#you put the characters/players/teams that are very equal playing grounds against each other in the first round so it’s an actual competition

[sharkieboi]

next big bracket polls thing got dropped and listen. i’m not a sports person but i was raised by Intense Sports Persons and i just. that’s not how you make brackets. people of tumblr who desire to run a bracket poll please please please learn how to make brackets.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #95: Gilgamesh(Child)

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re continuing the pseudo-redo theme of the past couple builds with Kid Gilgamesh. First Nero, then Shiki, now Gil... We swear if there’s another alternate version of an existing character coming up we’re going to scream.

But yeah he’s Gilgamesh, but baby; that means he’s cute enough to charm enemies, has instant knowledge about said enemies thanks to Sha Naqba Imuru, and can weaponize anything in the Gate of Babylon.

Check out Kogil’s build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: We’re watching, and we’re waiting. On the edge of our seat, anticipating.

Race and Background

Gilgamesh is definitely some kind of Aasimar, but we’re making a child here. Leaning into the whole rugrat experience, we’re going with a Lightfoot Halfling, but feel free to play a child Aasimar if you want. Or a bugbear-don’t let us stop you from having fun. Regardless, for the sake of this build you get +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma. You’re also Lucky thanks to your clairvoyance, letting you re-roll 1′s on attacks, saves, and ability checks. You’re also pretty Brave, giving you advantage against being frightened, and Nimble, which lets you move through the spaces of larger creatures. Finally, you’re Naturally Stealthy, letting you hide when obscured by larger creatures. Kids probably shouldn’t be out adventuring, but at least you’re a smaller target than the other yous. You also only have a speed of 25′, but it’s not the end of the world.

You’re the same person as the other Gilgamesh, so it’s not too surprising that you have the same background. The Noble background gives you History proficiency because you’re one of, if not the, oldest servants around, and Persuasion proficiency as well. You’re a kid, kids are cute, you can get your way with some puppy dog eyes.

Ability Scores

Put your highest score into Charisma; like I said, you’re cute, and you also have an extremely powerful array of weaponry that you can summon at will. Both of those are charisma-based skills. Second is Dexterity; you’re a nimble lil munchkin, or at least you’ll have to be to run around a battle just wearing cargo shorts and a hoodie. Third is Wisdom, followed up by Intelligence. You have tons of knowledge of the world around you being pumped into your brain by one of your Noble Phantasms, and you’re also aware enough of social norms to know you shouldn’t constantly use it, unlike your older self. Your Constitution is a little low because you’re still growing, but dump Strength. You’re a kid, and you don’t have to swing any weapons around when you can just magically summon them instead.

Class Levels

1. Bard 1: You get by on your charms, wits, and weirdly diverse array of magical powers, and that’s saying bard to us. You get Dexterity and Charisma save proficiency, as well as three skills of your choice; Insight for a less magical explanation for your NP, Religion because you’re part god- you should know your family tree, and Perception because you’re going to have to pick your weapons out of literally everything that exists, so you’ll need a good eye.

You can give away Bardic Inspiration as a bonus action, giving another creature a bit of a boost to one of their attack rolls, saves, or checks in the next 10 minutes. You can use this feature a number of times per long rest equal to your charisma modifier. You can also cast Spells using your Charisma to cast them. 

Grab Prestidigitation so you can start taking small objects out of the gate, and Thunderclap for a simple use of your treasures in an AoE blast. You also get Charm Person and Command to really rub in how cute you are, as well as Detect Magic and Identify to pick up extra information with Sha Naqba Imuru. Both charm person and Command require their target to fail a wisdom save to work, that’ll have a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your charisma modifier.

2. Bard 2: At second level you can leverage your NP to become a Jack of All Trades, beaming enough information into your head that you can add half your proficiency bonus to any check you’re not proficient with. You also learn a Song of Rest, adding an extra d6 to any healing done over a short rest. You also become more of a team player with some Magical Inspiration, letting creatures add your inspiration to healing or damage done by one instance of a spell. 

Speaking of healing done by spells, Heroism makes a creature immune to fear, and gain temporary HP each turn. You know what you’re doing, and knowledge is the antithesis of fear. Unless you’re facing a Beholder, then knowing what you’re getting into only makes things worse. But you’re level 2, so that probably won’t be an issue.

3. Bard 3: You’re a bit young for college, but you graduate from the College of Creation anyway! Now your inspiration comes prepackaged with extra effects thanks to your Note of Potential. When used on an ability check, your inspiration die is rolled twice and either result can be used. When used for an Attack Roll, each creature of choice within 5′ of the target must make a Constitution save or take Thunder damage equal to the amount rolled. If used on a Saving Throw, the user gains temporary HP equal to the amount rolled plus your charisma modifier. You can also make a Performance of Creation as an action, creating a nonmagical item on the ground/in a liquid within 10′ of you. It’s a powerful ability, but it comes with some caveats. It must be worth less than 20 times your level, and has to be medium or smaller. It’s also very clearly created by magic, so you can’t pass something off as the real deal for scams. Not like you’d need the money anyway. You can use this once per long rest, or by spending a 2nd level spell slot. 

Speaking of, you also get second level spells this level. You can now make a Cloud of Daggers for a more offensive use of your Gate of Babylon. This creates a 5′ cube of daggers floating in the air, and creatures that enter the cube take slashing damage when they enter the cube. Either stick it in a doorway for a decent trap, or team up with Spartacus for some harsh damage.

One last thing- you get a round of Expertise this level, doubling your proficiency in History and Persuasion.

4. Bard 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to boost your Charisma for stronger spells and more inspiration. You also pick up Friends for another charm point and Hold Person to use the Chains of Heaven like they were meant to be, forcing a wisdom save on a humanoid, and if they fail they’re paralyzed until the spell ends or they make another wisdom save on their turn.

5. Bard 5: Fifth level bards get a boost to their inspiration, turning their bardic inspiration dice to d8s. You also become a Font of Inspiration, regaining inspiration uses on short rests instead of long ones.

You also get third level spells, like Clairvoyance to mimic your usual... clairvoyance. You spend 10 minutes to spy on a location you’ve seen before for up to 10 minutes.

6. Bard 6: At this level you get Countercharm, but you’ve already got Heroism which is a better use of your time anyway, since the former uses up your action and only gives creatures advantage against being charmed or frightened. You also get Animating Performance, allowing you to weaponize a large or smaller item, turning it into a Dancing Item that you can command as a bonus action. You can also inspire a creature and command your item at the same time. You can only animate an item this way once per long rest, or by spending a third level spell slot. One interesting effect of the dancing item is its Irrepressible Dance; creatures that start their turn within 10′ of the item have their speed increased or decreased by 10′ for the turn. That’s your speed issue solved then.

You also get Daylight to help your dumb halfling eyes see in the dark and make your Gate of Babylon items more impressive. Swords are cool, glowing swords are cooler.

One last thing to mention is that your Performance of Creation can now make Large items as well.

7. Bard 7: Seventh level bards get fourth level spells, like Locate Creature, which helps you locate... a creature... not all spells are super complicated. You do have to have seen the creature up close before, and it has a range of 1000′. Also, running water has a tendency to block the spell up, so don’t expect this to work too well in an urban setting.

8. Sorcerer 1: You’re charismatic, but you don’t really sing that much, so let’s grab some magic from your Divine Soul while we’re here. You get another set of Spells that also use Charisma to cast, but you don’t have to worry about starting over with spell slots; both lists use the same slots, as defined by the multiclassing spell slots table. You also get Divine Magic, which gives you Cure Wounds, as a treat. This lets you pick up cantrips and spells from the cleric spell list as well. You’re also Favored by the Gods despite your later attitude towards them, letting you add 2d4 to a failed save or attack once per short rest. You shouldn’t need a Noble Phantasm to tell you to avoid the fireball, but every little bit helps.

For spells, Light gives you a less resource-intensive Daylight to work with. Sword Burst, Fire Bolt, Magic Missile, and Ice Knife help fill out some offensive uses of your Gate of Babylon, and Blade Ward blocks enemies from getting a clean hit on you with well timed gates, making you resistant to physical damage types for a turn.

9. Sorcerer 2: Your Font of Magic gives you a couple Sorcery Points that you can spend later to do cool stuff or right now to recharge spell slots. You can also burn slots for extra points, but that’s not very useful right now. They recharge on long rests.

Also grab Catapult to help weaponize weapons that already exist. It can only throw items of 5 lbs. or less at level 1, but you can force a dexterity save to deal some bludgeoning damage.

10. Sorcerer 3: Remember those points from last level? Now you can spend them on Metamagic, ways to customize your spells for added effects. A Quickened Spell reduces a spell’s casting time from 1 action to 1 bonus action, and a Twinned Spell casts a spell a second time, targeting another creature. You have a lot of stuff in your treasury, don’t be afraid to bring them out.

11. Sorcerer 4: Use this ASI to improve your Constitution. Trust me, you’ll need it. You also get Guidance for even more ways to cheat at ability checks, and Earthbind so you can use the Chains of Heaven even on annoying flying creatures.

12. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get third level spells, as well as Magical Guidance. If you fail an ability check, you can spend 1 sorcery point to re-roll the d20, and must use the new roll. Grab Melf’s Minute Meteors for even more things to throw at people.

13. Bard 8: Use this ASI to maximize your Charisma for the most inspiration and best charms. Speaking of, grab Charm Monster so your charms aren’t restricted to just humanoids. Your Fair Youth explicitly only works on humanoids in FGO, but even with these spells we’re probably downgrading your Gate of Babylon a lot, so let’s just call this even.

14. Bard 9: Your Song of Rest improves a bit, so you add 1d8 to healing now. You also get fifth level spells, like Animate Objects to more consistently weaponize your treasury and the world around you. You can turn up to 10 nonmagical objects into creatures that can fly, each size larger than small doubles the amount of objects one object counts as: medium objects count as two, large as four, etc. You can command any number of them with a bonus action, either deciding their exact move next turn or giving a general order. Throwing treasure around is nice, but treasure that throws itself around? Amazing.

