the elephant in the room aka the big star of this year’s game list?

WHY THE ACTUAL FUCK DO I HAVE 250 HOURS IN AMERICAN TRUCK SIMULATOR?

NO REALLY.

(btw add me on Steam, it means you actually read this disaster piece)

I don’t know what it is with this game just driving around in a big rig blaring country music is so…cathartic. It just makes me hate people in cars even more. If anything, this sparked my love for crappy 90’s country music to a spike. I admit it, it’s a guilty pleasure of mine. This is my guilty pleasure game. And judge me for it all you want. My inbox is obey.

But let’s get serious. I was going to just…ignore this game despite… THIS being the release showcase. This is how I initially found about this long game that had been in development and beta testing for many years beforehand. And don’t lie, this is probably how most people found out about it too.

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But someone told me that the VA from Sherlock Chapter One was doing some of the moaning during the sex scenes and I just hopped onto the train

Of Baldur’s Gate 3.

I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into (I started playing around launch in late August, right around Hotfix #3 with the mirror came out). I knew next to nothing of the main lore of the Forgotten Realms universe, but my knowledge with D&D from college was basic, at best. And I was going to quit playing the game because I really did not like the constant top-down view camera. Until a co-worker, who was also playing said, ‘you know you can move that camera, right?’ So I came back, plugged in my PS4 controller into my computer and I was off to the races.

That was until when I went to go free up some space on my computer, this fucking piece of shit game nearly bricked my damned PC and I saved it with patience and by the grace of fucking Mystra herself because I deleted MY ENTIRE USER FOLDER LIKE AN IDIOT

Disclaimer: I have yet to finish the game because this is an OC simulator, I still want to play the Origin characters, as well as the Durge playthrough. Which, depending on how you play, is THOUSANDS OF HOURS of CONTENT. And there is just so many options and how you can go about things as well as that random chance of RNG.

I currently have four OC campaigns. I have not even touched the sheer tip of the iceberg. Azazel, the buff High Elf Bard who is fucking Halsin. Donna, the sorcerer Luna, the Wood-Elf Druid Burrito, the human warlock. (This is by far the craziest playthrough so far)

I am also writing this after the game awards so congrats to Larian for getting the sweep they deserved. All the other games that were nominated this year were just a blip on the radar compared to what BG3 was doing. The gameplay is not innovative outside of the world of D&D, but they hit a homerun with all of the story that is crammed into this game and did it so well that they continued to update the game MONTHS after the open release with change of life styles and multiple bug fixes that many players enjoyed.

Also all of the voice actors are beautiful. They all did a fantastic job with their work. But you know who this is about now.

(I go looking for one specific video and I find this fucking piece of gold while the game was still in beta access.)

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Yes we are going to be talking about Astarion (or for me at first it was A-‘stair’-ion).

What do I think of him? Since I have seen many posts going around that apparently a portion of the fan community cannot separate between actor and the art. I made this meme.

Yes, Neil is a very precious man and deserves more work in the industry after his spring board with Astarion. I do not associate him with Astarion outside of their voices because I hate to love Astarion. The man is a fucking slut of a PROSECUTOR. He would make Miles Edgeworth jealous because he took his husband of an attorney and would make Klavier Gavin foam at the mouth at his sense of style is 10000x better than his. He would be slaying in the courtroom ALL THE TIME.

Astarion is the devil on every player’s shoulder that goes ‘yeah we could be goody-two shoes but is that fun? No, no it isn’t. Spill some blood, just for me kitten.’ And you wouldn’t hesitate to do it.

My bard, Azazel, who was mostly aligned with good, had a neutral relationship with Astarion going into Act 3. Astarion at this point was EVERYONE’S Devil and I blame him for Gale getting into deeper shit with Mystra than he already had been. Azazel would always listen to what Astarion would had to say, but never would be drag along with his shenanigans, despite keeping him around to use as a distraction to try multiply times to steal 10 scrolls of dimension door from the wizard shop in Baldur’s Gate. Did I do? Fuck yes I did. Was it worth it? Hell yes it was.

MEANWHILE, I’m currently going through the game as well, me, as a human warlock. And let me tell you, this game will show you what kind of person you actually are. And truth be told, I’m a decent person, but will go the shady route to get things done. I almost ALMOST sided with Minathra based on looks alone until I found out she sounded like a crazed member of the Alt-Right and was going to also kill the refugees. I pissed some kids off, lied, stole, but somehow in the name of Mystra, just because I fed Gale some magic items and heard him out did he instantly rise to ‘excpetional’ status without me even realizing it. He instantly became an incel because you guessed it, some white-haired vampire seduced me into sleeping with him and THEN the githyanki because I helped HER out of her problems wanted to sleep with me. THEN THE VAMPIRE found out I was sleeping with the githyanki, and told me ‘it’s either me or the gith’.

It was a hard decision: Being stepped on, or good sex.

Obviously I chose the latter. Because I’m a sucker. Though I really do wish I could let this go on.

#you think I would tag this #if you read this whole piece good for you #Youtube

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prokopetz · 2 years ago

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So I mostly follow you for your off-the-wall, out-of-the-box rpg concept posts, but all the talk about game genres (still have no idea what soulslike is, haha) got me wondering if you might be a good person to ask this of:

I don’t play a lot of computer games, but I absolutely loved Gris. The problem is, I don’t know what type of game it would be classified as, so I’m not sure what sort of other games might be good to check out. Are you familiar with this game? Is there a name for whatever genre it is, or are there any similar titles you might recommend?

To be clear, the thing I most enjoyed about Gris (aside from the soundtrack!) was the battle free, puzzle solving nature of the basic play.

Broadly, games like Gris sit at the intersection of the "puzzle platformer" and "walking simulator" genres. It's not a terribly well-populated space, especially once you include the "no combat" criterion, but there are a few other titles that spring readily to mind that might fit the bill:

Degrees of Separation – This one's rarity in its genre in that it's co-op centric. You can technically play it single player, swapping between the two characters as you go, but I find that it's pretty awkward to do so; a lot of the puzzles are designed with the assumption that both characters will be in motion at the same time.

Dreaming Sarah – Sort of a 2D take on Yumi Nikki and its various imitators, though it's considerably less obtuse than most examples of the type. Some action, though it's mostly in the vein of Gris' chase sequences. Content warnings for discussion of self-harm, mild body horror, and general disturbing imagery.

Evan's Remains –Solid puzzle design (though much more on the mechanical logic-puzzle end of things than Gris) and wonderful art direction. Temper your expectations regarding the story, though; it’s one of those indie games that tries so hard to be clever that the inevitable twist makes no damn sense at all.

FAR: Lone Sails – Along with its sequel, this one's unusual as atmospheric platformers go in that you bring the platform with you. Gameplay revolves around fuelling, maintaining and repairing a large vehicle, with light engineering sim elements. As above, there's the occasional chase/escape sequence, but no combat.

Lost Words: Beyond the Page – This one blends platforming with point-and-click puzzle solving. Probably the most action-heavy game on this list, though it's still limited to chase sequences rather than combat – you can expect to die a fair bit in this one. The linked trailer tells you everything you need to know in terms of content warnings.

The Moonstone Equation – An investigative platformer with some not-terribly-challenigng block pushing puzzles. Has a gimmick whereby the time in game matches your computer's clock, so if you tend to play late at night you might have trouble finding any NPCs who are awake. It's possible to die, but you really have to work at it.

Treasures of the Aegean – This one bills itself as a metroidvania, but there’s no real upgrade mechanic. Rather, it’s a time-loop puzzler where the goal is to discover all of the information you need to complete all of the game’s challenges in a single loop. Technically possible to finish in 15 minutes; a first playthough will take longer.

If you're not restricting your consideration to 2D side scrollers, you might also have a look at Journey, Manifold Garden, Omno, Refunct, or Submerged (and its sequel).

Finally, this is definitely straying beyond your brief, but it’s been my experience that folks who enjoyed Gris also tend to get a lot out of Celeste. It’s part of the subgenre known as “precision puzzle platformers”, which basically means that it’s extremely difficult and wants to kill you a lot; a typical casual playthrough easily involves a five-digit player death count. It’s one of the most approachable examples of the type, though, with a reasonable learning curve and numerous accessibility options, and it’s definitely exploring a lot of the same territory as Gris when it comes to story, themes, and visual and audio design.

#gaming #video games #video game recommendations #violence mention #death mention #swearing

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theyreonlynoodlesmike · 4 years ago

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I just read the angst you posted and It gave me chills woman! It was written beautifully, and I'm sitting here shook. Its got me hanging and I'm not the one that requested it but could you maybe do a part 2 to the angst like a make up or anything you think would happen?

Oh, I can definitely make a part 2! So, I’m just gonna have this as a separate side-story, so my angst fans can just ignore that this exists even if it’s a direct continuation of the story (much like how I pretend the sequels don’t exist).

That’s Not How We See You (Poly!Lost Boys x Reader) fic

Warning: slight angst

Word Count: 1552

“That’s not how we see you.” The words fell from Davids lips into the otherwise silence of the room. You stared at him. You didn’t believe him. You knew better than to argue. David and you could go all night back and forth about this. His hooks were in deep and he would refuse to remove them. You’d have to tug them out yourself. You’d have to challenge him.

“Really? Prove it.” You snapped and prodded his chest. He snatched your wrist, and held it tightly in his hand. You were getting cocky, and you knew it. If you weren’t fighting, your tone probably would’ve earned you a spot on the bed already. You were giving him an unachievable task, and, eventually, he would give up. Then, you’d be rid of them.

He didn’t say a word, and you stared at him. You thought that was probably best. Words weren’t enough. Not when it had been words that had hurt you. You needed an action, a reassurance that they truly felt that way. You frowned, and you looked into all of their faces. Paul was staring at you, silently begging you with his eyes. You knew the look well. It was the same look he gave you whenever he wanted something, like a kiss or a hug. He wanted you to just drop this and kiss him already.

Your eyes went to Marko next. His expression was completely unreadable. It was rare that it happened when he was with you. Usually, his face would be alive with a grin, and only his eyes would have a hint of unreadable mischief. As if he knew all the worlds secrets, and maybe, if you were lucky, he’d spare you one. But at the moment, you couldn’t tell what was going on inside his head and behind that sea of curls. Part of you wanted to ask, but you pushed it away. You were breaking up with them, getting rid of them.

Then, your eyes went to Dwaynes. His gaze was so intense it was hard to look at him. Fights with him never lasted long. He’d let you yell, scream, and even cry. He’d take every bit of it, silently staring and letting you get out whatever you needed to. The moment you were done, he’d wrap you up in his arms, hold you, and promise to fix it. He liked to fix things, and you knew he wanted to fix this. To grab you and hold you and promise whatever he needed to. Hell, he may even promise to never drink from you again.

You thought about that possibility for a moment. It was a good promise. A good punishment. They’d never drink from you again and you could see if the five of you would really last. But, the idea of you breaking up later? Of them deciding that they couldn’t date you without drinking from you? You wouldn’t put yourself through the same betrayal twice. It’d rip whatever was left of you to shreds, so you didn’t suggest it. This was Davids puzzle to solve anyways. As long as there was blood running through your veins, it wouldn’t change the fact that, at some point, they’d considered you a meal.

He was being deathly quiet, and, while his eyes were on you, his mind was somewhere else. He was considering something, making a decision. You didn’t know how long it’d take, and you almost thought about kicking them out and giving them the night to think it over. Before you could, Davids lips parted.

“Be one of us.” He said, and the boys turned their gazes from you to him. There were mixes of confusion and shock on all of their faces. Davids eyes were the only ones that didn’t leave your face. You furrowed your brows and stared at him, unsure of what he meant. You were already an honorary ‘Lost Boy’. You’d been one the moment you’d accepted the earring. Hell, you’d been one the moment you’d gotten on the back of Davids bike and were still with them the next night.

“What?” You asked, and you watched as Davids eyes finally left yours. He looked at each of the boys, and you watched whatever silent telepathy they had take place. After a moment, they all seemed to agree. On what, you were still trying to figure out. Paul gave you an excited smile, the first one you had seen on his face that night. Marko copied him, and his eyes were alive once more. Dwayne, well, looked mostly the same. But his eyes had softened. Now, you could barely stand to look at him for a much different reason.

“Turn.” David said, and your eyes widened. He couldn’t really be offering what you thought he was offering. Could he? “You’ll be ours forever, and you’ll be one of us. On the same playing field as us.” He said, and you stared. Not in waiting, but now in disbelief. He was. He was offering you eternity. You had been trying to rip his hooks out and somehow he had found a way to dig them even deeper. You had to give him credit.

You thought about it. If you were a vampire, you automatically were no longer a meal. But what if they decided they didn’t like you as much the moment you turned? Then, you’d be stuck with them. As a monster. Forever. It was terrifying, and part of you wanted to refuse.

You had never been this insecure about your relationship with the boys before. Yesterday, you knew that they probably would’ve given you the world if you asked. Now, you were thinking like you had a few months ago before they’d asked you to be theirs. Stuck in a loop of ‘do they really like me?’

But one of the things he was offering stuck out. You’d had your fair share of toxic relationships in the past. It was all about a power imbalance. When you were told the boys were vampires, you almost thought there was something wrong with you. Why did you always choose boys that were always above you in some way? You knew that it wasn’t the case with them. They’d never use their strength to hurt you, never play too many mind tricks on you, and they’d never do anything without your permission. But the fact that they could had always remained. You knew David liked power, and you knew he’d still be in control once you turned. That was just the way he was. But that power imbalance? The separation of human and vampire? He was giving it up. They all were. And they seemed excited about it.

You looked at all of them once again, and you let out a long sigh. It was a big step. You’d felt like they’d just got down on one knee and offered you a ring. In a strange way, you supposed they had.

“C’mon, take a chance, sugar. We could go flying, hunt-” Paul had been quiet for too long, and he’d quickly started to ramble. Marko cut him off with an elbow to the ribs, and he stopped and rubbed his side. Flying. Hunting. He said it like it’d be a date. You became a little wary. You’d never thought about drinking blood yourself, and you didn’t know how you felt about it. It was all so much. You felt like someone had tossed your emotions in a blender, and you weren’t thinking straight. It was why you said,

“Let me sleep on it.” And some of the excitement drained from their eyes. David didn’t look half as disappointed as the others, but you knew he probably thought this would happen. To your surprise, he didn’t argue. You supposed that his goal had been to keep you. As long as you were considering it, you were still his. That was good enough for him. As if to confirm this, he cupped your jaw and leaned in to kiss your cheek. You let him, and he seemed more pleased than ever. A hint of a smile had even formed on his lips.

The boys left you in your room, and you threw yourself back onto your bed with a huff. They’d each followed David lead, and had given you nothing more than a kiss on the cheek. Paul had whispered, “See you tomorrow.” In your ear, and you hadn’t corrected him. You would see them tomorrow. To give them your answer. Whatever that was, you had yet to decide. You stared at your ceiling, and thought it over. A vampire. You could be a vampire.

You’d have impossible levels of strength, mental abilities, and the ability to fly. Among other things the boys didn’t care to show or tell you about. But you’d have to give up the sun, move out of your house, and drink blood. You frowned. It seemed like the pros weighed just as much as the cons. You rolled onto your side and decided to sleep, but one last thought had tinkered it’s way into your mind. A pro that you hadn’t considered. You’d have the boys. Your four beautiful boys. Forever. It made a hint of a smile come to your face, and then you sunk into the depths of sleep.

#the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys #the lost boys david #the lost boys dwayne #the lost boys marko #the lost boys paul #david the lost boys #dwayne the lost boys #marko the lost boys #paul the lost boys #the lost boys imagines #the lost boys x reader

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ozzdog12 · 4 years ago

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2020 Top 7 (and 1)

2020 am I right? We saw an insane amount of games come out and 2 brand new consoles. What a wild and weird year for gaming, and life in general. In case you are relatively new here, and to be honest that would be completely fair considering I don't post very often on Tumblr anymore, every year going on the last 4 years (on here) I have done a Top 7 (& 1) for my favorite videogames of the year. Check out 2019, 2018, & 2017. What’s wild, as I look back on my list of games that I’ve completed and played, only maybe 10 came out this year. 2020 was a huge backlog year.

Lets get on with the ‘And 1!”

Favorite Game that Didn’t Come out in 2020: Control (PS4)

Control may very well have been my 2019 Game of the Year, had I played it in 2019. I LOVED Control. I wanted to play it in 2019, but initial reports that it was a little rough on base consoles put me off until it was fixed. And Holy smokes what an insanely fun and trippy game once I finally started it. I knew within the first 20 minutes this was going to be the shit when I went down a hall, walked into a room and talked to the “janitor” left out a door behind him and the entire building had shifted. I’ve always liked Remedy games, but from a distance. Max Payne 1&2 and Alan Wake all oozed with weirdness and intrigue, but never enough for me to finish them. I missed out on Quantum Break. The story is Control is just the right amount of mind f*!$ for me and builds a universe I didn’t know I needed. It take some time to piece everything together, then everything just clicks. The game does have a weird difficulty spike when fighting bosses and the checkpoints were too far apart at times, but those were later patched. I spent an insane amount of time within the Federal Bureau of Control building and even more time after that with the Foundation and AWE DLC and it STILL wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Outside of Prey, I can’t think of another game that stuck in my brain more after I’d finished it. Control is absolutely a MUST PLAY title. In a world where everything sort’ve feels similar, Control stands out of the crowd.

Number 7: Astro’s Playroom (PS5)

I never thought in my wildest dreams that a game I had almost zero interest in playing would end up on my list of favorite games this year. Astro’s Playroom is being labeled as a ‘Tech demo’ but that feels like an insult to what it is. It’s a full fledged game and its free! I’ve paid more for less. A charming little platformer that lives and breathes the history of the Playstation. So many cool Easter eggs and references. It certainly centers its gameplay around the DualSense controller and everything it can do, but at its core, its a completely approachable and forgiving 3D platformer. I played it just to see what it was about, next thing i knew I had completed all the levels and wanted to further explore all the nooks and crannies within the game. I wanted to see everything the game had to offer and I had an absolute blast doing so. Makes me kinda wish I’d played the previous game on PSVR (I’d have to have a PSVR too)

Number 6: Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

Another quality title, albeit a spin-off, from Insomniac to add to their Spider Man universe. Gameplay felt obviously like Spider-Man, but Miles has unique abilities that made the game feel different enough, especially the cloak and stealth. I enjoyed the fact that it was short and concise. The issue with most ‘open-world’ games is that they are entirely too bloated with unnecessary filler content (I’ll get to that in a later game), something I felt the first game suffered from, but I also understand why they are there. However I could’ve use one or two more story missions to help flesh out some characters, but it wasn’t required and didn’t change my opinion one way or the other. My one BIG gripe was with Miles himself. He is an extremely smart young kid, but so incredibly naïve. Peter Parker tells him the one thing he SHOULD NOT do is tell people he is Spider-Man. I get it, that’s part of his growth, but Miles thinks he can just solve his problems by revealing his identity and it almost certainly never works out.

Number 5: The Last of Us: Part 2 (PS4)

The Last of Us Part 2 may be the most polarizing game in the history of the medium, but for the absolute wrong reasons. I’m in the minority that I very much enjoyed my experience with TLOU2, quite a bit actually. Its better in every single way over its predecessor, except the overall story. There are plenty of fair criticisms to be had about the story and various things within the game itself, but I thought the gameplay was so tight and crunchy. There were genuine moments of suspense and terror that I felt that no other game has ever given me. The entire hospital section (2nd time) was so susensful, I had to put my controller down to gther myself. Some of my favorite moments in the series I experienced with a character I wasn’t overly fond of. How many games can do that? The Last of Us Part 2 was meant to invoke emotion, not necessarily joy. I think that's what people lost along the way. Say what you will about the direction Naughty Dog has taken over the years, but you would be hard pressed to find a studio that makes games graphically better than they do. Yes, I know about their crunch culture, but this is not a place for that. I will say, the game was a tad bit too long, which is not something it typically say for a single player, narrative driven game. The pacing and the way the story was told wasn’t my favorite, but I respect what it was trying to do, even if it failed in some aspect of that, I finished the game within the week it was released. Something I RARELY ever do. I’m a father and I related with Joel a lot in TLOU, but I also recognized how wrong he was. There is a lesson to be learned. Your actions always have consequences and while he was doing what he thought was the right thing, it wasn’t his choice to make, and in doing so set up a series of events that were entirely avoidable, but again, that’s the point isn’t it?

Number 4: Grindstone (Switch)

I’m counting this as a 2020 game since it just came to the Switch this year ( less than a month ago) but its not the first time I’ve played it. Grindstone was the only reason I kept my Apple Arcade subscription and when I let it lapse, there was a void I just couldn’t fill. I bought Puzzle Quest on Switch but it just wasn't the same. Its THE perfect game for bite sized play, even though in its addictive nature, you’ll clear a few levels and an hour has passed before you know it. It has the perfect amount of depth that most ‘match’ games don't. You have different weapons, items, and outfits w/perks to use and experiment with to keep it fresh. I went months without playing my Switch and when this was announced in August, I couldn’t wait! Sadly, I had to wait 3 months, but since then I have spent so much time on the Switch. It gave me a reason to play it again. The art style and humour is great. The variety of enemies and challenge is just right. I can’t recommend it enough. Seriously, check this game out!

Number 3: Doom Eternal (Xbox One)

I will be the first to tell you, I did not like Doom (2016). I found it extremely boring and trite. I understood what Doom(2016) was doing and it succeeded, maybe too much. Nostalgia is a helluva thing. So in saying that, I was mildly interested in Doom Eternal. Doom Eternal is nothing like 2016 outside of it being a Doom game that connects to the rest of them (& also being a sequel to 2016). The mechanics are drastically different with more platforming (for better or worse). Eternal is challenging, at times very hard, especially early on. Eternal has no respect for its players, in a weirdly good way. It laughs at how you’ve played FPS before this one and WILL MAKE you play it its way, not your way. Yes, you point and shoot, but ammo is scare and you MUST use everything in your arsenal. No more using just 2 guns for the whole game. The enemies are relentless. Sometimes you have to pause and take a breath after a battle because you go a 100 mph for the whole fight. You have to continuously move or you die. There is an enticing rhythm to it. I categorize Eternal as ‘Blood Ballet’. Its a game where when your feeling it, much like a rhythm game, you get in the zone and there is no stopping demons from getting slayed. Surprisingly, unlike most games in the genre, it seemed to get easier (sans one extremely frustrating platforming section late in the game) the longer you played it. Was that a testament that I ‘learned’ the Eternal way or it truly did get easier? I don’t know, but the final Boss(es) were....easy.. I had more problems and deaths within the first 4 hours than I did the final 8-9 hours. The multiplayer was also surprisingly fun. The older I get, the less interested I am in multiplayer, but I found myself coming back for more for a good month or so.

Number 2: Gears Tactics (Xbox One)

As 2020 comes to a close, I came to a stunning realization. I might be a bigger Gears of War fan than I had previously thought. Don’t get me wrong. I love Gears, but I seem to love Gears more than I thought. I'm way more invested into the lore than I recall. Anyways, Gears Tactics is everything XCOM 2 SHOULD’VE been. Not only does Gears Tactics utilize the Overwatch action, its makes it EXTREMELY important. The story revolves around the father of Kait Diaz, Gabe and a ragtag group of mostly random soldiers to take down Ukkon. Anyone who is remotely interested in the Gears universe will love the story and references. The gameplay is just so damn satisfying. The bosses are very challenging and different. I actually had to change my strategy to finish the final boss. I experimented with a totally different style of class and was rewarded for it. The post game stuff is also aplenty. This game scratched a VERY specific itch for me and I’m itchy to jump back in. I’m glad this came to Xbox One because I’m current computer could not run it.

Number 1: Ghost of Tsushima (PS4)

I have a very odd relationship with massive open world games. I love them, but I get very burnt out on them. They all have a relatively same-y formula and are often populated with bloat. GoT does have some of that but to its advantage, its not very populated, in a good way. One of the things that I really appreciated about GoT and its side quest is most of them felt meaningful. The thing that really stood out to me about GoT is the absolutely satisfying combat. It just feels SO GOOD. It requires timing and patience. There are different fighting styles for different enemies and even the armor you wear is more than just cosmetic. The combat is so fun and satisfying that I was immediately excited when they announced Legends, a multiplayer add on, for free. Its so much fun and is a blast to play with a group of friends. I’m sporadically still playing the Legends mode. I initially wanted to play the game in ‘Kurosawa’ mode but I am glad I didn’t because the game, even on the PS4 is stunning, and on the upgrade on PS5 is jaw-droppingly smooth. I did play the entire game in Japanese with English subtitles. I still don't know what Jin’s English voice sounds like. GoT does a good job a drip feeding you new abilities and things to keep things fresh. I love stealth and once I unlocked it, I spent the majority of every battle taking out as many enemies as I could while in stealth mode. Ghost of Tsushima does a lot of things very well, that the few things it doesn’t can be easily overlooked.

#videogames #control #grindstone #tlou #doom eternal #gears tactics #ghost of tsushima #ps4 #ps5 #xbox one #switch #nintendo switch #playstation4 #GOTY #spiderman #astro playroom

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maskedpeach · 4 years ago

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RPG Maker Fever Hero & Issues

Warning: This article may contain spoilers and the content inappropriate for children…or may not contain.But get the children away from the screen just in case.

Five little authors went out to write. One little author has missed the deadline. Four little authors didn’t pay him much mind. Three authors are left since fourth drank the lye. Three little authors are bursting with confidence. One overworked himself and other two ignored his absence. Two little authors try to finish hard task. Teddy bear hugged one and one stands at last. One little author is left all alone. He hung himself on the chandelier and then there were none…Then who has finished this article? And why this teddy bear is giving me a weird look?

1. Walking on a Star Unknown

Walking on a Star Unknown is the latest game made by Segawa and most heartwarming out of her three games (while End Roll was more heartbreaking than heartwarming, and Farethere City is somewhere in-between). Game tells a story of two alien siblings, whose ship has crashed on the unfamiliar planet, where they decide to participate in the cooking tournament to get their ship fixed. Gameplay is simple yet very fun - most of the time you gather ingredients, learn new recipes, do side-quests and make friends with the planet inhabitants. Game has memorable cast of characters with their own interesting stories and ��bright and stylish visuals. As previous Segawa’s games Star also has some disturbing themes and some areas are dark and creepy, but overall tone of the game is bright and optimistic.

2. Witch’s Heart

Actually I wrote the detailed review on this game few posts ago, but I’m still including WH in the article for those who are lazy to read that enormous wall of a text. The most notable part of the game is its plot (which is interesting to follow and full of good twists) and memorable cast of well-developed characters. Along with it WH has entertaining gameplay (mini-games included), great presentation and catchy soundtrack. Overall it is one of the best games I’ve ever played, so if you like rpg-horrors I suggest to at least give it a try. Game is still unfinished, currently only one ending (out of four routes) is available, but even in the present state it means about 15-20 hours of gameplay.