15. Bard 10: Your Bardic Inspiration increases to 1d10, and you get another round of Expertise. Increase your Insight and Perception to make it even harder to lie to you.

You also get Magical Secrets, two spells you can use from any spell list, and a new cantrip. Grab Dancing Lights for the hell of it, Telekinesis to weaponize the larger items in your treasury, and Conjure Volley for when the need for quantity trumps quality. The former lets you move huge or smaller creatures that fail a contested strength check, or what we’re really after, the ability to move objects of up to 1000 pounds. You technically can’t throw stuff around with this, but 1000 pounds dropped on someone from 30′ up is probably going to hurt regardless. The latter lets you throw a weapon into the air and make hundreds of copies launch themselves back down at a target area, dealing the kind of damage that weapon would normally do.

16. Bard 11: Eleventh level bards get sixth level spells, like Find the Path, which helps you find the shortest path to a non-moving target. Note that this is the shortest path, not the safest.

17. Bard 12: Use your last ASI to improve your Dexterity for a better AC, and maybe better damage if you really have to use a weapon.

18. Bard 13: Your song of rest increases to a d10, and you learn seventh level spells like Prismatic Spray for a little variety. You fire various random treasures in a 60′ cone, and roll a d8 for each creature it hits. The spell can deal fire, acid, lightning, poison, or cold damage, petrify creatures, or send them to another plane. Look, you have a lot of treasures. If you spent the time picking the exact one you needed for the job you’d never get anything done.

19. Bard 14: Creation bards hit their Creative Crescendo at level 14, letting you create a number of items equal to your charisma modifier at once when you use your Performance of Creation. Only one item can between the sizes of Medium and Huge, the rest have to be Small or smaller. You can also ignore gp limits when making items, so you can dish out the solid gold everything you’re known for.

You also get one last round of Magical Secrets, picking up Blade Barrier to make a barrier of blades, and Crown of Stars for even more things to throw at people.

20. Bard 15: Your final level sees your Bardic Inspiration hit 1d12, and you gain access to 8th level spells, like Glibness. This spell effectively guarantees every charisma-based roll you make is at least a 15, and magical effects to determine if you’re lying always say you’re telling the truth. You’re adorable, the mongrels love you.

Pros:

You’re really good at anything that happens out of combat. Between your luck, magical guidance, and being a jack of all trades, you’ve got a pretty good shot at doing anything skill based that needs to be done. You’re also really charming, both in the sense that you’ve got a stupidly high charisma and expertise, and in the sense that you can literally charm people really well.

Despite that, you make a big presence in combat as well. ten animated objects flying around plus another one made with Animating Performance means you can cover a lot of ground and make it very hard to escape.

I don’t think I really emphasized this that much in the main breakdown, but you can literally make anything you want out of thin air. That’s pretty great, especially in a campaign where the DM rewards creativity. Not only can you make it, but you can manipulated them as well, with spells like conjure volley and telekinesis further expanding your options. You probably can’t make a plane, but there’s nothing stopping you from just building your own platform and carrying yourself wherever you need to go.

Cons:

Charms and item manipulation spells both require Concentration, so not only will you have to pick and choose, but in a firefight there’s a chance you can waste a spell slot as well. You also have pretty low HP, so it’s not much trouble to get you into Power Word Kill range.

That dip into sorcerer gives you a lot of versatility, but it also means you don’t get level 9 spells. Doubling up on magic is cool and all, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Wish.

Your bonus action is going to be pretty crowded by commanding both a Dancing Object and your Animated Objects, so your turns might not go as smoothly as you’d like.

[calucadu]

The Summoning Rift - A Boku no Hero Academia/League of Legends crossover story

This is the piece I made for the @lolbnhazine! 

The zine looks great! Please check it out if you can!

The Summoning Rift - A Boku no Hero Academia/League of Legends crossover story.

Summary: “Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.” A female voice startles Kirishima, forcing him to open his eyes.When he looks around himself, he finds that he’s in a very peculiar – yet familiar – place. At first, he’s not sure where he is, so he turns to look behind him. His heart misses a beat as his eyes land on the giant abyss just behind him. The floor he’s standing on sounds like stone, and he confirms his suspicions by looking at it, finding that there are runes written on them.

Characters: Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki, Ashido Mina, Jirou Kyouka, Tokoyami Fumikage, Ezreal, Cassiopeia, Sona, Malphite, Nocturne.

Rating: General

Read on AO3

Or read below the cut

“Welcome to Summoner’s Rift.” A female voice startles Kirishima, forcing him to open his eyes.

When he looks around himself, he finds that he’s in a very peculiar – yet familiar – place. At first, he’s not sure where he is, so he turns to look behind him. His heart misses a beat as his eyes land on the giant abyss just behind him. The floor he’s standing on sounds like stone, and he confirms his suspicions by looking at it, finding that there are runes written on them.

He’s happy to see he’s not alone, since Jirou and Tokoyami are at his sides and Mina’s in front of him, with Bakugou next to her.

There’s a big, furry animal laying behind the scowling blond, with its long tail curled around a very small creature. Upon further inspection, he realises the mammal is some sort of shop, and the smaller one is in fact, a yordle. Suddenly he realises just where exactly he is.

He’s on the Rift.

He looks at his hands, but he himself looks normal, and so do the others.

Kirishima frowns. The people standing next to him are all his teammates, friends who he usually plays a few LoL games with. They even have a team together, but just… how did they get there?

“Why are we on Summoner’s Rift?” Jirou breaks the silence with a whisper and he turns his attention back to her.

“Is this some sort of training?” Mina asks, tilting her head and shrugging her shoulders.

“That’s ridiculous.” Bakugou scoffs. He raises his head and turns towards their nexus. “But I have a feeling that we’re going to be stuck here until we battle these losers and win.”

“Is this a dream?” Kirishima mumbles to himself, his brows furrowed. He can’t recall what he did before they got stuck there.

“This is so weird.” Mina whispers, narrowing her eyes as she looks around her. “How’d we get here?”

“Who cares?” Bakugou rolls his eyes.

“But… is this, like… dangerous? Is this some sort of training?”

“What if this is like in those films and if you die on the Rift you die in real life?” Kirishima asks, sounding worried as he stares at their nexus.

“That’s stupid!” Bakugou snorts. They all let the uncomfortable silence speak for them until the blond’s voice rings again. “But don’t die.”

“And, like, what are our passives? What about our abilities?” Jirou asks, a note of hesitance in her voice.

“My passive is that I’m way better than all you extras.” Bakugou smirks at them.

“I bet your passive is you lose one health each second you don’t brag.” She replies, rolling her eyes at him. He shoots her a look and she shrugs her shoulders.

“Not like it matters what our stupid passives are because we’re going to beat the shit outta them!” He shouts.

“But hooooow?” Mina whines. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Are you stupid?” Bakugou looks at her, scowling. “You’re training to be a hero. You know what to do. Just go out there and fight.”

“He’s right.” Tokoyami mutters, raising his head.

“But this is like… a different world, isn’t it?” Jirou asks, watching as minions start spawning magically. “And we’re in it. I guess we’re subjected to their rules?”

“I don’t care. Just go out there and do your fucking best.” He snarls, kicking at the ground as he walks towards the shop.

“Was that encouragement, Bakugou?” She smiles mischievously, knowing fully well he isn’t going to turn around to look at her shit-eating grin.

“Fuck off!” He directs at her, turning his head towards the yordle to get his starting items.

Mina pushes him out of the way as she buys her Doran’s Ring and some health pots. He’s about to complain when she rushes past him, her eyes beaming. “C’mon team! Let’s get on with it then!”

“Yeah!” Jirou exclaims, also grabbing the items she needs and going towards the bottom lane.

“Let’s show those losers who the real legends are!” Bakugou laughs, excited. He’s got that look in his eyes that he gets when he’s ready to fight. It makes Kirishima feel equally excited.

“C’mon, team, it’ll be fun!” He shouts, bumping his fists together as he hardens and unhardens his skin. He quickly starts running towards the top lane, trying to avoid the minions slowly making their way there.

Tokoyami takes longer to exit the base, since he’s considering what to get. They don’t know who they’re against just yet, so he’s not sure what items to build. He sighs when he decides, making his way towards the jungle.

He finds most of his teammates waiting for him at his red buff. Bakugou’s looking at Mina, grunting something at her. “If you feed I’ll go mid and kill you myself!” He warns her before turning to Jirou. “And you better do your absolute best. I want you being aggressive. And don’t you dare die.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” She mock salutes him, rolling her eyes when he turns his back to her.

“Thanks for the help.” Tokoyami whispers, summoning Dark Shadow to help him defeat the jungle monster that has just appeared. Mina heads towards the mid lane, whistling a simple tune to herself. “Good luck everyone! I’m rooting for you!”

“You too!” Kirishima cheers her from under his top turret.

“Don’t you dare steal it, Bakugou.” Jirou warns, a sly smile on her face as she looks over at her lane partner.

“That was one time!” He snaps at her, promptly stopping his auto attacks towards the monster and heading towards bot.

A giggle escapes the girl’s mouth and she rolls her eyes, turning to Tokoyami. “Was that a good enough leash or do you want me to stick around some more?”

“That was fine.” He replies, giving the red buff a last attack. Dark Shadow nods to her and she sighs, realising she can’t postpone the inevitable anymore; she’s got to go to the bottom lane.

When she gets there she sees Bakugou already hitting minions, as well as their lane opponents, Ezreal and Sona. He uses small explosions that burst from his hands to finish the minions off. He also uses them against their enemies, but he isn’t going as aggressive as he’d like because he’s wary of the situation. He’s not sure what the consequences of his actions will be, and that scares him a little.

Jirou’s actually proud of how cautious he’s being. Normally she’d be telling him to take it slow, and that’s why she complements him so well when they play. She helps him when he gets too overconfident and is quick to stop his impulsive moves. Together they make a pretty strong team. They can be an undefeatable duo when he stops being stubborn and she doesn’t provoke him.