3. The Mystery Files of Detective Inaba No. 1, 2, 3

Here goes a game trilogy about Sogo Inaba-a tsundere detective with adorable side and Nina Arimura – his energetic assistant, together they solve various cases, some of the cases are pretty normal, and others are somewhat paranormal. First game of the series is a detective with minor supernatural horror elements – some rpg-horror typical puzzles and minor chasing sequences included. Second game is purely realistic and much more simple gameplay-wise comparing to the first game. Stories in first two games resemble Agatha Christie’s detective novels mixed with japanese psychological horrors. Third game of the series is closer to pure survival horror with minor detective elements and plays like many other rpg-horrors . To be honest, the third game is my personal favorite, since it is the most polished game out of three and the good conclusion for the Inaba and Arimura’s story. All three games are about 2 hours long and have great presentation (like quality art-style and great in-game music).

4. Asadoke no Majo

Asadoke no Majo starts with our protagonist Yui arguing with her father and as a result running away from home to …another country, where resides their old family mansion along with dark family secret and a handsome guy managing the estate as a bonus. Game is about 2 hours long and has pretty simple puzzles, minor jumpscares and several chasing scenes (but a final chase is the only frustrating one). Despite being pretty typical rpg-horror Asadoke no Majo leaves very positive impression thanks to bright cast of characters (the Nogi guy here is something else), good story and atmosphere along with well-chosen soundtrack. Currently game is available in japanese and russian.

5. Hero & Daughter

H&D is a dungeon-crawler made by tachi (Headless Prisoner, Moonlight Ghost, Hello?Hell…o?), which mocking famous fantasy cliché “hero defeats a dark lord”.Our hero Ralph get his level reduced to 1 because of his arrogance, and with this permanent level 1 he is tasked to defeat the Demon Lord. Again. That’s where Ralph’s friend of the haremancer class comes to rescue. This guy can summon pretty girls (including heroines from previous tachi’s games like Erina and Akari) to help Ralph in his quest. H&D is fun and entertaining, battles are fast-pacing, dungeons are complex, visuals are nice, also game has enormous level-cap and loads of optional content and many playable characters. Plot may be simple, but H&D has good humor and characters ( even generic Ralph got a nice personality). If you like quality role-playing games I highly recommend to try it out

6. Ai korosu yori, Ai korosaretai

An ordinary (alright, maybe a bit eccentric) family moves into new house. Soon after that their daughter Lucy falls with high fever.When she gets better, she discovers that her parents are gone and various weird phenomena is occurring in the house. To find the missing parents Lucy will have to search the house and learn about its history full of mysterious disappearances and tragic events. AiAi has very interesting story (good mix of horror and sci-fi) and entertaining gameplay with interesting puzzles and action cut-ins. Also beside proceeding the story you can also do some optional stuff like gathering collectibles and later saving runaway cows. If you like quality horror-adventures I highly recommend to try this game out. AiAi is currently available in japanese and russian.

7. Escatpade

Here goes another quality game for those who is tired from horror and tragedy and wants something warm and relaxing. Escatpade is about the girl who falls into the pit and finds herself in the weird place full of adorable talking cats. Game is nice and fun, have a bright, adorable designs and simple yet elegant puzzles. Also some items in the inventory can change appearance of our heroine (like clothes, glasses and stuffed kittycats).

8. Tower of Feles

ToF made by the author of Escatpade and also full of adorable cats. But unlike Escatparade this game is slightly more challenging. ToF is an action-puzzle where your objective is save your little sister from evil witch. In order to do so you have to climb on top of the tower, solving various puzzles and avoiding witch’s servants in the process. Every floor has a time limit, and if either time runs out or your health drops to zero you’ll have to start the floor over. Game is a bit tricky and very fun to play. If you have beaten Escatpade and want more cats and cuteness- Tower of Feles is what you need.

9. Twilight Epic

Twilight Epic is a sequel to Amayado Bus Stop. This time the main character is Akane’s and Akari’s cousin Akino, who receives a call from unknown girl, who tells him about certain “promise” and right after that he finds this girl’s dead body (or not quite dead). The boy decides to find out the truth and grown-up Chitose and Akari are helping him out. Game is far more simple than its predecessor-puzzles are mostly gone and chasing scenes are pretty straightforward, but still the game is very enjoyable, since story is good and heartwarming. Also game has quality art-style and skit system similar to one in Tales series. Twilight Epic is currently available in japanese and russian.

10. Peret em Heru: For the Prisoners

Peret em Heru is survival horror with rpg-elements about a group of tourists, lead by an archeologist, professor Tsuchida, exploring ancient ruins underneath the Great Pyramid of Giza. Needless to say, that these ruins are filled with deadly traps and Tsuchida’s intentions are far from mere scientific interest. Gameplay resembles Sweet Home and Corpse Party –Rebuilt-, but more simple and straightforward – you play as one of the tourists, fight monsters, grind levels, and save your teammates from booby traps. Overall Peret em Heru is a nice game with stylish old-fashioned visuals and good music, game is about 3 hours long and have one ending, which varies depending on how many of your teammates have survived.

11. The Object

You awake in the dark room in the unknown place and find out that not only your memories are gone, but your head is gone as well. On top of that you can attach literally anything to an empty place where your head once was. Now your goal is to regain the lost memories along with the head and leave the house. Game consists from exploration and simple yet elegant puzzles, which you solve by swapping your heads. Game is pretty interesting and has five endings , to get all of them you’ll need about 30 minutes.

12. Colors: Lost Memories

This time you play as a little girl who finds herself in the colorless world inhabited by talking animals. To get back home she must return this world its colors. Colors have stylish visuals highly reminiscent of old GBC games as well as unique puzzles based on using various colors you get during the game at the right places. First you can use only one color (for example red is needed to light or put out fire), later you will be able to activate up to three colors at the same time.Game is cute and fun to play, approximate time of the playthrough is one hour.

13. Nemoral

Nemoral is a short game about two cops who end up in the abandoned mansion while chasing the cult followers, assuming that they have something to do with the recent disappearances of children. And this mansion hides pretty dark secret about a project based on the famous fairy tale. Nemoral is quality action-horror, where both visuals and gameplay is somewhat resemble very first Resident Evil (in the good way of course). The only con of Nemoral is anti-climatic ending (game was made for the contest, and author was short on time). But even in present state the game is still enjoyable.

14. B*x. Colorful.

I’ve decided to unite both games in one mini-review, since they are both made by the same author and both are very short. B*x is about lonely girl in bunny outfit, who lives with her boyfriend, the only person who cares about her. But it seems like he’s hiding something from her. Game is about 30 minutes long and have few easy puzzles. Colorful is only 10 minutes long and have no puzzles at all, and more depressing than B*x. In Colorful you just listen to the story and watch pictures. Both games have very nice art style.

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watchinglikeafangirl · 3 years ago

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Unpopular opinion about IPYTM

IPYTM is the second season of ITSAY and once again deals with Teh not knowing exactly what he wants in life. Now, he is with Oh-aew but feels even more far away from him than before because they live different lives and struggle to accept the change of their relationship. It's now about their college years and not about high school any more, which gives their lives a way more serious touch Billkin and PP act out beautifully. But as we all know, acting isn't everything. Directors have a major impact on the endproduct and sadly, they changed the director here which is very visible in the entire season. It is not necessarily a bad thing to switch directors and it wasn't the worst choice in IPYTM but for me personally, Teh and Oh-aew's story lost its lovelyness. It's not as special any more.

Editing

Like I said, what caught my attention right from the start is the different editing of IPYTM and I don't just mean the editing. I mean the way it looks, sounds and feels like.

ITSAY focused a lot on its color scheme and expressed feelings through coloring. Oh-aew's color is red and Teh's color is blue. The background mostly looked very calm. A stonecolored house or the sea were always part of the scenery. But now, they are in crowded places or in front of something colorful. Q's home looks cozy and symmetrical but has nothing more to it. The furniture is as boring as possible to let the characters stand out. It feels like the characters don't fit into the scenery and yet, they somehow do. But I think, the detailed and planned-out concept got lost here and it was a very important aspect of ITSAY. Yes, the colors red and blue sometimes shine through but are not as dominant any more and I believe it was all very thought through, but I just don't feel it. The only thing expressed through color I can remember is Oh-aew's hair. The red stands for his inner conflict if Teh accepts him and what happened to their relationship. Him dying his hair back to brown showed he was coming down to earth again. He walked the long path of self love to be okay with himself again. His dressing style has changed but his hair color is all the same, showing he still is the same old Oh-aew.

As I metioned a few times before, I don't like the way background music is used so frequently to make the emotions easier to understand. When they are sad, the music is sad. When it's awkward, the music is funny. When they are out of line, the music is stressful. This is not a bad thing but I noticed music explaining the emotions of the scenes is used way more often. ITSAY had music moments as well, of course, but if you listen and watch closely, there's always music in IPYTM. In Ep 5, I started laughing every time it happened. It annoys me a lot because ITSAY used a lot of background noises and presented things in silence which made all those scenes feel extremely realistic because reality is silent. It made things more lovely, more memorable and more saddening because there was nothing to seek comfort it. Just blank silence and a lonely face made all emotions stand out way more and made me feel like I was watching a show building up realism. But IPYTM rarely had any silent scenes and when the music is absent, the show doesn't work that well any more. It is designed to be a lot more basic to please the now-very-much-bigger audience. Music makes it easier for the audience to get the vibe but is also a simple tool to use when the scene doesn't work elsewise.

Now, we get to the whole vibe. ITSAY felt very nostalgic and melodramatic whereas IPYTM feels modern and bitter. It's like ITSAY was a dream and IPYTM is the reality behind the sea. This opposite could be great, but instead it feels like a bitter reality. Their relationship meets problems, they struggle finding friends and dreams meet a dead end. It feels like watching the show through the eyes of an old person reminicing. The light-hearted scenes lack and drama takes over way too soon and for way too long. It feels rushed and average. Not as special any more. The special feeling is gone.

Characters

Let's get to my second problem I have with this sequel and it's the most important one because this show only surrounds around Teh and Oh-aew. They are the ones who changed the most. Change isn't bad, don't get me wrong. I sometimes seek change so badly I'm devastated when I go to bed with the feeling everything is the same again. That the world is the same. That others are the same. That I'm still the same. In IPYTM, change is seen as something bad because we still see the world through Teh's eyes and Teh always was and always will be the sort of character who detestes change and feels like he loses bonds if personalities change as they grow. The same happens here. The fear of changing so much, you can't recognize your most loved one, is extremely realistic at that age and I can't say anything against it because I have the same fear. Still, there are choices I can't agree with.

Like I said, Teh hates change and the moment Oh-aew says he wants to transfer, problems start. Him transfering means Teh feels like he doesn't understand Oh-aew any more. It means having a life very different from Teh's and since ITSAY was about them realizing how much they have in common, IPYTM is more about them discovering they are not the same person. They are individuals who have different personalities and seek happiness in their own way. They don't copy each other. IPYTM is more about self-realization. This also means, they spend some time apart and lose each other a little bit.

All of this is fine, all of this is realistic. But what I don't like about Teh and Oh-aew is them not talking. They accept their fate which causes them to break apart even more. Thing is, Teh was always someone not sharing much very easily, but Oh-aew always shared his thoughts. He made the first step, he was serious and he showed how hurt he was. And now, he feels Teh is drifting away and doesn't address it. He doesn't address how lonely he feels, he doesn't say how much he misses Teh, he doesn't mention he's not fine with himself. It is frustrating to watch them just coexisting without sharing stuff.

And then Teh cheats which was never the missing puzzle piece to their story. I know, Teh is sad. His friends change, his boyfriend changes. But why would he throw something away, he worships so much? He doesn't very much open up about himself but he did to Oh-aew, so why does he lose courage to fight for it, let it stay like it and just kisses someone else who is a playboy? He choses to believe in Jai's actions rather than seeing Oh-aew.

Plot

I'm drifting to the next point. The plot. Well, the plot is just ... stupid (I'm sorry). Yes, it is entertaining at some points but it is average, basic. The love triangle, trust issues and jealousy is something I've seen various times before. I'm extremely disappointed when it comes to the story because the thing I loved about ITSAY as well, was the originality. It wasn't clicheish. It wasn't boring. It wasn't like other shows. It was independant. But IPYTM tried very hard to please the now-big audience and fanbase. It's not what I wanted to see.

Even if you give them a love triangle, then please, not such a flat character as Jai. We had Tarn and Bas in ITSAY. They were breathing human beings with their own personalities, their own goals and their own interests. But Jai ... he's just there. He helps Teh to act properly and Teh spends a lot of time with him, apparently, but his personality is not very clear. When he tells Teh, he was just pretending, I can't tell if he really was or if he steps aside for Oh-aew. I still can't tell and I think it's really weak of such an important character with so much screentime, to lack of a personality. Everybody knew, why Bas stepped aside. But with Jai, I can't tell.

I lost it in Ep 5 when Bas showed up to give Oh-aew a tedtalk. Honestly, I laughed. It was stupid and again provse the writing of IPYTM is not nearly as strong and good as the writing of ITSAY. ITSAY contained an inner conflict as well but they managed to let us know about it without the characters actually telling us. When Teh gave Oh-aew the notebook with vocab, he hid outside. When the piano in the cafe was played, both cried far away from each other. When Teh spend time with Tarn, he realized his feelings and told her down. It's the little things. And IPYTM lacks of those. We actually need Bas to tell Oh-aew what to do and honestly, his message wasn't as deep. I can't count how often I heard those "follow you heart" speeches before. It works with everything. Right here, it seems passionless and rushed. Like they couldn't think of another way to solve the problem and come to an end.

So, the story was filled with cliches and the writing was not as good as ITSAY. Not only did we have a cameo of Bas to give Oh-aew a choice everybody knew he had, no, we also had an antagonist who is easy to blame for all the issues. Jai is the antagonist here, playing with Teh's thoughts or something but this show makes its life way too easy. Teh and Oh-aew had problems before. The result of this fading away, is Teh kissing Jai but Jai is not the reason for it. But then, Jai walks out of Teh's life and everything is fine again? They don't talk about the problems ever because Jai is gone now and so are the relationship problems? I'm sorry but this is just a sad plot for a second season of ITSAY.

Conclusion

I can just say, I'm very disappointed. ITSAY affected me personally very much and has a very special place in my heart, so I was afraid IPYTM would ruin this as soon as the OST premiered. It was so cheesy and average, I knew back then I won't enjoy this as much. I watched nevertheless, but my hopes were dropped at an instant and I lost my motivation to continue watching. I kept it on hold for 3 weeks and didn't even miss it. This is a bad sign.

What more can I say? I didn't feel it, I'm sorry. I still think Billkin and PP are amazing and well, this turned out to be longer than intended.

#i promised you the moon #ipytm #teh x oh aew #billkinpp

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demonfox38 · 4 years ago

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Completed - Baba is You

I can't believe this is the first game I've perfected on Steam.

Like, I don't like achievement systems in video games, okay? I prefer to set my own goals. Sure, there are some achievements that are interesting, like learning to use a certain mechanic in a cool or efficient manner, visiting hidden rooms, or even running around with nothing but my character's default busted sword just to prove a point. Mostly, I just want to finish them. I don't go jumping through flaming hoops because I want people to think I'm cool. I'm from Iowa. I'm critically uncool by design.

If a game is good, I will put in the extra work. Like, getting 100% souls in "Castlevania: Aria of Souls" and 200.6% map completion in "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" is now just routine for me. With "Baba is You"? Well, circumstances are just a teeny bit different.

"Baba is You" is a puzzle game from independent developer Arvi Teikari. Your primary goal in the game is to create statements out of nouns, verbs, and conditions and use those generated rules to complete levels. It's basically catnip to programmers. These puzzles are packaged in cute, scribbly animations and gentle music. Ultimately, its soft presentation is the figurative sheep's clothing under which the wolf of this game lives, dragging its players through increasingly more complex situations, sitting there, laughing, its whole world wiggling in its adolescent mockery of you and your sluggish brain.

You're not always even Baba. I know. The absolute betrayal.

I originally saw this game being streamed back in 2019. A frustrating feeling overtook me as I watched the player work through the puzzles. I could feel myself solving them before she could, and it was making me itch. I didn't want to have any more spoiled without giving it a shot myself, so I purchased the game, put in a few hours, and then dropped it for two years. Hell, the major reason I came back to it was that I was babysitting my mom's very needy poodle, and I was more or less trapped on the couch with her during her entire stay. Had to do something. So, I decided this was it.

"Baba is You" really is the ultimate "Yeah, I'll get back to this" game. You know what I mean? There's always a handful of games that you make a little headway into, and then you think, "Yeah, I'll get back to this" and then drop it. I try not to be this way. Video games are expensive, and I want to get as much value as I can out of them. But man, does this game get overwhelming.

I mean, the TAS for a 100% run is currently around an hour and forty-five minutes. That's for 226 puzzles. That is a lot.

Granted, you don't have to finish every puzzle if you don't want to. The game can let you slide free with your first ending after completing only three subworlds on the main map. You know how many people get to that first ending? Like, we're talking maybe getting through 3 hours of gameplay or so. As of this posting, it's around 7.8% of all players on Steam. In comparison, here are first time ending numbers from other games I own on Steam:

"Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon" – 38% (Cleave the Moon)

"Trine" – 29.6% (Completed!)

"Dust: An Elysian Tale" – 23.9% (…And the Dust Settles)

"Fez" – 14.7% (Kill Screen)

"Psychonauts" – 13.2% (I Thought That Was Unbeatable!)

"Typing of the Dead" – 12.9% (Experimental Fiction)

"Final Fantasy VII" – 9.4% (End of Game)

That's right. From a percentage point of view, more players will put 80 hours into a 20+ year old RPG than 3 hours in this game. So, what's up with that?

At first, I wasn't struggling terribly with the game. I was making a pretty steady clip through it, stopping occasionally to check out the game's wiki. (BTW—view that on a laptop browser, not a mobile one. The background makes it hard to read some of the verbs and conditions.) My first tap-out in 2019 happened around the "Forest of Fall" block, when the game started introducing teleporting puzzles. My second brain-snap happened about 18 hours in the game when I accidentally created the phrase "Level is Key" in the puzzle "Fragile Existence," and then I realized that I could both create this level as Baba and had to create another level as a flag to win the overworld map.

And then there was a submap.

And another.

Holy crap, my brain was not ready for the mess that was Depths and Meta.

At one point, I stopped myself and reviewed why I was overcome with despair at my own stupidity. A part of it is yes, the game looks very cute, and the language used in the puzzles is very simple. So, when you don't get it, it's like saying you don't get "Sesame Street." And hey, maybe you wouldn't if it was in Mandarin and you only speak English. But, I did want to beat myself up for my sluggish responses and my growing feeling of helplessness. Why couldn't I beat the simple sheep game for babies? Was I really that stupid?

I think it helped to know what troubles I had my playthrough harder. This included:

Using text to push objects past barriers. (Yes, text exists in the world, and unless it's floating, you can use that text to move objects around. It's like hitting a car with a stop sign.)

Assuming attributes on an object that weren't actually assigned (i.e., assuming a door was locked or a wall would prevent me from moving through it, even if that wasn't the case.)

Manipulating text to double-layer nouns or break up commands by wedging an inactive/non-solid object in them. (See: Prison.)

Realizing that "you" doesn't always have to go to a certain destination. Sometimes, "you" just need to have something move over there or push something into where you want to go.

Remembering to use the "Wait" button to let moving objects finish their paths.

"Defeat" is a condition that applies only to "you", not objects in your possession. (They may instead be destroyed by "Sink").

Some rules need to be created and destroyed in the same turn.

Things that move on their own can be used to carry commands through obstacles.

Sometimes, you've just got to count your steps when you're taking an action and see if you can reduce them.

And granted, despite my stupidity, there were some puzzles that really clicked! I particularly enjoyed using the "Word" condition, as it allowed for me to treat both words and objects as a noun to make assignments. There were also times where I had to spell out the commands I wanted from letters left on the map. Fun! Natural! And hell, who doesn't enjoy a good block pushing puzzle, now and again? Super easy. Makes sense. Key is push, door is open. Of course!

Ass is Hot! Of course! (Wait, that wasn’t the solution...)

I tended to lock up more when the "Defeat" piece was on screen. I mean, you can always undo your mistakes, and there's no life limit or anything like that. But, hearing your player character go splat when you mess up is flinch-worthy. Additionally, I hated having to build complex paths for objects to follow. Like, screw the entirety of Adventurers. Also, learning what the "Lonely" condition meant felt very unnatural. It was hard to even tell why I was splatting until I read up on what it meant.

Interestingly, changing the language of the game only affects the menu's language, not the game itself. (I was wondering if adding a layer of comprehension to objects would stop me from auto-assigning properties to them or not. Makes sense that it's all in English, considering the "form objects from letters" puzzles.)

I felt bad when I finally gave up on putting effort into solving the puzzles on my own. I did. But, I was also 18 hours deep into my file in a single week, and I wanted to get back to my other hobbies. I felt that if I gave up on "Baba is You" again, I wouldn't finish it ever. And then, those 18 hours truly would be wasted. Also, I felt sick that only 7.8% of people had gotten to the first ending screen. The game isn't bad! It's hard, but not bad! I wanted to at least give it enough dignity to finish it off, even if I was more or less reading what I needed to build with one eyeball and building it with the other.

And hell. Given all of the version differences of this game and the amount of time that has passed since its release, it is a teeny bit YouTube proof. Not completely invulnerable, but I did catch a difference or two here and there. And it's not like the wiki's the clearest with what you need to do, even when they're telling you exactly what to do. You've got to mind your space with your words. At the very least, don't push anything aside or wreck it until you absolutely must.

I can't emphasize how much I felt bad about giving up. I mean, it's one thing to look at guides for other game types. You can get knowledge on how to beat a boss or level, but you've physically got to develop the skills needed to vault through that goal. With puzzle games, knowledge is 99% of what you need to accomplish your task. The rest is just putting in the solution as elegantly as possible.

92.2% of players didn't bother to do even that.

I won't pretend to say I know enough about puzzles to make an excellent puzzle game. However, I do think brevity would have helped this game. Like, think of puzzle games people like. "Tetris," right? Even a long game of "Tetris 64" lasts me a couple of hours at most. "Portal"? That's a handful of hours supported by plot and fun dialogue. So is the sequel. "Panel de Pon" / "Tetris Attack" / "Puyo Puyo"? Those are like "Street Fighter" arcade campaigns. Like, 15-20 minutes. To have a puzzle game go on for hours and hours without any character motivation or plot in sight? Yeah. That's going to burn a lot of people out.

Like, this game could have just the over world, a single hidden world, and then the Center portion, and that would have been more than enough. And then you know what could have been done with the rest of the puzzles? Put them in a new game! "Baba is More!" Bam! A second game, now with extra "Inception"-styled mind screws! Twice the money earned! (Yeah, okay. This plan might stink of capitalism.)

Making 226 puzzles is impressive. However, brevity is the soul of wit. Sometimes, design can be contradictory like that.

But, its achievements? Perfectly laid out. Truly finishing the game is likely to net you everything. I only had to put in a couple of hours after the true ending, and really, only fifteen minutes of that was solving the puzzles. The rest was just finding what I had missed. (I've heard rumors that "Baba is Baba" is bugged, but I think you just need to look up how to get the Level is Win solution in Meta figured out. The rest is elbow grease.)

I don't know if I can recommend this game. Again, having a case of the bad feels over that statement, especially since it seems like the developer has his heart in the right place. I'm hesitant to recommend this because when I was playing it, I had a migraine that lasted three days straight. Granted, there were possibly some external factors to why I had that. A fat polar vortex. Stress from work. Some hormonal influences. Not enough caffeine or water. Just generally living in the United States in the early 2020s. Plenty of things to crush my skull. I don't think it's in good taste to recommend something that will cause others physical pain. I mean, I'm used to games cracking my hands, but that's not exactly healthy behavior. I certainly wouldn't want to give someone an epileptic attack. Why would I want to drive a nail through their skulls, either?

I do think the game is solidly designed. It's a smart little cookie. But, it is unintentionally discouraging to get through, especially if you feel like you can't ask for help. Like getting a clue or an explanation is cheating.

Look. Try. Try hard. Be as honest and earnest as you can be. Just don't expect to do everything in your life alone, okay? I mean, there are times you've got to get an external perspective. I frequently had to crash after school with mathematics teachers and badger professors to explain topics outside of class. You think I was going to come up with how there are different kinds of infinities on my own? Hell no. I'm not creative in terms of mathematical proofs. But, I sure as hell can explain how different infinities work now! Even post-schooling, I still research topics, particularly when building or fixing things. I wouldn't have learned half of the things I've learned about maintaining game cartridges or building dollhouses without suggestions from professionals and enthusiasts. It's just part of life. You ask for help so you don't burn resources—especially something as valuable as time!

#post game evaluation #baba is you #demon is purge

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haberdashing · 4 years ago

Text

Debating All Your History

Martin notices how odd Jon’s been acting since gaining memories of the future. A sequel to Unravelling All The Mystery.

on AO3

Jon kept acting weird around Martin, and Martin wasn’t sure why.

Okay, so Jon kept acting weird around everyone, but after that impromptu explanation at the ice cream parlor, most of it actually sort of made sense. It was still weird to see Jon looking at Tim like he was seeing a ghost, or doing a double-take when he hears Sasha talking, but he had his reasons for it, and they knew those reasons now, and that was fine, that was all fine.

Well. Maybe Tim and Sasha didn’t think it was fine, but it was better than the alternative, anyway.

“The alternative” in this case being how Jon was still acting weird around Martin in a way that he hadn’t explained, that didn’t make sense even with his whole spooky future memories thing going on.

Jon kept... kept looking at Martin, sneaking glances at him when he thought he wasn’t looking, always with the same strange expression on his face that Martin couldn’t quite decipher. Sure, it was better than when the only expression on Jon’s face looking at Martin was something like disgust or hatred, but that was a pretty low bar to set there, and Martin kept wondering if... if maybe he’d done something wrong, in the future that only Jon knew about.

Martin kept thinking back to what Jon had said about the future he remembered, trying to fill in the blanks, put together the pieces there. Jon hadn’t actually said much about Martin then--he’d found Gertrude’s body, apparently, and also something about “the Lonely,” whatever that was? Granted, Sasha and Tim mostly got mentioned because they died, and Martin wasn’t asking for that, of course not, but...

What was his future like? What was he like, in the future? Did he do something to set Jon off in the future that he doesn’t even know about in this timeline yet, something that would explain all those surreptitious glances his way? He wasn’t one of the bad guys or something like that, was he?

Martin thought about asking Jon about it, but never quite managed to actually do so. For one thing, it sounded so minor when he tried to actually put words to it, made him feel like maybe he was just imagining it all. For another, he was worried that Jon really was hiding some big future secret about him, and bringing it up would just shatter the fragile façade of normalcy that Martin was so desperately clinging to.