Although it is true that she likes teasing him a little bit too much since he’s easy to tilt. When she’s in a playful mood she’ll go into the enemy’s jungle and pretend to feed the enemy a kill or two. Even though it infuriates him, he always goes after her to help her out whenever she actually gets in a tricky situation. He’s died saving her more than once but that usually makes her start playing better.

Bakugou used to main mid, but was convinced by Kirishima to try the AD carries, and he quickly felt more comfortable there. It’s not like he feels he needs a support, but he grew to understand that having someone with him can be beneficial. Even though that doesn’t stop him from playing recklessly and boasting about how he’s the star of the show. He believes he carries everyone with his displays of skill and tactics and his aim is to always do the most damage. Some of the times he gets greedy, and despite the fact that he knows very well he shouldn’t get cocky, he has died trying to get a kill more than once.

In the mid lane, Mina’s against Cassiopeia. She darts around her lane, trying to predict her rival’s attacks, dodging most of them successfully. She squirts acid at the enemy minions, laughing maniacally as she darts from side to side.

Mina just likes playing mages. Sometimes she switches with Jirou and lets her go mid, where she picks assassins, but Bakugou doesn’t like when the pink haired girl supports him because she’s more in her own world and plays less aggressively than him. When she goes to the bottom lane and supports him, they both keep dying. She has no control over Bakugou, and they’re both greedy and reckless. She’s a bit like him in the sense that she doesn’t understand when to stop and doesn’t put limits on him like Jirou does. That’s why when they’re together, it basically always ends badly for them.

Tokoyami murmurs to himself as he skulks around the jungle, killing camps mercilessly, but also paying attention to his team, just in case they need him. He uses Dark Shadow to tank the creeps, making it dance around them to distract them while he deals damage.

Tokoyami’s been a jungler for as long as Kirishima has known he plays league. He says he likes the darkness of the wild. Or something like that. His favourite and most picked champion is Nocturne because he relates to him. He normally just stays in the jungle playing his own game, in his own world, although he still ganks and helps take objectives. Kirishima thinks he’s the best player out of them, but mainly because he has Dark Shadow to help monitor the minimap and tell him where the enemy is or could be. He sometimes even provides help by steering the mouse in the right direction or pressing the correct keys.

Some consider using quirks cheating, but there are millions of players that exploit theirs just to get into a major league and become famous. And in a world where quirks exist, using them can hardly be considered cheating.

Bakugou, Mina, Jirou and Kirishima can’t really use their quirks to help them play better. Sometimes, in fact, it’s more of a handicap. Both boys have accidentally – and not so accidentally in Bakugou’s case – destroyed mice, headsets, keyboards and screens. That last one was recently: the blond got so angry he decided to blast his computer screen with a powerful explosion, wrecking it completely. They actually managed to win despite the absence of their ADC.

Kirishima snaps out of his thoughts when he sees a familiar shadow coming towards him. “OMG, it’s Malphite!!” He squeals when he recognises his opponent, his eyes gleaming at the sight of his favourite champion. He approaches him cautiously, keeping an eye on him and the enemy minions, as he hardens his skin just in case the other decides to throw him his projectile. All they do is farm for the first few minutes, completely ignoring each other.

Kirishima likes playing tanks. He doesn’t mind where, as long as he feels like he’s protecting his team. He says it’s like in real life, he’s there to take the brunt of the damage. That’s how he started playing in the top lane.

That’s one of the reasons he admires Malphite. He feels like he’s a lot like him in many ways, but now that he’s against him, he doesn’t know what to do. At first, they barely touch each other. All they do is farm peacefully. The redhead is scared the other is waiting until he hits level six and can just use his ultimate on him and basically obliterate him. He can harden his skin, but he’s not sure how effective that will be against his opponent. He has this huge dash, and Kirishima isn’t very mobile. It’s one of the cons of his quirk.

They both reach level six pretty much at the same time, and, as predicted, Malphite immediately hits him with his ultimate move, but Kirishima uses his Unbreakable just in time, and doesn’t receive much damage. They slap each other until they’re both very low and they both decide to back off, without anyone dying.

He recalls under his turret, feeling slightly dejected. “Hmmm, I feel like my hardening doesn’t last very long.”

“My explosions aren’t very impressive either.” Bakugou mutters, disheartened.

“I keep running out of acid.” Mina moans, throwing her head back. “This is frustrating.”

“We’re on the Rift. I think it’s normal that we have limitations here. We’re in this world and this world’s rules apply to us too, now.” Jirou says. “Just learn to use your resources better.”

 Apart from that, everything seems to be going fine. They don’t play too recklessly, since they’re kind of wary about the situation they’re in, but they don’t let the enemy push them up to their turrets.

That’s until Bakugou gets a little cocky and starts harassing the enemy a bit too much, so of course the enemy jungler ganks them before they can retreat.

“Nocturne’s bot!” Jirou shouts. “Can someone come and help?”

“Coming.” Tokoyami whispers, and true to his word, he appears behind them, Dark Shadow alert and ready.

It suddenly gets darker, so Jirou takes a step towards Bakugou and they share a look. Before they can act, Nocturne appears above them, but Dark Shadow is quick and gets in front of them to shield them.

“We meet again, old friend.” Tokoyami whispers ceremoniously as he runs towards them, commanding Dark Shadow to grab Nocturne and pin him down.

“Weird.” Bakugou grunts, but quickly starts attacking the enemy, blasting them with explosions. Jirou emits the sound of her heartbeat, standing beside her carry, ready for anything. Sona’s manages to stun all three of them momentarily, giving Ezreal enough time to hit them with a powerful release of energy, dealing a lot of damage.

They retreat to their turret with the intention to recall since they’re pretty wounded, but the enemy follows them. Sona dives them just when Jirou grabs her with her earlobes, letting her take enough damage from the tower and Bakugou that she dies just right after flashing.

Ezreal goes in to try and finish them off since Jirou is nearly dead but she backs away just in time, letting her team take the kill and saving her.

Nocturne manages to get away, leaving a dark trail behind him, and they decide it’s not worth it to follow him. Jirou, despite the fact that she should go back to base, stays and helps take bottom turret and then they all rotate to mid, where they help Mina take her opponent’s after successfully killing Cassiopeia.

“Jirou!” Bakugou barks at her. “Back immediately.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She sighs.

“It’s best if I leave as well.” Tokoyami whispers sombrely. He did end up quite injured after their last fight when he went under the enemy turret just to make sure his team secured the kill on Cassiopeia.

“You probably have a lot of money, Bakugou. You should come with us.” Jirou says, walking away so she’s not in range of any possible enemy coming their way.

He just snarls at her, but does as he was told, knowing she’s right.

“I should go, too!” Mina cheerfully adds, skipping to where they’re backing, but suddenly, she stops. She turns her head towards the enemy jungle when something catches her attention.

Before she knows what she’s doing, she’s in the river, enjoying the little stream of water.

“I never noticed how pretty the Rift is!” She calls to her team.

“Are you in their jungle?” Jirou asks after using her quirk to find her position.

“The fuck are you doing there? Get outta there! You’re going to get killed.” Bakugou calls for her, running down the mid lane.

Jirou follows behind him. “Hold on, we’re coming to get you!”

“No need! Everything’s fine! Wow, look at blue buff! It’s so cute! I want to have it as a pet!” Mina whispers, stroking it gently.

“The enemy is going to come.” Kirishima warns, hardening his arm and blocking Malphite’s auto attack. He knows how Mina is: she can’t seem to stay still in one place. She always moves around the terrain, roaming recklessly; without paying attention to the minimap.

He doesn’t get an answer, but they all hear her scream in terror. Bakugou and Jirou shout at her to try and escape, but they see the enemy have her cornered. Sona slows her with her empowered attack and Ezreal hits her in the face with his various magical shots.

Mina’s unable to dodge all the damage they’re dealing, and she quickly loses her health, falling to the ground, apparently dead. Jirou starts screaming but Bakugou tugs at her arm, instructing her to go back. Nocturne and Cassiopeia are behind the other two enemies, so it’s better to retreat.

“Mina… are you okay? Did you die? Are you dead?” Kirishima desperately asks, punching Malphite right in the face.

“I think I’m okay.” She replies. Her voice sounds different, like she’s in another plane. “I’m definitely dead in the game, but I’m okay!” She follows with a laugh.

“What’s it like to be dead?” Tokoyami’s tone gives away how curious he is to know the answer.

“It’s weird. Not bad, but also not good. It’s kinda tingly actually, the sensation.”

“I told you not to go there!” Bakugou screams at her. “I’m gonna kill you when you come back!”

All he gets as an answer is her shrill laughter which echoes around the Rift.

After a sigh, Jirou comes up with a plan. “Let’s all just group mid and push. Kiri, think you can come help?”

“Sure!”

When they go as a team, they definitely feel like they have an advantage. They take a turret before their opponents do anything to stop them.

When their surroundings turn black, they huddle together, prepared for the enemy’s attack.

“Darkness is all around us.” Tokoyami mutters, signalling to Dark Shadow to step in front of them so that it blocks any incoming damage. The shadow creature does, and just at the right time, since it stops Malphite from landing on his team, and prevents him from coming any closer.

“I’m going in!” Kirishima shouts, going Unbreakable and running towards the darkness. Bakugou blasts himself forwards and lands next to Ezreal and Sona, prepared to do as much damage as possible.

Jirou tries to protect him from where she stands, but Nocturne positions himself between her and the rest of her team, so all she can do at first is try to get him off herself. Dark Shadow helps by diverting him, and she quickly runs off to aid Mina.

Cassiopeia is the first one to die, because Kirishima separated her from the rest of her teammates. After defeating the mid laner, Ezreal and Sona have nowhere to go, so they’re pretty easy to eliminate.

Nocturne and Malphite fall too, but so does Tokoyami, who dashed in front of Bakugou to save him from the enemy.

“It’s not so bad being dead.” He mutters solemnly from beyond the grave.