Instead, when Jon bumped into him in the archives, Jon stammering out something about not knowing Martin was there but then just standing in place and staring at him again as Martin kept sorting through the files, Martin just... snapped.

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

Jon paused, then, blinking a few times as Martin stepped away from the files and returned Jon’s stare with one of his own.

“Like what?”

Did he honestly not know what he was doing when he stared at Martin like that, or did Jon just not think Martin would notice?

Either way, Martin didn’t hesitate to respond. “You look at me like, like you’re trying to solve a puzzle in your head or something, like I’m one of your precious mysteries instead of an actual person! What’s the deal with that, honestly?”

Jon shook his head, a soft sigh escaping his lips. “I, uh... maybe we should talk about this.”

“Yeah, I think we should, Jon! That’s why I brought it up!”

“I mean, er, I think we should talk about this-” A brief but meaningful glance in the direction of the stairs leading out of the archives. “Outside.”

Ah. Meaning the ice cream parlor. (Jon never seemed to want to mention it by name in the institute, seemed to think that might make it easier for Elias to track them down, though if even half of what Jon said about Elias was true Martin highly doubted something that simply would actually make a difference.) Meaning this was tied to the future Jon had memories of after all. Brilliant.

“Should I go get the others? I think Tim just went on his lunch break, but Sasha-”

Jon shook his head again. “No, no, this is probably best kept between the two of us.”

Martin’s stomach lurched at the sound of that even as he went through the motions of grabbing his things and following Jon to the ice cream parlor. They trusted each other, the four of them, they had to trust each other--Jon had made that much very clear. What kind of revelation did Jon have in store about Martin’s future that was so weighty he didn’t even want to share it with Tim and Sasha?

The two of them didn’t say a word to one another during the walk over, didn’t make small talk in between their orders (Martin got chocolate peanut butter this time, while Jon got rum raisin again--really, somebody who regularly ate rum raisin ice cream had no room to criticize his taste in ice cream flavors!), but once they sat down at a table, Martin spoke up before Jon could.

“Is this about that- you called it ‘the Lonely’, before? Is that what all this is about?” It was a shot in the dark, admittedly, but given that Jon had still said previous little about what the future had in store for the rest of them, it seemed like as good a guess as any.

“No, no, it’s not about that, though...” Jon let out a shaky laugh, shaking his head before continuing. “I suppose it is connected, in a way, that’s sort of where it started and all...”

Martin gulped down some ice cream. “What is it, then?”

“Well... I should, I should probably start by making it clear that just because something happened in the future I remember doesn’t mean that, that it has to happen again now, or that it should happen again-”

“I mean, that future involved the world ending, right? So I’d certainly hope it all doesn’t have to happen again.” Martin’s heart sank as a thought occurred to him, as he considered its implications. “Is that what this is about, the end of the world?”

“No, it- it isn’t that, either... although again, it’s not entirely unrelated, really, that did, did have something to do with it as well...”

Jon let out another shaky laugh, and Martin tapped his spoon against his cup a few times to get his attention.

“Look, maybe the Martin you remember would understand all these vague little hints you’re dropping here, I get that, okay? But I’m not that Martin, and I don’t know what it is you keep dancing around here, so I’d really rather you just get to the point already.”

“Right. Right, I’m sorry.” Jon sighed a little before speaking up again. “It’s, uh... after the Lonely, after the end of the world, after everything, we... we were together. The two of us.”

“I know, we were the only ones left, because Tim and Sasha, they-”

Martin was actually kind of grateful that Jon cut him off then, because he really hadn’t been looking forward to the end of that sentence.

“I mean, yes, but also no, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Martin sighed and let out a soft “Jon...” before he continued.

“I don’t just mean we happened to be in the same place when the world ended and we stuck together after that. I mean we were...” Jon made a vague hand gesture. “We were together. You and I.”

It took Martin a moment to process that, and another moment to second-guess what he had just processed, wonder if he was just hearing what he wanted to hear.

“Together.” he echoed. “As in... dating?”

“Not sure if that’s quite the right word for it, given the circumstances...” Jon’s face was coloring oddly, turning a bit redder than he normally looked--was he blushing? “But essentially, yes. I mean, we were boyfriends, certainly. And the, the L word was used.”

“The L word.” God, this was not the conversation Martin had been mentally preparing to have here, and now he was left flailing about. It was only a bit of a consolation that Jon seemed barely more put-together than he himself was. “You mean... love. One of us said he loved the other.”

“Both of us said it.” Jon corrected emphatically. “Multiple times over, in fact. But like I said before, just because it happened in the future I remember doesn’t mean that-”

Martin couldn’t help himself then, bursting out into soft, shaking laughter that he almost thought Jon didn’t notice until Jon’s stare became a bit more of a glare directed at him.

“Look, I know things are different now, I know I’ve been an arse to you and all, but is it really that absurd that in some other future, under wildly different circumstances-”

Martin waved his hand around as if to wipe Jon’s assumptions away. “No, no, it’s not that, it’s just... well... when you told us all about this whole memories of the future stuff, I figured that’d make it even less likely that we could get together down the line.”

Jon was definitely blushing now as he diverted his stare to his now half-melted scoop of ice cream. “Oh, I... I see.”

“Though I cannot promise that I’ll be breaking out ‘the L word’ on our first date or anything like that.”

Jon huffed offendedly. “I wouldn’t expect you to. I know you’re not that Martin... though sometimes it’s surprisingly easy to forget that.”

“...but you’re fine with the ‘first date’ part of that hypothetical, then?” Martin wasn’t sure if Jon hadn’t noticed that bit of what he’d said, had glossed over it, or was in fact trying to avoid it.

“Oh! Oh, yes, I- honestly that’s one thing we never really got to do, before, between being on the run and then the world ending, just go on a normal date. But Martin--I don’t want you to feel like I’m pressuring you into this, or anything like that--you would be willing to go on a date with me?”

Martin couldn’t help but let out another shaky laugh; of all the fantastical scenarios he’d imagined that ended with Jon asking him out on a date, this had most certainly not been one of them, but it would do just as well as any of the rest.

“Yes, Jon, I would very much like to go on a date with you.”

#tma #tma au #tma fic #tma fanfic #the magnus archives #the magnus archives au #the magnus archives fic #the magnus archives fanfic #personal #my writing

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morphogenetic · 4 years ago

Note

wanted to ask for the deets on kimi ga shine and witch's heart since i'd seen you bloggin about both of em (been blockin em in case i decide to check em out)

PUTS HANDS ON TABLE. FUCK YES (i'm gonna publish this bc I'm sure other people would wanna know)

okay so both of them are (FREE, SOMEHOW?) 12-20 hour RPGmaker games, w horror elements, but aside from them both having really great original art and some bangin' music, they're not really the same.

also both have like, a decent amount of body horror/gore, but it's very pixel-art-style so if you could deal w the ze series and aitsf, which I'm assuming you specifically + many of my followers can LOL, you'll probably be okay on CWs

kimi ga shine/your turn to die:

-point and click/vn-y/trial-based death game setup; i've seen the trial portion get compared to dr a lot but after playing dr1, it's really just a lot more similar to ace attorney trials w a bit of a twist to them

-the point and click part is puzzle solving and overall feels Very 999/zero escape-y, even though it's not escape the room type of puzzles

-i know i'm comparing it to 999 and ace attorney a lot and the gameplay does share elements with them, so if you like those you'll pretty much guaranteed like yttd, but it really does have its own identity and does a ton of neat things that neither of those two games do

-there are a ton of bad ends, but there are also two branch points in the story where two different things can happen, but the game keeps going afterwards. the first of those points doesn't seem to change a ton, but the second one seems EXTREMELY major and I'm interested in seeing how it continues. and I say "seems" rather than "know," because....

-NOT CURRENTLY COMPLETE - it is Mostly done, but it's planned to be 3 chapters of 2 parts each, and chapter 3 is not quite complete yet. i would still recommend at least starting it now bc it's not really the kind of game where you can forget what happens between parts, but it does happen

witch's heart:

-not really like a vn or point and click at all, minus it being fairly text heavy - its gameplay is more of an exploration-based, sidequest fulfilling thing, with a few battles here and there (you can actually fight enemies outside of battle bc there are just random enemies walking around, but they don't trigger an actual boss fight, which is neat)

-stats are mostly irrelevant though, you can't actually level up and you can't increase stats until you get your first ending anyway

-5 characters and you play as all of them at some point! it's neat as fuck! (well technically there are more than that but. You'll see.)

-vaguely vn-ish bc it does have multiple complementary routes but that's basically it

-i won't lie the sidequest fulfilling thing is a LITTLE bit annoying after you've done it in the first two routes but each one of those segments never took me very long (like 30 min tops), and especially later on said sidequests start being relevant for the side half of the cast

-holy moly good characterization + this game is REALLY good at showing and not telling. like, seriously. there's one character who gets backstory and then her ENTIRE personality starts making retroactive sense it's incredible (also wh said lgbtq rights for real but I'm not being more specific than that)

-also not teeeechnically done bc the creator hasn't finished the specific epilogues/continuations for every single route yet, but that's more just bonus stuff from my understanding, i'm pretty sure the Main Game is 100% complete

-(pretty sure bc I haven't finished the sequel yet. Lol)

-i straight up SOBBED during a section of this game and I am not a game crier. the last game that made me cry was 999 (yes really LMAO) and that was 5 years ago. take that as you will.

YEAH SORRY THIS IS LONG I JUST WANT MORE PEOPLE TO PLAY THESE. they're both fairly accessible if you can handle pixel blood/gore and can run rpgmaker,

BECAUSE THEY'RE FREE??? HHHHH

#anyway. long. play them please even if youre not the person asking here. thanks #asks #bitterlikecoffee

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autolenaphilia · 4 years ago

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Riven

Riven is an adventure game, developed by American developers Cyan and released in 1998, and its subtitle helpfully explains that it is “The sequel to Myst”, the developer’s best-selling game from 1993. And it definitely helps to play Myst first, as the game would be even more bewildering without having that foreknowledge.

The name Riven is also the name of the world the game largely takes place in, and that tells you something, because this game is an achievement of worldbuilding above all.

This focus on worlds is inherent to the very premise of the series. The Myst series is about a race of human-like people, the D’ni (pronounced Dunny) who have the ability to write books that can transport people to other worlds. These worlds are called Ages. And you play from the perspective of a faceless and voiceless protagonist exploring these worlds, solving puzzles along the way. You are downright encouraged to treat this protagonist to be literally yourself.

The first game, Myst is a good game. I have no idea why it became the best-selling game of the 90s, beyond being pretty-looking, it is the kind of puzzle game that really only appeals to a few. but I enjoy it. The puzzles are not as obtuse as its reputation would suggest and are in fact cleverly designed and make sense. I had to rely on hints some times, but it nearly always felt like my fault and not the game’s. The world are beautifully designed and the lore or worldbuilding is intriguing.

The end-experience is incredibly atmospheric and immersive. And that is my opinion on Myst in a nutshell. A simple but good game.

Its sequel, Riven, takes this basic formula and develops it further, much further. It is probably exactly what you want from a sequel. It feels in keeping with the original, with a similar gameplay style (first-person point-and-click adventure) and is set in the same universe as the first game. But it is also extremely ambitious and tries it best to take the series in new directions.

Myst was a comparatively small game, there were a limited number of screens, and most of your gameplay time came from exploring and figuring out puzzles. Riven however is a massively complex and huge game. It came on five cds originally, which was a big deal (and also meant a lot of disc-swapping, which thankfully doesn’t exist in modern all-digital versions).

The first thing you notice playing is the excellent art design. Over 20 years after it was released, Riven still looks great thanks to relying on very well-made 2d images. Because of this it is also resolution-capped, so it might look a bit small on modern screens, but it still doesn’t look bad, if a bit grainy. The movement system is the same as the first-person point-and-click one the original Myst popularized, but this is the most fluid of any game of this type I’ve played.

Unlike the frequent hopping between Ages in Myst, Riven is mostly set on the titular age of Riven, there are two other ages but they make brief appearances. It makes for a more cohesive and immersive experience. And Riven is not just a large world, with five islands to explore, it also has some of the best and most involved worldbuilding in any game I know of.

The worlds in Riven has its own culture and language and history. It is not derivative of Tolkien in any meaningful way, but certainly is Tolkienian in scope. By exploring you will uncover those, there are a few wordy journals explaining the world and story, but most of it you will have to piece together from examining the environment. It all reveals a dark story, where the story’s villain Gehn (a D’ni man) has been trapped on Riven, and frantically trying to escape by “the art” (of writing linking books between ages). While doing so he has used his mastery of technology to set himself up as a god-king among the natives, ruling through fear. He feeds dissidents to a large carnivorous fish called the wahrk (a cross between a shark and a whale), and the islands are full of creepy and morbid signs of Gehn’s self-centered religion. He tries to teach the natives the culture of the D’ni which he wants to restore to its former glory.

It is a good story, with an obvious analogy for colonialism, reminiscent of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, with Gehn as a Kurtz figure. Gehn is also a white man with a british accent, and the Riven natives dark-skinned, as to make the historical parallels very clear.

A lot of the emotional force of this story is subtly conveyed through the environment. You can sit in the chair Gehn uses while making a huge ghostly image appear in the temple devoted to him. There is a huge wahrk statue that the natives are also supposed to worship. In a school, you discover a mechanical game meant to teach the D’ni number system to children. It consists of two mechanical figures being dropped by increments into a wahrk’s mouth. By showing and not telling, the disturbing implications of all this is all the more affecting.