“Can we win from this?” Jirou gasps, hurrying behind Bakugou and trying to get the enemy’s third turret.

“I think so.” Mina whispers, concentrating. They get the inhibitor and she sighs in relief.

Kirishima tanks the first few hits of the nexus’s right turret before the minions come, and they destroy that one too. By the time they’ve managed to knock down the other one, Sona and Ezreal have come back up, but there’s not much they can do to prevent them from winning.

Just as Kirishima hits the Nexus with his hardened fist, it explodes into a million little pieces. He can feel the shards hit his skin, but it doesn’t hurt; instead it feels kind of nice. A smile spreads on his face as the loud female voice rings in his ears and tells him they’ve won.

He takes a step back, but his feet don’t move, and he suddenly feels something against his back. He notices he’s sitting on a chair.

Bakugou cheers next to him, slapping his arm enthusiastically. “Yeah! We murdered them! Take that, you lousy shitty extras!”

“Yeah…” Kirishima mutters, slightly confused. “Good job… everyone!”

He blinks as he looks around him, and he finds that he’s not on the Rift.

He’s in his dorm, playing on his desk with Bakugou, both using their laptops and trying to be comfortable in such a cramped space.

He can hear Mina scream triumphantly from the other room, and he scrunches his eyebrows, confused.

What just happened?

[rpgsandbox]

ou may not be the biggest or the strongest, but you don't have the plague. Yet. Do you have what it takes to survive?

Download the Beta from DriveThruRPG for free during this campaign.

                                      About Survival of the Able

The Black Death has come to your village. Everywhere around you people are succumbing to the plague. Quarantines are doing little to stem the tide of decay that is coming your way. Worst of all, you and the others in your almshouse have been left to fend for yourselves.

Oh, and did we mention plague victims are rising as zombies?

In Survival of the Able you’re a person with a disability living in a European almshouse when the Black Death arrives. Little is known about where the plague originated or how to stop it, but those who die from it are rising again—and they’re hungry for flesh. Since everyone else has succumbed to the plague, it’s up to a handful of you to make your way out of town and away to safety. You may not be the biggest, the strongest, or the fittest, but you're determined to survive.

                      With no other choice, Agnus faces a zombie.

In this game, you will:

Play a character with a disability who lives in Medieval Western Europe.

Encounter challenges such as disease, zombies, burning buildings, terrible weather, fatigue, and stress.

Experience discrimination based on your disability, fears that you might have the plague, or both.

Overcome incredible challenges against all odds, despite your disability. You probably won’t get much credit for your achievements, but at least you won’t be dead.

Unless you do die, in which case you may turn into a zombie and try to eat your friends.

                                              Setting and Tone

We set this game in Western Europe circa A.D. 1347 because we wanted to put you into a world where people with disabilities (PWDs) have few protections. There are no civil rights laws to ensure equal rights and fair treatment for PWDs, and most people perceived PWDs to be weak, if not helpless.

Many PWDs were sent to live in almshouses, which are church-run facilities where PWDs could be taken care of (as if they weren’t capable of taking care of themselves). The perception of PWDs was poor overall, and even people whose lives were devoted to their care didn’t often see them as fully capable human beings.

As a person with a disability in this setting, you will be challenged to overcome peoples’ fears and judgements. You will have no choice but to survive during a zombie apocalypse. The only non-disabled people you know will be unable to care for you, so you must either overcome the stigma of your disability or join everyone else in a mass grave.

Meanwhile, you do not have the luxury of adaptive aids or accommodations that we might take for granted today. Braille and Sign Language have yet to be invented, let alone wheelchairs, elevators, talking computers, etc. You cannot simply rely on technology to overcome the challenges presented by your disability, so you must use your other skills to survive.

As if all that weren’t enough, you’ll be faced with surviving the Black Plague, armed with next to no knowledge of its symptoms or effects. You don’t have history books or lessons to tell you what to expect. You’ll need to rely on your own observations, wits, and teamwork to figure out the best way to avoid plague-ridden areas and how to kill zombies so they don’t come back.

If this all seems overwhelming, then you’re on the right track. This game should challenge your perceptions, your wits, and your courage. It may not be easy, it may even be uncomfortable at times, but you’ll come out a stronger person if you’re able to survive.

Survival of the Able is based on the Fudge RPG System, but it was written 100% from the ground up to deliver a specific experience.

Players familiar with Fudge will instantly recognize Fudge Dice, the Trait Ladder, and Fudge / Fate Points. Newcomers may appreciate the simple and accessible game mechanics. Whether you're new or experienced, the game mechanics are easy to pick up and play. You can download the Beta draft for free to see what we mean.

Even if you're an experienced Fudge player, one of the first things we ask you to do is forget what you know about the system. Although it will seem familiar, we've designed a lot of new features which set the experience apart from other Fudge games you may have played. We recognize that the spirit of Fudge is to tweak the rules and make things your own, but we encourage you to try the game as it's written at least once so you can understand its intention.

So What Sets Survival of the Able Apart From Other Games?

Briefly put: there are no physical attributes in this game. Instead, we use the sliding scale of Fudge to illustrate how disability is a spectrum. At the heart of this system are the five Senses: Hear, Smell, See, Taste, and Touch. Each ranges from Non-Existent to Good (+2).

Using blindness as an example, we recognize not every blind person has a See Trait of Non-Existent. Instead, there are people with Terrible(-3) sight who can See to a degree, but not very well. Others might have Mediocre (-1) sight, which may represent typical near-sightedness or simply a lack of awareness of their surroundings.

Other character Traits include: Qualities (which represent personality and worldview), Skills (what a person can do), and Anxieties / Assurances (situations which cause or relieve Stress). Everything is designed to help you get a sense of who your character is, rather than how strong or tough they are.

In fact, your characters aren't designed to be strong or tough. In this game, you're not playing a heroic adventurer or a stout warrior. You're just an average person with a will to survive.

For more about the game mechanics:

read the glossary of terms.

listen to our podcast appearances.

download the Beta.

                                             Why This Game?

If Survival of the Able sounds a bit unconventional, then we're doing our job. This game is designed to test your fortitude by plunging you into a setting where you will be ridiculed, demeaned, and patronized just for being yourself.

Our goal is to help teach people empathy for people with disabilities. You'll have fun fighting zombies, but hopefully you'll learn a thing or two about yourself and the people around you along the way.

To be clear, we're not out to teach people what it is like to have a disability. The only way to truly understand that is to live it. Instead, our aim is to help you learn to empathize--to feel anger toward injustice, to feel frustration over inaccessibility, and to feel the joy of overcoming adversity.

We believe that when we understand each other, we communicate more openly and clearly. We can help one another thrive, rather than tear each other down. Most of all, we can shatter our assumptions and reconsider the way we've treated each other in the past.

This game isn't just about overcoming the Black Plague in the 14th Century. It's also about overcoming the plagues of misunderstanding and indifference in the 21st Century.

                                          Why This Campaign?

Survival of the Able is completely written. In fact, you can download a complete first draft of the manuscript from our website.

We're raising money to pay for art, editing, and layout. It's important to us that this game be well-presented, because the uncomfortable reality is that people judge books by their covers. If we want to get this book into as many hands and onto as many tables as possible, it needs to look great. After blowing down that barrier, we know the game will stand for itself and touch a lot of lives.

That's why we have selected some incredible talent to work on this project. We're working with several disabled and underrepresented illustrators, as well as a layout professional whose award-winning game, High Plains Samurai, is the most accessible RPG PDF to date.

All that talent comes with a price. We at Accessible Games are committed to paying fair wages to professionals, because another uncomfortable truth is that people who work in the RPG industry are ludicrously underpaid. We've built fair wages into the campaign's funding goal, but our first stretch goal is also a raise for our team. More on other stretch goals in a bit.

Finally, the campaign is here to start a dialog. Accessibility in tabletop games is something we've been advocating for since 2010, and we've seen huge growth in the 9+ years we've been doing this. We hope that by running a successful and high profile campaign, we can bring awareness of accessibility to the hearts and minds of people who perhaps hadn't considered it before.

                                         What's Included?

Survival of the Able is a complete RPG. Its rules are based on the Fudge system, but everything you need to know is in this single book.

We're producing the game in a 6"x9" format with full color illustrations. Both hardcover and paperback options will be available via DriveThruRPG.

Todd Crapper is handling layout for this project, and he's committed to accessible PDF design. He has experience using layers to create various low-vision and color blind-friendly versions within a single file, and he'll be giving that treatment to Survival of the Able.

=================================================

Kickstarter campaign ends: Tue, November 19 2019 3:00 AM UTC +00:00

Website: [Accessible Games] [twitter]

[feel199x]

♛┈⛧┈┈•༶to protect our district ༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ chapter VI

ceo!au, mafia!au, ceo!hwang hyunjin, mafia leader!hwang hyunjin

I  II  III  IV  V  VI VII  masterlist

a/n: ohohohoho it gets w i l d

warnings: themes of sexism and violence

                                   ┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

Nobody spoke, nobody even looked at Hyunjin as everyone quietly climbed back into the van. Whatever sense of equality, whatever feeling of friendship and teamwork that had sprouted these past couple days was completely obliterated. Now it was clear, painfully clear that Hyunjin was the leader, and everyone else? Everyone else was under him, the ground beneath his feet. This was a side of Hyunjin that you didn’t want to get to know, but you didn’t have a choice.

That was the whole thing, wasn’t it?

You knew there was unspoken anger in the car, the tension weighing down on you, making it hard to breathe. Changbin was gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were turning white, and Jisung was shaking his leg as he looked out the window. Even Chan, by far the person who seemed most mature out of the group was struggling to even out his breathing. But you couldn’t afford to be emotional like them, you had already made that mistake once. You knew they saw you as weak, as emotional, you knew that’s why Woojin targeted you. Sure, you had basically confessed your love for Hyunjin in front of him and that was certainly part of it- but it wasn’t all of it. And that was the problem, you were stuck between putting on an act, a facade where you would eventually break character and being yourself- and being punished for it. And you suppose that yes, all the members of the team struggled with this, but not at the same level, not at the same extent, it just wasn’t the same. So, you didn’t say anything, you didn’t react. You did what not even the boys were doing, you pretended.

Shakespeare said it best, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

You were deep in thought when you heard the clicking of the gearstick as Changbin pulled it.

“Be up by six,” Hyunjin ordered, “we have business to do.”

At that, everyone filed out of the car. No one looked or interacted with each other, everyone sauntering off to their rooms. And so you went to yours, greeted by your quiet mother- still mourning. You rubbed her back as she sat crying on the table, holding tightly onto a family picture you had taken years ago. You tried to coax it out of her hand, but as she refused to let go, you had to take it out of her hands and nearly carry her back to bed. You sat on her bed, stroking her hair as she cried herself to sleep. It wasn’t difficult not to cry, and you wanted to- you wanted to completely break down and let it all out. But nothing happened.

You didn’t have time to mourn.

You weren’t even sure you had slept, you had been staring at the wall for so long that time seemed warped. Even as you heard your phone ring from your bedroom, all your actions seemed automatic- as if you were on autopilot, and you were. It was a coping skill, not a good one, but a coping skill nonetheless. You didn’t have to deal with reality, it didn’t have to be real if you didn’t allow it to be. You wanted to be early this time though, so your routine was slightly rushed. You were rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, making your way to the meeting area so you wouldn’t have to take the bus again. That was the plan, of course, until you felt yourself slam against the wall. Sir Hwang’s hands were around your throat, but he looked calm, nonchalant like he always did.

“You’re a stupid little bitch, huh?”

“Yeah,” you said between gasps of air, “a big old bitch, you’ve caught me!”

His hand tightened around your neck as he smiled, and you gave him a sweet smile back. “You’ve got some fuckin’ nerve. Didn’t I warn you? I was so nice, so civil.”

“Maybe if you kill me you’ll make a better point. You know Hyunjin needs me on his team.”

“Does he? Couldn’t I just get any man, who would be so much better than you?”

“Some old fucking geezer? Be my guest, asswipe.”

“You better watch that pretty little mouth, baby. Hyunjin might not be able to keep you in line, but I can.”

“Is that so? You better kill me then, ‘cause you’re doing a shitty job.” You were trying to control your desperate gasps for air, but your vision started to fade. Still, your pride would rather you pass out or die by his hand than beg him to release you. So, you spat on his face and he let you go as a reflex, pulling out a handkerchief to clean the spit off his face. With that, you collapsed on the floor, rubbing your neck.“You’re lucky you’re pretty. Your mouth is only good for one thing, remember that. Next time, you’ll be in 4419.”

You knew he wasn’t lying as he put the handkerchief back in his chest pocket and winked, sauntering off to do whatever inhumane thing he had to next. You should’ve been terrified, completely shaken. But instead, you were angry. The tears slipping out of your eyes? They were of rage as you stared down the hallway, rubbing the handprints on your neck.

You were going to destroy that man, and his district. You were gonna burn it the fuck down like hellfire.

You got up like nothing happened, making your way down the hallway and the stairs to where the boys were. “Boys,” you nodded, wanting to be the first to speak and acknowledge your own presence. Chan and Changbin turned to you.

“Your neck-”

“Sir Hwang,” you explained curtly, “I’m fine.”

Chan nodded, looking slightly worried. “Can I check? It looks pretty bad, how are you feeling?” Before you could answer, he touched your neck and you couldn’t help but wince. “It looks bruised,” he commented, “And your eyes are bloodshot. You should call out, we’ll cover for you.”

“Chan’s right,” Changbin added, “You should take a break, I’m sure everyone will understand.”

You shook your head, “No way. I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.” They looked at you worriedly but didn’t push. Jisung finally came by, apologizing for running late and raised his eyebrows at you.

“I’m fine.”

He looked at Chan and Changbin, both of them shooting him a warning look and Jisung nodded in understanding. Off you went. The day was ordinary, but you were feeling the consequences with your encounter with Sir Hwang soon enough. You hadn’t even checked in when you ran off to the bathroom, feeling dizzy and nauseous

“Must be that time of the month..” you heard someone say as you desperately pushed your way into the cinema, “Must’ve got knocked up.” The laughter was muffled as you collapsed in the bathroom stall, hanging over the toilet bowl as you taste the throw up sitting in your throat but just wouldn’t come out. You leaned against the wall and wiped the saliva from the side of your mouth.

You were gonna burn this shit down.

You returned to your desk, sitting down and taking calls- organizing meetings. It was boring, tedious work. But you would rather make schedules for a lifetime than kill someone who didn’t deserve it. Hours had passed of doing this work, putting up with comments until finally, finally, lunch break came. You were going to leave as soon as the clock turned to signal noon, grabbing your bag and coat. You wanted to binge on some takeout in the park, you wanted a break. But Hyunjin tapped your desk, and you spun around slowly- leveling your eye contact with him. You thought he was going to apologize for his little tantrum, but he did quite the opposite.

“You can’t go to lunch. Meeting with Third Eye in five.”

It was impersonal, Hyunjin staring right past you. His face was blank, devoid of any tell-tale emotion, but most of all, he wasn't tapping his thigh. He didn’t linger any longer, checking his watch and putting his hands in his pockets, walking off into the hallway back into his office. Instead of going to the meeting room immediately, you went back to the bathrooms.

“I thought you’d be here.”

“Must be intuition.”

“What do you think they’re gonna say?”

“Nothing good. Got my ass kicked yesterday.”

“I guess we both look rough.”

“We haven’t even begun to pay the price.”

“Can I say something, something fucking insane?”

“Depends on if you trust me.”

“I do. Do you trust me?”

“With my life.”

“I’m gonna burn this shit down to the ground.”

“You’re gonna need someone to douse it in gasoline.”

Without another word, you went to the meeting room and sat down in your seat, somehow still one of the first to get there.

“How’s your day going, Chan?”

“Boring. You?”

“Not any better.”

“Guess I’d rather argue with corporate lawyers than plan an operation, though.”

“Like we have a choice.”

Jisung and Changbin came in together, and the rest of the members of Third Eye filed in, sitting in their seats.

“That was something big you pulled off there,” a guy you recongized as Seungmin, spoke up, “Surprised you aren’t dead.” The rest of the members shot him a wary look, but he just shrugged. You crossed your legs, leaning back into the chair and placed your hands on the parallel armrests. “Is that so?” you said, “And why’s that?” It was you turn for your team members to shoot you a look, Chan nudging your foot as a plea for you not to push on further.

“Just an observation.”

And you didn’t, you had to play the long game here- even if that meant bowing out of verbal battles. You had to pick your battles, and you couldn’t choose all of them. So, instead, you reinforced whatever idea he had in his head.

“I’m surprised too.”

Woojin was watching the entire conversation very carefully, and you pretended not to notice. However, you made sure that the outline of Sir Hwang’s hand was visible to everyone, the blue and violet splotches of bruised skin disgustingly obvious. Hyunjin appeared, taking a seat in the head chair and stared down Woojin. Even though you had only seen Hyunjin a few minutes before, he looked overtly happy. A small and friendly smile plastered on his face as he leaned into his chair, taking the hair out of his face.

“Mind telling me why you called this meeting Kim?”

“I have a proposal.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“Let’s join factions, divide and conquer.”

“How does this benefit me?”

Woojin scoffed. “We won’t have to resort to petty battles like this, Hwang.”

“For a mafia leader, you wear your heart on your sleeve.”

You expected Woojin’s face to tighten, even a little bit, but he remained blank like unused paper. “Better than acting like my father, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s a lot better. Your father wouldn’t have surrendered so easily.”

“And your father didn’t have to pretend,” Woojin sighed, and quickly added, “We have problems bigger than us. Seungmin got a notice that the feds are thinking about investigating.”

“I’m aware.”

This was news to you though, and you weren’t very fond of paying the price for sins you didn’t commit. You and Jeongin made quick eye contact.

This district was gonna burn in hellfire.

                                     ┕━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┙

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O Episode 33: featuring the Power of Music

So, RiderTime Fansubs picked up Zi-O starting with the Agito arc. They’ve already got their release of ep 33 out, so I’m using their version this time around.

Now then! Onward!

Tekken 7 returns! And it’s being played by the latest Hibiki’s pupil! … Or, his FORMER pupil. Looks like he dropped out of Oni training. So, Heure ‘offers’ him the chance to A; help lure Hibiki out into the open, and B; become an Oni.

Of course, said method of becoming an Oni is a bit… unconventional.

Oh WOW, I really like Another Hibiki’s look. He gets to go all in on the traditional Oni theme!

((WHOOPS ALMOST FORGOT TO PUT THE READ MORE IN MY BAD))

Sightings of harness-less Geiz: Two? Two. He apparently takes it off to sleep, and to work out… in the middle of the shop. (Oh, sweetie…) Also, clearly under the harness, jacket, and poorly-fitting pants, Geiz is ripped.

See, this is why you don’t work out in the middle of the path. A distracted Woz will walk right into you! And incidentally make your lack of harness a REVEAL.

Also Geiz’s first reaction to being nearly stepped on is to assume there’s an Another Rider. I mean, there IS, but that’s not it.

WAIT NO DRAT he’s still wearing the stupid harness. Drat. It just blended in better than it usually does. ...My point about his choice of location still stands.

Woz. Woz? You okay there? Why do you not want to let Sougo remember it’s his birthday? Why are you so dead set on that, that you stop his uncle from saying it?

The boys have one brain cell, and it looks like it’s not Woz’s turn to have it today.

For SOME reason, Junichiro decided that he’s going to bring out Sougo’s elementary school yearbook. Since he has this one, I’d assume it’s from the 2009-2010 school year, so Sougo would have been 9. That would make it… 3rd grade, since he turned 9 that April. And looks like he had a classmate that even Sougo thinks was odd, but they still cheered each other on. But really, Sougo thought that Tsutomu was odder than him. That. That says something.