Part of what makes the world of Riven so compelling is that it doesn’t feel like a video game world. The original Myst had this problem. As well-designed as its worlds were, Myst island especially felt like a typical adventure game environment, full of puzzles for a player to solve, but not much to make it seem like a place people actually live in. Like most worlds in video games, it was obviously designed for the player’s enjoyment and not so much its characters.

Riven doesn’t have this problem. The world of this game doesn’t feel like it is designed foremost for the player, but for the characters that live there. Most of the puzzles don’t feel like puzzles because they are skilfully integrated in the environment. The machinery on Riven generally doesn’t feel created to throw obstacles in the player’s path, even if they sometimes do, but constructed for in-universe purposes. It creates a very immersive and atmospheric experience for the player, even more so than Myst.

There are basically two major puzzles in this game. That might not seem like a lot, but they are really complex. And how they are solved is most interesting. The basis of the solutions is that you have to learn more about the world of the game. You have to explore the world to learn the D’ni number system, the D’ni symbols for colours, the geography of Riven and the animals that live there. So even the puzzles are about the worldbuilding.

Riven is ultimately a major achievement. The gameplay is solid point-and-click, the art design is gorgeous and it all serves to immerse the player in one of the most best constructed worlds in video games. It is certainly a game that is very worthy of respect.

It isn’t at all an easy game to love though. That is because it is very difficult. Because they want to create this immersive and believable world, the game abandons most conventional adventure game design. The environments don’t guide the player the way it does in most games, and there are little hints in the game themselves about where you need to go or what you need to do next.

The puzzles have some design flaws too. The puzzle involving the island’s geography depends on an almost unreadable 3d map, for example. And just like Myst, this game seems to date from the era before accessible design since several puzzles rely on sound, including one that is randomized (there aren’t even subtitles for the dialogue that there is).

You probably will have to resort to a walkthrough or hints to play this game. It is probably the most difficult adventure game I ever finished, at least of the games that are actually difficult because they are clever, not because of “difficulty” in the form of cheap deaths and illogical puzzles.

So that is Riven, an adventure game like no other. It is a game that sacrifices accessibility and player convenience in favour of its world and story. Yet the results are very impressive, with one of the most imaginative and well-made worlds in fantasy video games.

#my writings #riven #myst #adventure games #reviews

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vroenis · 4 years ago

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Lost Legacy Exemplifies Naughty Dog’s Cultural Crisis

There’s a discussion about Ocean’s 8 that positions its existence around whether or not it's necessary as a counterpoint to the Ocean’s reboot - the Ocean’s Cinematic Universe - if you will (what a world we live in) - that it was only made as a gender flip of the reboot that spawned two sequels, three films in total cast almost entirely with men.

My perspective is that as much as I generally enjoyed the Ocean’s reboots for what they were, Ocean’s Eleven should have been a cast entirely with women in the first place.

The heroes we both need and deserve.

Massive spoilers for the original 1960 Lewis Milestone version and the Steven Soderbergh one in 2001 of Ocean’s Eleven - Soderbergh’s flip is of-course that they get to keep the money at the end so that they have to potentially give it back in the sequel he knew he’d be able to make, whereas I doubt Milestone knew he’d ever get a sequel back in the early 60′s so the rub for film-making back then is to burn the money at the end. Nevertheless even for the early 2000′s, the boldest of moves would have been to cast it with women, not to be progressive but also to be progressive, tho that’s still an absurd thought that to cast women is progressive - but to be smart. Ocean’s 8 is a fantastic film, deftly written, paced, acted, shot and edited. Would the world have responded to it in like-kind? I know how *I* would have responded to it, I think you can answer for yourself how societal cultures may have responded at any point from 2001 thru to now. In any case, I have Ocean’s 8 on blu-ray. I love it.

A reader asked me whether I’d played Uncharted: The Lost Legacy after kindly reading through my bludgeoning of Uncharted 4, and seeing as they were patient enough to endure that blood-letting, I felt I owed them and probably Naughty Dog the time of day to give Uncharted-And-A-Half a chance, and I’m really glad I did. Fair warning, there’s a lot I didn’t like about Lost Legacy, and there’s going to be some more pain - a lot of pain. I don’t think any of my tumblr audience is quite on the rest of my socials, but anyone who’s connected to me anywhere else on the Wire was subject to my frustrations as I played thru the game on Saturday, including the blurred image of my Google Keep notes I took while playing the game in preparation for this journal. I keep notes now.

Nevertheless, I can say that on the assumption that the Uncharted series is wrapped, or at least in the narrative arc with these characters as we know them, that Lost Legacy is easily without question my favourite Uncharted game by far.

On that assumption that Uncharted is more or less done, now’s as good a time as any to take a top-down look at the franchise as a whole. I know I already did a fair bit of that in the last piece, but some broader thoughts on what the series does and says have solidified while playing Lost Legacy, and I’ll discuss them as a lead-in to my thoughts on the game.

Again - this is going to be riddled with spoilers for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and most likely the entire Uncharted series, so if you’ve not played them and are interested in doing so, or don’t want to see them heavily critiqued, please stop here.

The first game was released in 2007 and was apparently in development for roughly three years. What was happening up to and around 2004 to 2007? September 11 had happened in 2001, the world was at war in the Middle East in Afghanistan and second invasion of Iraq had begun in 2003, Hurricane Katrina happened in 2005 - the same year the IRA ended armed conflict in Northern Ireland, 2005 saw the outbreak of H5N1 Avian Flu - topical right now. There are so many more, I can’t list them all here - lots of momentous events that in some way or another highlight community awareness in some way - that’s probably a bit of an obtuse statement but hopefully it’ll string together in a sec. What struck me and a bunch of my friends odd about the first, then the second and then somehow every Uncharted game since, is that Naughty Dog seem to choose an ethnicity for their antagonists and scratch the surface of “what if this element of their cultural violence is bad”, but then leave it so shallow that it remains a caricature and comes off as casually and carelessly racist. The first game frames the theme around Nazis, but the actual enemies are anything but. Yes, they’re intended to be mercenaries, but they’re hardly nondescript, they’re absolutely of very specific ethnicity.

From the second game onward, Naughty Dog seem to want to make use of real world settings and do some nuanced research on actual sociopolitical conflict and I always feel uneasy about how its presented. Lost Legacy begins much the same way and I worried about the tone going in. An active war-zone in India as gravitas to your setting that is then almost completely abandoned until the very end? This is my problem with how the writers treat setting in Uncharted. They use very real conflicts that have real-world consequences for people in which actual lives are lost to inject gravity into their narrative and then quickly discard it for the sake of shenanigans once the wise-cracking starts when the tone shifts gear and the characters themselves take centre-stage in the foreground.

Here’s the thing.

The character’s are enough. I *love* these characters. Their story is fantastic. Nadine’s and Chloe’s story was the best and most cohesive of the entire series. Also it only took me roughly six hours to play thru and I only feel like half of that was wasted! That’s still probably being too generous but I’m grasping for positives, here. Still - I don’t know why the senior production team has never had confidence in the core of their product which is the charm of their characters and the play dynamic - Uncharted is primarily about *seeing* and *doing* - for the most part, unfortunately, separately.

The dialogue between Chloe and Nadine is extremely interesting, it is absolutely the best thing in the game, yet it keeps getting interrupted by stupid gameplay beats due to poor timing of rolling up on level locations. Uncharted 4 was supposed to have locations hidden around levels where you could engage in dialogue between characters but I barely found them - why hide such interesting content in your game?? It’s completely absurd. Then the only few I did find were between Elena and Nathan altho I really don’t think those were meant to be hidden, and they were so poorly written and I hated them so much, I didn’t care to discover any more. Again - no disrespect at all to Nolan North and Troy Baker whom I absolutely adore and respect, but I didn’t find anything engaging or interesting *at all* about the brother narrative. I didn’t care one bit what that nonsense was about. What about Sully? Where’s Sully’s story?? I’m just so - so glad we got a story for Chloe, and that at least Nadine got some great screen time too as a part of it and that it all presented so well.

Before I continue to praise what went well, there are a few things I can’t let pass. While the driving has thankfully improved and controls quite well now, the exclusion of a minimap or GPS HUD element is interesting. I’m fairly certain it’s intentional as to not detract from the game’s clean, cinematic look, to not break immersion, but this just generates a horrific breakdown in actual player experience for me. Without any navigational assists, I constantly got lost and stopped every 20 meters to check the map, frequently driving into dead-ends, off cliffs and past where I wanted or needed to go. The game isn’t a 30 hour open-world experience with distinct and varied landmarks the player will familiarise themselves with and learn to navigate by, for the most part the level is fairly homogeneous in object geometry.

Some of the puzzles take far too long to mechanically execute, in particular the smashy-slashy statue block jumpy stupid whatever it’s called one and the sliding shadow motif. It doesn’t matter that neither actually takes too long once you know the solution, it’s that they feel long and then are actually over-long and also not interesting to mechanically execute. This is due mostly to clunky character animation and animation smoothing, and part of Naughty Dog’s overall obsession with being cinematic which is something I’ll return to towards the end of this piece, something which has been a strength but will ultimately be to their detriment. While cinematic visuals might be a benefit for traversal, it’s something that absolutely does not suit puzzle-solving. In the example of the statue-block puzzle, the hard reset each time the player is hit means laboriously jogging all the way back to the beginning and starting again - it’s just poor puzzle design having to begin again from a full reset. There’s no satisfaction in having to remember the whole thing and while I didn’t look up the solution online, I’m willing to bet many people will have just dialled up a clip on YouTube and copied it without figuring it out themselves. This is a failure of connecting what’s satisfying about moving in your game and what’s satisfying about solving puzzles, something Crystal Dynamics understood far better in the Tomb Raider reboots, in particular the second outing (Rise of) with their much more environment-centric puzzling.

The sliding shadow puzzle just simply takes way too long to jog around the space, then clip onto the hot-zone for each lever, wait for the animation to lift it, wait for the animation for the pieces to slide, rinse, repeat. Once you know what you have to do, it’s overly frustrating actually having to do it.

It brings me to a weird quirk of design where the puzzle designers perhaps don’t understand something that the environmental designers do. Maybe they didn’t get the same little notes in the Slack channel, or Trello board or Teams pin or whatever. Uncharted level-design has almost no back-tracking, less in each successive game, and it’s almost entirely absent from Lost Legacy - you’d have to look closely to realise you’re navigating the same area you came in thru and almost always moving over it in a different way that’s been modified - now it’s flooded, now there’s a bridge, now you’re swinging or leaping or climbing where you weren’t etc. I feel like this is the Hidetaka Miyazaki Souls/Borne effect of level design in which environments are designed to be both realistic and practical.

Great! Good for the level designers. Did the puzzle designers not get that note? Maybe they did. I need to stop thinking that every poor optimisation is a symptom of ignorance - that’s bad form on my part. What’s more likely is it’s a symptom of either bad leadership, poor tool implementation, lack of time or too narrow or strict an observation of representative vision - by which I mean - they can’t change the way the characters move or animate just for puzzles, because it has to be consistent with the cinematic representation of the game as a whole - and that sucks lemons. It means the overall play experience suffers for the sake of the overall cinematic experience except executing a puzzle isn’t cinematic unless it’s expansive...

Like the positive example I’ll give of the light reflector room. Shoplifted from Uncharted 2′s giant knife that has Nathan climb all over a giant knife, Lost Legacy’s light reflector room has slightly less climbing but is a much larger space, more impressive and a much better example of good puzzling in Uncharted. It’s not difficult to solve but again (I think again?) I’ll argue that you don’t come to Uncharted for difficult puzzles - you don’t come to Tomb Raider for difficult puzzles, either.

The puzzles in these games should be mostly environmental because they feel good solving them, and solving them should be more about the doing - the playing - and the playing should be moving - running, jumping, climbing etc.

Both the giant knife and the reflector room are a joy to execute because they’re fantastically realised - large cavernous environments that aren’t annoying to navigate, that give you time to appreciate both the scale of the spaces and the details the designers and artists have put into them. Lost Legacy’s is more impressive because you do a lot more puzzling and spend much more time in its vastly larger space, culminating in combat that usually I would be ho-hum about, but I guess exhibits more animation and destruction tech which while scripted, is still impressive nonetheless given how extremely difficult it is to have interactivity still occurring.

I have a few things I want to mention before I begin to wrap up, given it’s going to be a very long wrap - I’d say I’m taking cues from Joseph Anderson but I’ve always been this verbose.

The medallion puzzles were excellent, in part perhaps because they felt like the closest thing to the Tomb Raider reboots’ challenge tombs. Some of them were silly and lazily implemented, the worst offender being you just had to shoot mans and get the medallion from the lock-box that the mans had put it in (pfft), but the best ones were integrated into the environment such that you may well have walked past or thru areas that were puzzles before you knew what they were. This brings up one of the most interesting things I’ve been turning over for quite some time now. Ben Croshaw aka Yahtzee aka Zero Punctuation may have first mentioned “chest high walls” in his first Gears of War video, but it may well have been an Uncharted game. I don’t remember but he will have thrown in mentions of all the generic cover-shooters as a catch-all for how the environments immediately telegraph that Combat™ will happen. It’s a particularly astute remark and speaks volumes of video game design - developers always seem to have very specific design language to separate traversal, combat and puzzling. While I clearly don’t care for combat most days, and yes - I do acknowledge there are some practical concerns for combat that can’t be avoided, I always envisaged design that blurred the lines between puzzle and environment so that you never quite knew what was and wasn’t a puzzle. Everything should be the puzzle. In some senses, Cyan’s old Myst games were a bit like this but in a very rudimentary and crude way - sure, they’re quite old now, but even those had very clear not puzzle areas. It’s a complex and subtle subject, but something of a study of games like Fireproof Games’ The Room would be in order. Understandably smaller scale, but the thinking behind it is definitely adjacent.

Final notes - the young Indian girl in the prologue has amazing animations that you’ll miss entirely unless you swing the camera yourself. A whole team of people or a single animator has spent hours on those animations - that a director or team leader hasn’t forced the player to see and appreciate them is a disservice.

Every section where you have to do something under pressure like run from mans shooting at you or dash through a lengthy section of crumbling cave network etc. is a horrible play experience of not knowing where to go. They’re trying to inject excitement by applying pressure but there’s no clear guidance and no dependence on player skill, so you end in bizarre fail-states due to going in completely the wrong direction that glitches cameras or scene time-outs resulting in check-points and the whole thing just doesn’t scan as a cinematic experience. I hate hate hate them - you’re subject to the same musical swell that’s supposed to be like a movie only to fail again and it comes off as b-grade and pathetic. Every game has had this problem and it is just straight bad design.

Three? Four? Games in a row, Naughty Dog have recycled;

being pursued on foot by an armoured vehicle crashing through level geometry while you have to run and occasionally shoot/fight mans,

driving down a shanty-town on a hill pursued by an armoured vehicle - perhaps the same one as previous scene

a big chase scene of lots of vehicles jumping from vehicle to vehicle shooting and/or punching mans that may or may not include...

a train combat sequence where you start at the back of the train and work your way to the front of it shooting mans as you go

This lacks creativity at this point. I think duplicating these once each - so you do them twice total across the franchise is fine, but they hit the same beats in the same way - exactly - every time they appear. It just strikes me as Naughty Dog just not knowing what else to do. At one point, I think it was in Uncharted 4, when driving down the shanty-town on the hill, I literally had a brain-fart not knowing which game I was playing because I swear we did it in 2 and 3. Did we do it in 3?? Look, I don’t know. But it’s getting old. At least we didn’t do it in Lost Legacy, but we did the train and I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of doing the same things in the same way. It could have been a train but it should have been in a way that just wasn’t just another Uncharted train. It hasn’t worn thin, it’s worn out.

Overall, the games look great... but playing them feels like they’re stuck in PS2 and early PS3 era philosophies, like Naughty Dog haven’t evolved and don’t realise that people’s brains function much quicker and can process more, or that the media we consume, the games we play function at a higher level and we can digest more, we’re capable of processing higher functions. I’ve been playing Ubisoft’s The Division 2 and enjoying it more the more I play, much to my surprise. I understand the intent behind the gameplay is extremely different to the single-player experience of Uncharted, however there are some parallels in what it achieves animation wise;

The Division is also a cover shooter but of-course as a multiplayer, open-world live-service game, its intent is to telegraph to the player that the entire environment is a permanent play-space in which to always be playing. It utilises an information-rich GUI that is an always-on system with button icons telling the player what button to press over what surfaces to snap to, vault over, climb up, run to (and snap to cover), open and loot, interact with etc. I don’t know if these can be turned off but I like them on. It’s a pretty amazing feat that almost every environmental object has been mapped as a snap-to-cover and/or climbable object. For this reason, the character movement in Division is pretty quick and snappy, however it still manages to have a decent degree of natural human kinetics in the character rigging which is amazing. This means if you move-off from standing still, there’s a slight delay as your “weight” shifts, same if you change direction. When I say “snap” to cover, it’s not actually instantaneous, your character makes a movement and takes time to do so, yet it’s still not sluggish. Somehow the developers have worked at fine-tuning a balance between not-instant, but not too slow.

This is something that even in Lost Legacy, I feel Naughty Dog simply can’t do. The animations are decent during play - they’re outstanding during cutscenes (we’re getting there), but character models have a really awkward relationship with the environment. They clip awkwardly with ladders and buttons and wheels - with puzzles and levers - getting the grappling hook to prompt is again better than Uncharted 4 but still not ideal. I had far fewer glitch-outs than 4 too, which was a significant improvement, but I still had to animate back and forth a few times to get into hot-zones appropriately and with character kinetics not quite right, it wasn’t exactly easy.

And again to be fair, this stuff is suuuuuper difficult. I don’t mean to talk about this stuff like it’s cooking instant ramen. It’s so freaking tough. Rigging and mapping interactive character models has to be one of the most stupendously difficult things a developer has to do - making it work with all that scripting, getting it to play nice with all those assets and lines and lines of coding for the full experience. I have so much respect for game developers and what an astronomical task it is. So when I say I prefer one development team’s product over another’s, I don’t mean to say that the other team is absolute garbage - there are so many things that might contribute to that final product and we have no idea what’s been going on at Naughty Dog. If the team leaders and producers say they’re happy or even if they don’t, and the decision is made to ship, there’s nothing more they can say or do.

If there was one thing I absolutely loved about this game, it was the two main characters and the story that was told about them. I can excuse the main text as the catalyst that brought them together - even to the point that it’s a story about Chloe ultimately deciding what’s important to her. My issue with this comes full circle with the setting being in a real world conflict. There’s a bit of white savour complex in there in that Asav might be the narrative’s antagonist, but he at least is local. It’s not clear exactly what Chloe’s ethnicity is and I’m not here to judge what her stakes are in it because clearly her character has a sense of home and place in India, but she certainly also has a complex sense of being an outsider. So the point is not to judge, but the game also is unclear on its positioning other than she’s the heroic vehicle of deliverance. See what I mean about theme? This is what I mean by you could have just as easily written almost an identical story about Nadine and Chloe, with very similar interactions, tension, redemption and resolve - even with an antagonist, conflict and a happy ending, but either treated real sociopolitical issues with better care or not set your game in them at all. I’m all for setting games in the real world, but if you’re going to do it, do it right. I’m not the person to ask.

I need to be careful not to direct that criticism at the base-level developers nor at Claudia Black who is the manifestation of Chloe’s voice because she does an amazing job of bringing her to life. The casting of Laura Bailey voicing a black South African Nadine was much more awkward given Nadine’s ethnicity wasn’t decided when she was cast - again that’s on Naughty Dog’s leadership, but I won’t knock Laura Bailey for it. It’s easy to say she should have resigned, perhaps she should have, that’s an economical question only Laura can answer and I’m sure it’s not an easy one. Suffice to say, VO work isn’t lucrative.

What a side-track.

I don’t think I ever cared about Nathan. I think I always cared about Elena, and not because WAIFU and also not because WHITE KNIGHT or whatever other bullshit reasons stupid alphagamerz will spit from their frontheads. Elena’s just more interesting, probably because Nathan is written like a design document and Elena’s written like a human being. Naughty Dog want to create a game about adventuring with lush expansive environments, shooty mcshooting and light puzzling. They want it to be cinematic and unrivalled in its quality and they have the smarts to build the tech around it, with Sony’s help. Backed by Sony money, they take VO seriously and do a great job at creating that cinematic experience, coupled with some above-par for video games narrative writing. The problem this introduces for me is Nathan’s raison d'être has to justify everything - action, tension, stupidity...

Nathan Drake really is the design document.

I feel like he’s just the unfortunate side-effect of being central to the game, and it’s typical of my character to just not dig the focus of things and get into subtexts a whole lot more. Often I get into things in the periphery, things adjacent - I don’t love or hate Shakespeare or for that matter Baz Luhrmann but Romeo + Juliet ‘96 is an amazing film and not at all because of the eponymous Romeo and Juliet and again, not for Leonardo di Caprio (spit!) or for Claire Danes (she can stay) but the absolutely divine cast of supporting characters (John Leguizamo will live in my heart forever oh baby).

That Nathan makes stupid decisions is already something that turns me off. That he makes poor decisions because... he’s an orphan? Because... he was bullied? Because... his brother left him? This is why he’s not transparent with his wife? Actually, he’s quite realistic. Except the people like him I’ve known in my life aren’t heroes - they’re pathetic or unreliable or abusive or dangerous. Elena is an adult. She’s not perfect either and that’s also great because neither am I. As a side character she has the conceit of being more nuanced, but as the contra to Nathan, she’s also mature versus his childishness. OOOOAAAAH EVERYONE LOVES A LOVEABLE MANBABY OOAAAH COMEON LIVE A LITTLE EVERYONE’S GOT A LITTLE CHILD STILL IN THEM SOMEWHERE yea fine, I get it, like I’ve said before, yes - he embodies the recklessness and playfulness in us, but that’s a confusing position for a game that frequently tries to ground itself in real world conflict to be taking. You’re reducing him to that but injecting complex and nuanced characters like Elena and now eventually both Chloe and Nadine? I’m telling you now - any male that doesn’t know when it’s appropriate to grow-up, when the time to set aside the playfulness and be TRUTHFUL AND TRANSPARENT WITH HIS PARTNER is a dangerous person and FUCK THAT NOISE. Nathan, as much as I do absolutely - make no mistake - adore Nolan North’s voicing - ends up being another Homer Simpson - as long as you laugh at his stupidity, you’ll excuse it, and you’ll excuse the hurt that’s done by it, and that shit doesn’t fly with me. His redemption was not earned. I say again - Elena should throw him into the sea.

Nadine ends up being a fantastic character, even if she’s given less narrative time, she’s a great example of her behaviour telling more story in contrast to Chloe getting to reveal her past and it’s nice to see them play off one another. I feel Nadine and Chloe as characters hit great story beats in ways Nathan didn’t get to with pretty much any of the other characters in four games - not Sully, not Elena, not his brother, not even Chloe - all told, we never actually get any back-story on Nathan and Chloe and I think we’re better off for it because I don’t care.

Having a quick squiz around tumblr reveals the obvious and rampant shipping of Nadine and Chloe and I couldn’t be happier. I think Naughty Dog knew what they were doing. There were so many moments. Those moments were for us. I think they were subtle enough that the fragile manbabies would have missed them but there’s no fooling us. Some of the babyboiz would have been seething thru their mouthbreething hairmouths and I’m sure probably took to the internet but that’s OK, they can remain unfucked incels for the rest of their lives or worse, serviced by whatever unwashed creatures want to dare fondle them in the dark. The elephant ride and that whole conversation was almost enough for me to forgive the absolute disaster that was Uncharted 4. It was given enough time to breathe, it was absolutely beautiful, and just when you thought they were going to terminate it and apologise for making things too awks, it concludes just perfectly and you get a phone picture that doesn’t have Nadine in frame, yet her presence in that picture is definite, pervasive and emotional. Again, some people may have completely missed it and maybe it chalks up to life experience, but as completely contrived as an artefact of complete fiction as that whole sequence might be, it was one of the most wonderfully tender moments ever created in a video game and I wonder if it makes the whole affair worth it.

In the Uncharted 4 piece, I threw in a few barbs about the most meaningful interactions, and in Lost Legacy, what I really loved was Chloe taking photos of things she thinks are beautiful and interesting on her phone, and feeding the elephant - these were the most meaningful interactions in the game. I love that the photos on the phone didn’t serve any gameplay utility at all, they were there because her character wanted to document her travels, because she thought what she was seeing was cool, and any time in the game, you could pull out your phone and look at what you’d seen. It was such a good and important decision to have the very first picture to be the Indian girl in the market, as that rather than the local conflict, does more to ground you and Chloe as a character in the setting. The game never forces you to look at it as a reminder, but you know it’s there.

I did steal these from the internet, sorry - so if they’re yours, let me know and I’ll be happy to take them down - this one in particular, seeing as it’s a photomode capture. I should have taken my own but I don’t do photomode caps on my first play-thru and there’s no-way I’m replaying this ever again.

It took five games for Naughty Dog to finally get some decent character writing, but a part of me still feels they couldn’t have existed without all the dross of the other games. There’s this immense amount of back-story and labour both the developers and the players had to slog thru to get to this point, and I feel as tho we get here and there’s just too little to show for it. I still really enjoyed the story that was told, the sense of character I felt, but a lot of that was contingent on the Uncharted universe in situ. Lost Legacy feels like a combining of all of Naughty Dog’s narrative motifs - the earnest redemption, the moment of tenderness and connection centred around peaceful animals - it’s a greatest hits of Naughty Dog in the best way possible because each narrative beat hits perfectly. I’m glad I played it with two characters who endeared themselves so much to me, that I truly cared about.

I’ve spend a lot of time praising the strengths of writing for at least Lost Legacy, but for each thing I’ve enjoyed about at least these two characters, there have been so many things I’ve been critical of. I feel like in order to get to the tiniest bit of enjoyment, I had to suffer thru so much. Honestly I don’t know if it really was worth it. It’s hard to know given that who I am now and where my tastes are and have developed as a consequence of my experiences, and I definitely would not replay any of those games again - so where does that leave me? I can’t go back and play The Last Of Us and I absolutely won’t play the second game, I just can’t do Naughty Dog games now, I don’t have it in me.

Naughty Dog have spent the better part of two decades developing tech for visual fidelity specifically for the Playstation hardware platforms (PS3 and 4). They’ve also been doing it by overworking their staff, many of which have left out of frustration or necessity. The problem they face is that as industry tools in general improve, there will no gap between games developed by Naughty Dog and any other contemporary studio from a visual perspective. Make no mistake - the Uncharted games are absolutely chock-full of objects, geometry and animation - somehow miraculously so on the Playstation platform in comparison to other games with the exception of other first-party and exclusive games receiving similar support from Sony such as Guerilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn and Sucker Punch’s forthcoming Ghost of Tsushima. There are probably other similar examples for the previous generation on PS3.