(As Junichiro goes to reheat breakfast, him and Woz share A Moment of ‘We’re Totally Not Conspiring Or Anything.’)

Also, Tsutomu said that ‘his master was Hibiki, a great Oni’. That’s actually really cute.

The thing is… Asumu was, like, 14 when he met Hibiki in 2005, and Hibiki was a bit reluctant to take HIM on. So… Tsutomu was WAY too young to be studying for that type of thing.

And the Zi-O trend of ‘finding the next Rider by Coincidence’ continues. Sougo and Geiz come to the same conclusion immediately – “Hey, maybe we can find Kamen Rider Hibiki and his Watch!”

Sougo knowing about Hibiki actually works, too, according to past events in Zi-O. Decade used Hibiki against him back during the first episode of the Ghost arc, so Sougo has, technically speaking, seen said rider before. And, as has been previously established by arcs such as Wizard, Tsukuyomi may have the tablet and the fact-finding, but Geiz knows what Riders ‘used to’ exist. Which is now clearly ‘which Riders came before them,’ as opposed to ‘which ones happened once upon a timeline.’

Woz. Woz, the camera’s over here. You’re going the wrong direction. … Oh, wait, no, he’s going upstairs… and immediately dashing all hopes of us seeing a set for even a hallway, as he warps straight into his Storytime Vault. And we’re not getting Hibiki Hibiki, of course. No, we’re getting Kyosuke Kiriya, who… I GUESS has taken over as Hibiki. Or is carrying his watch?

I haven’t watched Hibiki, I don’t really know how the mentor system there works, aside from the fact that it’s a thing.

No I totally didn’t start singing the theme song with my parents around. What are you talking about? That’d be silly.

… I totally sang along by instinct.

… I know they think I’m odd for this already. I don’t even know HOW to explain that I’m liveblogging a show. At least they’re used to my being a fan of kids shows at this point.

(Over Quartzer is TOO DAMN CATCHY)

Geiz: “So there’s no doubt that the next Rider we’re looking for is Hibiki?” And he’s immediately proven right by Another Hibiki taking a flying leap at them.

… Hang on, there was a sound effect right before Sougo and Geiz turned around. Did they hear that? Or something like it? Some sort of acquired ‘time has gone wrong’ sense?

Seriously, the choices for the Another Riders are usually really good. Ever since Another OOO, they’ve been incredible. ...Well, except for Another Quiz, but that’s my preferring to not have brain motifs in character designs.

(Yes, I’m calling out Brain himself with that comment, too. That’s the worst part of his new bike.)

Aw, Woz made Sougo a fruit tart! It’s not nearly large enough for the candles and decorations, but it’s a nice thought!

And he wants to make celebrating his Demon Kings birthday AS EXTRA AS POSSIBLE, to the point that it looks like he’s starting to Blue Screen at not being Extra enough.

His usual IWAEs will not suffice.

(Also I like how the cuckoo clock sound effect trails off despondently as the cake cover rolls on it’s axis.)

CIVILIAN FIGHTS!!! Sougo and Woz are actually doing pretty decently, too. Still not great, but again. Civilian fight against a monster, so it’s in no way a fight on equal grounds.

Geiz is right, that we’d need Zi-O II to beat Another Hibiki without the watch. However, as Sougo points out, Another Hibiki came after them, not the other way around, so they can’t defeat him quite yet. Geiz lands on the same page right after.

I’m so glad these boys are working together. They’re so much better off as a team. And even more so with team transformations!

Ooo, Another Hibiki had only been using hand-to-hand techniques while they were civilians, but once the armor goes on, the drumsticks come out, and Fire Powers are fair game.

“Alright, old power for old techniques!”

“What?! No! You’ve got to use magic against an oni!”

:GASP: SOUGO PULLED OUT THE KUUGA WATCH!

WE’RE GETTING TO SEE THE KUUGA ARMOR!

FINALLY!

ARMOR TIME! KUUGA~!

I like the touch of how Kuuga Armor doesn’t have a ‘catch phrase’ when it finishes going on – the newer riders do, like with Wizard’s “Please”. But Riders didn’t have belt and weapon sound effects until Ryuki, so Kuuga and Agito wouldn’t have anything to work with for their Ride Armors.

Yoooo Another Hibiki has more fire powers than just from his drumsticks! He can breath fire, too!

And here comes one of the Oni, keeping the peace from other Oni. With the kanji for thunder and a SWORD GUITAR.

… OH FOR FUCKS SAKE. IT’S AN ELECTRIC GUITAR.

After some blows are exchanged, Oni-who’s-name-I-don’t-know gets a fire blast tossed at him from yet another direction, knocking both him and Another Hibiki down, and after yelling at whoever just attacked them, he goes off in pursuit of the fleeing Another Hibiki.

Sougo and Geiz have absolutely no idea what’s going on at this point. This is even more confusing for them than how the Quiz Arc started off, isn’t it?

Haha, Tsukuyomi finally makes it down to the (now former) battle field, and all three of them assume that the Oni was Hibiki. Heure, clearly knowing that he wasn’t Hibiki, is about to sulk off...

But then here comes Kyosuke, being all “Nope, that’s Todoroki. I’m Hibiki.” (How dare he cop the salute!)

Ahaha, Sougo’s grin is about to split his face. That is the face of someone who knows that that coincidence and fate have shone upon him once again, and will continue to do so.

(I was talking with @miyukomatsuda recently, and we’ve agreed that if he were a DnD character, Sougo’s player would consistently get great rolls on Insight and Charisma… except where said checks relate to the character himself.)

Cut back to Woz, who is… keeping the main door to the dining room shut, holding the dish cover and cover cloth. Although, it’s nice to see that there IS, in fact, a second door to the area – I can see that the one Sougo usually comes through is shuttered.

...Actually, why does that dining room even have two entries, anyway? There’s only the small wall dividing the storefront from the stairs to the bedrooms, and literally nothing else separating the two, so why is the side door even necessary?

Correction, Woz is hiding in the dining room, attempting to hide the tart, while the Rider Debrief is going on at that small table in the shop.

Ah. Right. Even if we aren’t showing the ‘give a blank watch to the Rider when they’re active’ task anymore, that doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t doing it. (I still need to watch Rider Time Ryuki.) But Kyosuke wasn’t Hibiki in 2005 – he was Hibiki’s pupil. The Zi-O team hasn’t had mentorships and titles being passed down before. It’s not usually a thing with Kamen Rider.

(Usually. I still haven’t seen Kiva or Den-O, either, and I think there was something similar in those? And also there’s how Ghost and Specter have several people using variants of the name, with Daigo having gone by “Zero Specter”, and Ayumu apparently taking up Takeru’s mantle as Ghost in the future. Please note that I’m still flat out ignoring the majority of the Ghost Novel, because of all the uncomfortable implications of several things in there. The STAGE SHOWS, however, are fair game so far.)

Okay, that digression aside.

Kyosuke isn’t wrong in asking them to prove themselves worthy of the Hibiki watch, even if he’s being a dick about it. That is a thing for Oni – they train to get where they are, and have to earn the powers and name.

Of course, his “we provide a blessing to the earth” line draws the attention of a very frazzled Woz, who is trying to figure out the best way to bless his overlords 19th birthday. He’s so desperate to make this the most extra birthday ever, that now he’s trying to call himself the “oni of blessings”. Kysouke is confused by this. Sougo and Geiz think it’s hilarious – Geiz is only making a token effort to hide his laughter, and Sougo isn’t even trying. (Is this what the harness is for? Hiding his emotions?) Tsukuyomi is so done with everything right now. She’s just gonna head out and look for Todoroki. Maybe she’ll find some sane people there. She’d like that, that’d be nice.

By the time they reach the Taiko drums, Woz has snapped, even knocking the other two boys out of the way to get to the center drum, because ‘this is perfect!’

Woz has lost visitation rights for the trinity’s brain cell this week.

Sougo’s worried about him. Geiz is just resigned. “He’ll stay out of our hair this way.”

!! Oh!! Kyosuke and Tsutomu trained together? Or… Hm, Hibiki took place in 2005, with the epilogue in 2006… so Kyosuke could have taken over as Hibiki by 2009/2010, and trained Tsutomu. But again, Tsutomu was, at most, 10.

… Trying to work out this particular timeline is confusing.

Meanwhile, with the one rational person on this team, Tsukuyomi only has to follow the sound of the Electric Guitar.

Oh! Todoroki knows full well that that’s Tsutomu under the Another Hibiki transformation! … I suppose, since Oni are technically alternate appearances… somehow… since they’re both using the Oni abilities, he could see right through it.

Also. Turns out? Kyosuke’s not Hibiki. Todoroki actually seems a bit insulted that he called himself that. (VALID)

So, Sougo might be made of iron defense-wise, but less so weight-lifting wise. Also of note: Geiz has taken off both his harness AND his jacket, leaving him bench pressing… a good amount of weight.

Heeeey, Sougo, did someone convince you to wear pants that fit? Who was it? Where can I find them to give them my gratitude? Your overshirt is still super baggy, but your regular shirt fits pretty normally.

And can whoever got you the fitting outfit go talk to Geiz about his pants?

Ohhh, Kyosuke, telling Sougo to ditch his dream has never once worked.

Wait, okay, it did work. ONCE. Literally one time. And it was technically him telling him that, but as a taunt/dare, so I don’t think it really counts.

Hmm.. But Kyosuke’s saying to stop going after an unobtainable dream, and that you’ll only be met with despair when you can’t achieve it.

He studied under Hibiki.

Todoroki, during their shows run, turned down his masters name – Zanki – instead preferring to use a name of his own choosing as an Oni.

Oni discard their human names upon becoming Oni.

Kyosuke introduced himself with his human name.

Sounds like somebody else flunked out, too.

Tsukuyomi tells the boys to head after Another Hibiki… and is going to have to drag Woz with her. He’s still drumming.

After Heure redirects Todoroki’s attack right back to him, Sougo and Geiz show up. Heure thinks that Hibiki ought to be with them. Pity Hibiki’s not here today, regardless.

GEIZ. Either tell us if using Revive is still dangerous, or stop using Revive. I have to wonder about Sougo’s choice of Ex-Aid, though. Hammers versus drumming, maybe?

Heure’s all but pouting that Hibiki’s not here as he takes his leave. Oh, kid, if you weren’t a bad guy, I’d be able to like you so much better. (get away from swartz)

I thought for a moment that was the original HIT! effect, but nope. It’s still Sougo’s version. To be fair to Sougo, though, I don’t think I’m quite as worried about what it might mean if he gets things right, anymore.

But only not quite as worried. I’m still a little worried.

Cut to Woz, still furiously drumming. Tsukuyomi has to throw a rock at him to get his attention… and he still won’t leave. “He’s got Geiz with him, right? They’re good at working together, they’ll be fine.”

I like that both Woz and Geiz have finally come around to this whole ‘working as a team’ thing. (insert growth.gif here)

Woz: “Anyway! I have to make this celebration perfect!”

Tsukuyomi: “You are literally the only person who likes your speeches. You have no idea how to celebrate people.”

This kills the Woz.

… Woz no. It’s definitely not that you’re not ‘rejoicing’ enough. It’s literally the opposite of that.

A nice Ex-aid armor / Revive Fury team fight… and to finish it, they swap into Zi-O II and Revive Typhoon. Well, Revive Gale, right now, since I’m using the Rider Time subs.

I love that the Zi-O II fight music is the instrumental version of King of Time, because it makes for such a dramatic backing track.

The drama is only intensified by Another Hibiki’s drumsticks growing spikes, lengthening to ABSURD lengths, and catching COMPLETELY on fire.

Ohhh that’s a NICE group finish!

Sougo, even 9 years later, can still recognize one of the only people who he was close to as a kid. (This lonely little dweeb keeps breaking my heart.) He wants to listen to Tsutomu, to see how he can help, to see what led to him becoming Another Hibiki.

Heure is having none of that, still wants actual Hibiki to show up, and re-monsterizes Tsutomu.

… You know, he might have gone after Sougo for a reason. He still recognizes him too, after all. The only problem with that is, Another Hibiki is more monstrous than most Another Riders are. He’s more on the ‘Another Build’ level of losing sight of himself. Worse, possibly, because at least Another Build still had language. But neither of them ever turn back on their own, and even the other…  ‘feral’ Another Riders could still do that, like Another Ryuga.

So, Another Hibiki goes after Geiz, Sougo’s down on the ground.

And Kyosuke comes up to stop them from attacking Tsutomu.

He pulls out a tuning fork, and transforms.

Into a white Oni.

One who’s decidedly not Hibiki, and Sougo can tell. See again, Tsukasa used Hibiki against him back during Ghost.

Here comes Todoroki, confirming for us.

Kysouke wasn’t able to become Hibiki, or an Oni of his own. He doesn’t even have a proper Oni name. He’s just an Oni.

Hibiki is a name to be earned.

And Kyosuke didn’t earn it.

Makes it all the harsher that he tried to get the boys to prove themselves to him, when he couldn’t prove himself.

Oh, what’s this? Heure thought that he was Hibiki, too? Interesting.

Even more interesting… Another Hibiki just attacked Oni!Kyosuke, with one of his more powerful attacks.

Preview time:

“I couldn’t be like my master Hibiki.” – That’s Kyosuke.

There’s a shot of Kyosuke and someone who is presumably a 10-year-old Tsutomu.

… Woz, I’m pretty sure even Kougami would think that cake is a bit… much. And he’s KOUGAMI.

Just who… who is Sougo talking to in that last line?

“You were Hibiki.”

Who? WHO was Hibiki?

So, I jumped back to the very beginning, after seeing that shot of Kyosuke and babby!Tsutomu. Heure says that he was “Hibiki’s pupil.”

But Tsutomu doesn’t use the name ‘Hibiki’ when he says that he’s ‘not his pupil anymore.’

Kyosuke. Did you tell Tsutomu you were Hibiki? That’s a dirty lie, bucko.

[jhope-seok]

chiaroscuro | Part 4

chi·a·ro·scu·ro (n.) /kyärəˈsk(y)o͝orō/: an effect of contrasted light and shadow (used in art); Italian, from chiaro light + oscuro dark

Disclaimer: All of the things mentioned in this story are all works of fiction and have been made up by me, the author.  I did not intend to make anything based on real life, and any coincidences to real life are purely coincidences.

AU/Genre: Mafia x Cop AU (A/N: this chapter is mostly filler and backstory....sorry not sorry. Feel the slow burnnnnn)

Warnings: swearing

Members: Jungkook x Reader (ft. original characters)

Length: 2,489 words

Masterlist | <previous : next>

“You have been cordially invited--”

*click*

“We sincerely appreciate the generous--”

*click*

“Boss, the next shipment arrives in two days.We’re gonna need you--"

*click*

You sigh, rubbing the pads of your fingers against your temples as you click through email after email. You never seem to be able to get ahead of things in this business. Every time you think you've answered every email possible, sorted through all of the junk in your inbox, you refresh and there's ten more emails waiting to be answered. Today is no different, and the sun shining through your office window only worsens the headache that has been growing since you sat down.

Your head pounds beneath your skin; the blood pulsing through your veins like a jackhammer against your fingertips. You sigh, closing your eyes, the smell of your untouched coffee on your desk wrapping itself around your brain and squeezing until you can’t take it. You have to get up and take a walk around your office, get away from the deafening silence from your computer. You grab the coffee cup off of your desk and make your way to go get a fresh cup, hoping it would not only clear your mind but also put your headache at ease.

Your assistant protests the second you walk out of your office, claiming they could get a new cup for you if your old one is cold. You raise your hand, silencing them with a look. They sit down in their seat, biting their lip. You feel bad for being harsh with them, even without using your words you know you've upset them, but you need your own time to think. As the coffee pours out into your cup, staining the white porcelain brown, your mind wanders to your sisters.

You still hadn't reconciled with them, the thought always pressing through your mind that you can’t be head of the business and not speak to your sisters--their jobs essential to the smooth running of every aspect of the company--but you’re far too stubborn to apologize first. Your mind rings with your previous conversation, the sound of the door slamming behind you as you rushed out echoing on in the endless cavern of the hallway. You trudge back to your office, wishing things were easier with them, wishing they knew just how tolling your new position was on you. But you're afraid it will never be as simple as that, they won't ever understand unless they have to experience it first hand. You know to them it seems like all you do is galavant around town, being escorted everywhere by your gigantic bodyguards, but things are harder than they look from the outside.

As you thud back into your chair, taking a sip from your fresh cup of coffee you’re determined to finish your emails; get back on track for the day. That is, until another click of the mouse opens an email from Mona.

"Hey sis,

I know we're not really speaking right now, but the family got invited to the Senator's house; a small gathering for the local business owners. Dad got the initial invite before you stepped in, but he never responded. I know he wants us all to go, so please let me know if you're going so I can give the final head count for the family to the Senator’s secretary. She’s been on me about it, but I know you keep deleting all of the emails I forward you. Please try and let me know by the end of the day.

--Mona”

Your eyes glaze over as you read her email, wondering how she could sit wherever she wrote this from and not once throw in a simple apology. Although your fight was mostly with Rina, Mona had still watched as you stormed out, choosing to side with your other sister. The words on the screen come across almost condescending, as if she thought your actions had been childish, your outrage unwarranted at being told what you did was unimportant.

Your anger bubbles up inside of you as you punch a mindless response.

“Mona,

Honestly, is it even important that I come? You can just mark me as whatever you feel is best for the company, since my opinion doesn’t matter. As long as it’s not too difficult for you to make that decision.

--Y/N”

You know that your response is childish, but it still hurts to know that while you’re struggling to keep a strong presence as the new head of the business, your sisters are gossiping behind your back about how annoyed they are with you; venting about how you’re doing nothing to help. In the moment, all your mind can focus on are the memories of the day you were promoted. You remember how your life seemed to turn on its head at the news you were no longer just a shadow of your father. You’re surprised how time seemed to move so quickly, the last year of your life a blur.

“Y/N, please come upstairs. Your father and I need to speak with you.” The voice of your mother through the intercom rang loudly throughout your empty apartment.

You stopped where you were, on your path from your bedroom to your personal gym. You groaned, hoping she wasn’t still listening to hear your response. You played with the towel around your neck, eyes glancing between the box on the wall next to you and the door to the gym, which was only a few steps away. When you stood there for a few more moments wondering how urgent it was for you to make an appearance, her voice sounded once more, causing you to jump.

“Now!”

The soft click of the sound system indicated that she had stepped away, and was definitely no longer keeping an ear out for what you were saying. Which was the only reason you let out a slew of curses. “It’s Sunday night. What the fuck do they want from me now,” you spoke to no one but yourself. “I don’t want to be bothered by useless shit.”

You tossed your towel onto your couch and trudged quickly out your front door, into the elevator and up into your parent’s three-story mansion inside what most people believed to be an apartment building.

For the most part, that’s exactly what it was. The ground level of the building housed several shops: a corner store with a pharmacy, a small sub shop chain, and a very small boutique, owned by a friend of the family. The other thirty floors in between them and Mona’s floor were all dedicated to apartments. However the top six floors were for your family.

Your parents had renovated the top six floors for their personal use, having a singular elevator to connect them to the rest of the building, that they really only used to be transported to the underground garage. They had installed another private elevator for personal family use, one that connected the top six floors to each other. None of the other building tenants had access to either of these elevators, the main elevator having been labelled as a service elevator so that they didn’t accidentally wind up somewhere they weren’t supposed to be.

Your mother had been insistent that you all live in the same building. Once you and your sisters had gotten older, they wanted to make sure you were never too far out of their reach, close enough that they could still be a short elevator ride away. Luckily, they didn’t force you to live with your sisters. That had been a compromise they agreed to. If you couldn’t move far away, you at least wanted privacy to do whatever you wanted, and they conceded; providing you and your other sisters with their own floors.