Yes, there’s a certain style of game Naughty Dog create as far as narrative goes but because it’s becoming more cinematic, that style is judged more and more by cinematic standards and at best it’s barely semi-professional aside from the outstanding voice work. There are few striking visual motifs that set Naughty Dog games apart from a design perspective, and the gameplay and mechanical constructions that once distinguished them at least a little from others are ever diminishing at increasing rates - more-so as their work practices make the level of quality they set out to achieve ever more unsustainable.

Lost Legacy encapsulates a lot of what I feel about video games as a whole at the moment - as an industry and as a culture. It’s a snapshot of a culture that’s achieving wonderful, beautiful things that are in ways huge - immense, yet somehow can feel so small in comparison to some of the challenges it faces. It’s an industry and culture experiencing a period of great upheaval, where after years upon years of malpractice, terrible things somehow still endure. It’s a space where sometimes it feels like a battle to find the tiniest shred of beauty buried in the dirt and ash, and there doesn’t seem to be an end to the frustration that working thru it brings about while grass-roots labourers continue to be burned.

Like many things in life, both at my age and at the level I guess a person gets to at the exposure rate of a thing, I’ve cut back a great deal on my engagement time with video games, so I’m a lot less patient with the functions and mechanisms of a game. There’s a labour element of video games that I feel developers might think is somehow necessary and there’s a component of that which is true, just not quite in the way they think it is, and it takes a unique frame of thinking to break out of traditional design to understand it. Again I’m not saying there’s anything special about how I understand games - there’s nothing at all original in my thoughts - I’ve shoplifted them wholesale from a hundred other people back from when I used to read Gamasutra and even now when I read designers and the people I follow and talk to on Twitter etc. There’s also absolutely nothing wrong with traditions and the people that enjoy them - just because they’re not my thing any more doesn’t mean they’re bad. It just means I’ve moved to something else and I shouldn’t engage with them.

That, I think, is what I’m waiting for. Kentucky Route Zero, Howling Dogs, Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture, a whole bunch of others - these are the games I feel are pushing past the boundaries of tradition. Then the moments Uncharted takes itself out of its traditions - Nadine and Chloe’s elephant ride, Chloe’s phone pictures, Elena and Nathan’s house tours especially as Cassie - that’s when I think now you’re running! Run with it! Look, I’m still playing The Division - I’m still moving and shooting and enjoying it.

But we can do so much more. Many developers are doing more. We as an audience need to play more All of us together need to do and play more.

(The epilogue is me figuring I talk a lot of shit about AAA games and nary a word about KRZ, Howling Dogs, Dear Esther and the rest and I get it, but oooooo howdy is it really difficult for me to talk pragmatically about games I actually love)

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wariofranchisefanblog · 5 years ago

Note

If Wario World got a sequel, what are some improvements and new features that you would want to see?

There's mainly three major things I'd want:

1. Multiplayer

Wario World was very much a brawler above all else and a fun one for sure, but I do think this kind of game benefits from multiplayer. I'd say this would be a perfect Wario & Waluigi adventure, with Waluigi getting his own, wacky moveset.

2. More enemy variety

As much as I like the game, there is no arguing that the enemy variety sucked, with the same few mooks reskinned across the entire game, with only a small amount of more distinct enemies here and there.

I'd especially like it if the new mooks challenge you on using Wario's moveset well, like an enemy that needs to fall on his back by Wario using his Shoulder Charge first, before you can damage him with a Ground Pound.

3. Mesh the different aspects of the game more

Wario World is odd in how the overworld gameplay consists mostly of brawling, with a decent bit of platforming here and there, while the puzzle aspect of the series is relegated to sub-rooms.

I'd just like to see some more instance where you have to think a bit to solve something, like using the magnet enemies in Beanstalk Way, it's not hard to figure out, but it reqires you to think a little.

You can still have the sub-rooms, I'd just like some of the puzzle aspect to come to the overworld gameplay as well.

#Wario World

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prokopetz · 5 years ago

Note

this might be a kind of weird rec request, but, do you know any other games with the same vibe as HLD? not in gameplay, but in like, setting and story? other games that i know of that has the same vibe is Creature In The Well, Sable, Hob, and kind of RIME, if that helps

Getting straight to the point, I see – I appreciate it!

Based on your examples, I’m guessing we’re aiming for a sort of melancholy post-apoc milieu that doesn’t resort to gratuitous gore or real-is-brown to get its point across, ideally with a French comic book twist to its visual design, and that you lead with Hyper Light Drifter tells me that the occasional burst of technically challenging violence isn’t a deal-breaker for you. If I’ve got that right, you might have a look at any of the following:

Anodyne 2: Return to Dust - The first game in the series is more of a Yume Nikki meets Legend of Zelda sort of deal, but the sequel fits the brief much better. The gimmick is that the mechanics and visuals shift eras depending on what scale you’re operating on, going from PSOne to GBA and in a few cases zooming all the way in to ZX Spectrum.

Bastion - I’m quite sure you’ve heard of this one, but just in case! Known mostly for its conceit of having a fully voiced narrator who dynamically responds to the player’s actions, including some very cool sequences that play with the unreliable narrator trope by having what the voiceover is describing depart from what’s happening in front of you.

Etherborn - I’m throwing this one in on purely aesthetic grounds, as I strongly suspect that if you liked the atmosphere of Hyper Light Drifter, this’ll be right up your alley. It’s an experimental walking sim/puzzle-platformer hybrid where you play as a voiceless something-or-other that can manipulate gravity.

FAR: Lone Sails - I’ll level with you: this one’s on the list specifically because you name-checked Sable. It’s about navigating a landship across a dry ocean bed in search of other survivors; starts out as a nearly pure walking sim, and gradually introduces light engineering puzzle elements to spice things up.

FEZ - A perspective shifting puzzle-platformer, it may initially appear that this recommendation is based entirely on visual similarity, but it has a lot of overlap with Hyper Light Drifter in terms of the themes and implications of its story, too – at least if you can figure out what the heck is going on! Be prepared to take notes; there will be a test.

Omensight - That you mentioned Hob put me in mind of this one. It’s an outlier in this list in that it takes place during, rather than following, the apocalypse: it’s a time-looping action platformer/murder mystery hybrid where you repeatedly play out the world’s last day, trying to solve – and hopefully prevent – the murder of God. No pressure!

OneShot - A nonviolent puzzle-RPG where you control the Messiah on a quest to restore the sun to a dying world. The twist? The Messiah’s god is you, the player, and they’re aware of your existence. The puzzles are heavy on the meta, with some involving manipulating the game window or manually editing files on your hard drive, among other things.

Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP - Self-described as a prog rock album you can walk around in, this point-and-click adventure/rhythm game admittedly edges toward real-is-brown territory, but it’s stylish enough that I’m willing to give it a pass. The story has some of the same thoughts as Hyper Light Drifter on the subject of self-sacrifice.

In terms of forthcoming titles beyond those you already mentioned, you might keep an eye on The Last Campfire, NYKRA, Orion: Shadow of Jeroba, Omno, Outrider Mako, Prisma Light, Radio the Universe and Voyage.

#gaming #video games #video game recommendations #violence mention #death mention #zefive

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audiogrizzly · 5 years ago

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Top 5 Games of 2019

It was a little tricky to construct a top 5 for this year, though there have been a couple of surprises. I wasn’t expecting the year to be a bit crap as we are no w on the cusp once more of a new generation. But 2012 wasn’t all that bad of a year (PS4 and Xbox One would release in 2013) and at the moment, everyone is doing alright. PS4 has sold through over 100 million systems, Nintendo are definitely on an “on” generation with Switch, Xbox has been able to get back into peoples good books with things like Game Pass (on both Console and PC, their PC side they seem to really be turning around), there’s even interesting things happening in the mobile space with Apple Arcade.

This won’t be the last year where my top 5 games are full of current gen titles, I am expecting the new systems to drop in around November, last time it was hard to find a top 5 specific to PS4 (as I listed each platform separately back then). It IS however, another list of mostly AAA tier games. If you want to know what smaller more “interesting” games I have been playing, check out my honourable mentions at the end.

Also, follow me on Melee. It’s this new image blogging service from Imgur which you can download now on the IOS App Store (its just on iPhone at the moment) and it has seemingly been built to help people share gaming related clips and images off of places like Twitter and Instagram (and err, here on Tumblr). I posted a couple of daft clips of me failing in Modern Warfare and Destiny 2 and it didn’t take long for them to amass a few likes and comments.

That sounded like a sponsored advert but ain’t nobody paying me for this. Let’s get into my top 5

5. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

I was about to select Gears 5 to be my number 5 until I saw sense and cast my memory back to when I started playing Jedi (all the way back in November. I was impressed by its intense action, impressive visuals and great characters. I especially enjoyed the 4 armed pilot who always complains. I did feel that towards the end I got sick of managing large groups of enemies so I dropped the difficulty to get through it, but I still haven’t achieved 100% of activities on all planets so I can still go back to it one day.

4. Borderlands 3

We all knew this was coming but not even I had any idea that we would have been actually playing it in 2019 way back at the start of the year. For me, I look at the game. I don’t care about weird magicians or their insane sounding legal woes, all I’m interested in is the work of a team who deserved better for their last title, but am still glad returned to what they do best, looting and shooting. I enjoyed rejoining these characters I have followed over the last 10 years, all the referenced to older games, cameos from characters from Tales From the Borderlands and The Pre Sequel and was sad to see some people go. I still have about a year of extra content to go through and I really appreciate the efforts they have made to make the game last longer than just one playthrough through in the Proving Grounds, Circle of Slaughter and Mayhem modes. Though I have always tended to stick to Borderlands games and create builds for each and every vault hunter, so I will be doing that.

3. Mortal Kombat 11

It’s been a while since I last put a fighting game into my end of year round up. And I HAVE fallen off MK11 a little bit, but this entry reminded me of how impressive it is for Nether Realms to pack their fighting games with some many things to do and keep people playing outside of just going into matchmaking and fighting others. The Vault this year is basically another little adventure full of exploration and puzzle solving and the Towers of Time give you plenty of challenge and direction of many months to come. You also have to give the developer credit for never backing down on the brutality of the game, they must have all got their heads together after DC Universe vs. and vowed never again to make watered down versions of Fatalities. It is a game that keeps getting better and better.

2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare

I was debating whether or not to include this years CoD. I always get the same type of enjoyment out of it each year, people complain that it never changes but I’m glad it sticks to a formula. Of course they are not identikit games, there are new maps, new modes, new ways of building your loadout and new touches, like how in this year you can snap to edges to stay in cover while you shoot, there’s the new special equipment system where you can drop ammo or reduce your footstep noise. Having doors you can either peek through or smash open adds another level of strategy, there have been times where I have been able to escape being under fire by closing a door, re-positioning and then wasting whoever just wanders in.

The campaign this year, good to see it back, but whatever, the co-op mode is Spec Ops again, like it was back in MW2 and 3 but on a much larger scale, I have yet to complete one of these btw. But as always, it’s the multiplayer that does it for me and Modern Warfare deserves credit for being what must be the first AAA game to feature cross platform play, not just launch with it. I know that games like Fortnite are popular, but I don’t see that as a AAA title, it doesn’t have the full package, it’s just a mode and it started off small. Call of Duty is expected to be big each year, has a lot riding on it and allowing for cross play is a big step. I especially appreciate being able to play with a keyboard and mouse on PS4 and being able to matchmake only with people playing with controllers on PC, in fact, I have never really given the game much of a shot on PC before as I know people just fall of it, there has often been low player numbers reported on the PC versions of CoD and it looks like it won’t have that problem this time round due to cross play.

Modern Warfare still has to contend with Destiny 2 and Overwatch for my time as my main multiplayer game but it’s still as fun as ever.

1. Control

Put this down as my main “surprise” game of 2019. A game which was not on my watch list, though I was aware of it as you can’t ignore a game from the makers of Max Payne (I did skip Alan Wake and didn’t care much for Quantum break though). Bought it at the last minute before its release, downloaded it and was wowed by the sinister nature of the environment you run around in. This weird fictitious US government agency which looks into paranormal activity which you seem to have become in charge of because you picked up a mysterious weapon from the deceased Director while searching for your brother. What then follows is about 12 hours of wacky powers and odd video clips as you unearth what has been going on in this strange ever morphing building.

I especially loved how the game never holds your hand too much, the map of each floor is vague enough that you also have to rely on in-game signposting to move around, as well as a bit of memory work. There is also great humour involved too in some of the PSA posters on a lot of the walls, the antics of the caretaker and the videos you find of Dr. Darling throughout the game.

I did have a few weird technical issues with the game throughout playing, but still found it to be visually pleasing, there was this weird hitch that used to appear after coming out of the pause screen that always threw me, it would be followed by a few moments of low performance before getting back into the smooth action. But this didn’t stop me from having a great time with Control. Perhaps the game that will be the most prominent in my head when I think of 2019.

So there you have it, control is my best game of 2019. But let’s look at the other new games I played throughout the year in my honourable mentions:

Gears 5

The Outer Worlds

Days Gone

Apex Legends

Far Cry New Dawn

Trover Saves the Universe

Concrete Genie

Devil May Cry 5

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

And also a special mention to these old games that were rereleased/remastered/repackaged etc in 2019:

Borderlands Game of the Year Edition Remastered

Halo Reach

And now, a look at the games I have on my watchlist for 2020:

Cyberpunk 2077

Last of Us Part 2

Ghost of Tsushima

Halo: Infinite

Watch Dogs Legion

Phantasy Star Online 2

Gods & Monsters

Doom Eternal

Overwatch 2

Diablo IV

Minecraft dungeons

Marvel's Avengers

Carrion

Streets of Rage 4

Will they all even come out? Let’s find out, happy new year!

#mortal kombat #modern warfare #control #star wars #melee #borderlands

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