It was nice having your own place. They’d included so many amenities for you on your floor that sometimes you found yourself having spent days inside your own apartment without having ever left. You had almost everything you needed. A gym, a spa, a restaurant sized kitchen,  an office and a bedroom so large you could have fit five king beds inside with room to spare. All to yourself. Your sisters had the same, your parents wanting to make sure everyone had equal options. However they were all tailored and designed to your personal styles.

As you took the one floor ride up to your parent’s lower level, you wondered what could be so important that they called you in on a Sunday. Most of the times you only heard from your parents once or twice a week, to call a family meeting. But that was always during business hours. Never at 9:00PM on a weekend night. You had been hoping to get in one last workout before your nightly wind down before the hectic week you had ahead of you, but your parents had other plans, apparently.

Back then you had been acting as the head of communications for the front business. It was hard work running a nightclub industry, but your parents entrusted you to handle it almost solely on your own. You had had a few assistants to help with the bookkeeping and other management aspects. But other than that you were the sole head for communicating between all of the managers and management teams for the nightclubs across the city. You were in charge of getting and booking the talent for all of the different locations. For the most part you had helped in setting up regular entertainment for every night of the week, but occasionally you were tasked with bringing in outside performers to pique interest and sales.

You had been doing this ever since you turned eighteen, having felt in your father’s eyes that at that age you were old enough to no longer shadow him directly, and to start taking over one of the most essential parts of the business. He still called you in on important meetings with the top players in the trafficking business, but over the last nine years, you’d slowly worked your way up from just being an assistant to taking over as head of the fronting business. You were proud of the work you’d done, and your father was proud as well. He believed you’d been doing a fantastic job managing and overseeing all of the nightclubs you had scattered around the large city.

That was until you were greeted by a somber attitude as you stepped out of the elevator onto their first floor. You tried to make eye contact with the guards around you, but not a single one would look at you. They stood straight as rods, almost as if you had touched them, they would have broken under any amount of pressure.

You tried to say something to one of them, to inquire about where your parents possibly could be, but the one on your right spoke before you had the chance. "They're waiting upstairs for you in the dining room."

"Okay..." you deadpanned. You sighed to yourself, after realizing it was clear no one would actually give you any further information besides that. So you trudged your way up the stairs, your footsteps echoing against the large open space, to the family dining room. Your mother and father were facing you in the large space, both seated at the far end of the table.

"Please, Y/N," your mother prompted you, "Take a seat." She gestured to the seat across from her, the chair on your father's right hand side.

As you got nearer to them, the weight of the air became heavier on your lungs, and you found it hard to take a breath, wondering what in the world could make your parents so somber. “Is everything okay?” You ventured a question into the thickness in the room, hoping their response would be less burdensome.

“To be frank,” your father began.

“No,” your mother finished for him.

“As you know,” your mother continued, “your father has been seeing a doctor for quite some time for his health problems. And the doctor has advised that it is best for him to take a step back from the family business to focus on regaining his health. Otherwise the doctor believes he may outrun his due course in life, if he continues on like this.”

Your mind swam with the words you were hearing. “So why am I here?” you managed through the haze in your mind.

“Because,” your father paused to grasp your hand in his. “This means that you will have to take over in my absence. Your shadowing period is over. We called you up here to formally announce your promotion to head of the family business. We will hold a dinner for our partners in the upcoming months, but in the meantime and for the foreseeable future, you will now be in charge of all of the cocaine trafficking portions of the business. This also means that you alone will become the face of the family business. Mona will take care of your previous job; you have many other important things on your plate now. I know you will do well, my dear.”

You sink further into your seat, your headache slowly subsiding as the coffee works its magic on your body. Your anger at your sisters recedes knowing that someday they will have to be exposed to the true nature of the family business, to the true expanse of the works of your family. But, for now, you’re glad you can at least rely on them to run the front business properly.

As your mind wanders, and your eyes gaze longingly out into the real world, wondering what life would have been like had you been born into a regular family free from drugs and money, your phone chimes on your desk, two short rings one after the other. You grimace slightly, annoyed at the sudden interruption in your daydreaming, but a small smile forms on your lips as you read the messages that broke through your memories.

[Unknown 11:07am] Hey, Y/N. It’s Jungkook.

[Unknown 11:07am] The police officer.

You chuckle to yourself, picturing how flustered he must have been sending these messages. A bubble appears and disappears on the screen until another message pops up onto your screen.

[Unknown 11:09am] Would you maybe want to grab a drink sometime?

A laugh slips through your lips, genuine happiness in your smile as you imagine the guts it must have taken for him to send such a simple question. ‘The strong police officer is not so strong after all, it seems,’ you think to yourself. Your fingers glide over the screen as you send your response to him, adding his number in the process.

[Me 11:10am] Meet me at XX at 9, tonight. Don't be late.

feedback is always welcome! please feel free to leave some here!

[herzenswarme]

Hitchhikers' guide to fun in fighting games

Last updated: 2019-02-11

Introduction

The fighting game genre is a very complicated and demanding one. Once one of the main genres of the medium back when arcades were the home of video games, are now a niche genre with a relatively small player-base at most and no players at all at worst. The truth is, most people don’t enjoy fighting games or can’t get far enough into them to enjoy them. And from that comes the goal and scope of this guide: to try to help people enjoy fighting games. There are plenty of fighting game guides all over the place, from generalist guides on how to play fighting games down to guides on how to do very specific advanced mechanics. However, I feel like most if to all of them focus on teaching what you are supposed to be doing instead of teaching how to think, improve and learn. I personally have a grudge with most of these guides, specially the ones explaining character, but that’s a topic for another moment. So in this guide, the main objectives to cover are:

Obtaining “intentionality”, i.e. playing with intention, clear reasons and objectives behind your actions as opposed to simply randomly input moves or “mashing”.

Developing a healthy mentality

Learning how to learn further

Have fun

This guide is not a guide about how to be good at fighting games, but how to understand them in order to enjoy them. The development of your skills is something that belongs further down the line and that is meaningless if you can’t enjoy the game. This guide is also oriented to those who do not feel any interest in fighting games or that are trying to enjoy them but they seem not to be able to do so.

1. The materials: what to play and who to play

Before you can do anything, you will need materials to work with. In this case, we need a game to play and a character to play with. But how do you choose? Fighting games nowadays are making a comeback and many, many games are coming out every year. Where can one start? Are there any games that I must play first? Well, underneath the “fighting game” label there are a handful of sub-genres and, while it might not seem like it to the untrained eye, most of them are incredibly different from each other within the same sub-genre. However, the things that make a fighting game such define a set of skills known as fundamentals. The fundamentals consist in a series of skills related to space and timing. They are very simple ideas that will have a central role in this guide. This simple concepts are harder to apply as the games get more complicated. Because of that, any fighting game should serve you well, however, there are other factors to take into account. If you already have a game you want to play and/or a character you want to play in that game you may skip this part, though you may be interested in what’s “out there”.

1.1 Picking a game

The first thing we will take into account is the style of the game, and for that, we will take a look at the sub-genres.

Img.1. Rough classification of the subgenres

The first separation is the 2D vs the 3D. 3D games in general tend to be simpler with their mechanics, with most if not all characters using exclusively melee attacks, though by the use of a third dimension and more spacial propoerties on their moves they tend to flesh out more the fundamentals. The biggest drawback for this genre is that these kind of fighters include dozends of predefined strings of moves per each character, making it a big task of memorization. They are slower paced and less chaotic but also require more effort put into memorization. Because of that, these games are notably less thrilling to learn from the ground up. Within the 2D fighters there are way more unorthodox approaches and mechanics, with games that become more and more hectic and can be more confusing at first but can become way more enjoyable once you overcome the barriers that this guy will be trying to surpass.

The classic fighters are the slower ones and the ones that take the most out of Street Fighter II, the game that established the standard for fighting game design. On top of being slower, the lack of unorthodox mechanics puts a bigger focus on the fundamentals though they are less varied and/or exciting as a consequence of limiting the mechanics. This is usually the recommended starting point as historically Street Fighter is the starting point of many players and the genre as a whole. It’s the perfect choice for anyone who prefers start with smaller goals before tackling the big ones. Regardless of their simplicity, these classic fighters still provide a pure fighting game experience and can be really enjoyable by themselves.

The anime fighters also known as air dashers are characterized by their crazier mechanics, fast movement and as the name indicates, anime aesthetic and the ability to dash in the air. These games are faster, more exciting, more varied but also more complicated and at the beginning more confusing. Personally, I started with Guilty Gear and it has been my main game since. It’s a tough start but their variety allows you to play your own way and be creative, as opposed to the more streamlined design of classic fighters. This is a great starting point if you want to maximize fun and experimentation without fear of heading to a tough start.

Finally, the tag fighters are those that, while having the characteristics of the other 2 sub-genres, they add a key, game changing feature: assists. In these games, you pick a team of characters as opposed to a single one, and the characters that are not on-screen can be called in for an assisting move. These games are the most chaotic of the bunch, usually the worst balanced as its team design makes them harder to design, and also the ones that fade the fundamentals the most. In games like Dragon Ball FighterZ, the role of spacing is heavily underplayed due to how combos and hit-boxes are made. This one is the only genre I wouldn’t recommend as an entry point, not only because of how hectic they are but also how unbalanced they are. In general, tag games will require you to play the best characters in the game to actually have a decent experience, as other characters become a straight up handicap. If you want to go for it, you have been warned.

Based on this, it’s up to you to decide what suits you better.

Once you choose a sub-genre it’s time to choose a game. Aside from just gut feeling (maybe Guilty Gear’s graphics caught your attention, or maybe you are a huge DC fan and want to play Injustice) there are 2 things to take into account. First, is the player-base size. Unfortunately, the niche status of the genre makes it so not every game has enough players as to offering the possibility of just finding online matches via the game’s networking system (i.e. without using other systems to find players such as forums, Discord, etc.). Because of that, you may prefer one of the more populated games, which in this case, and by genre, are:

3D Fighters: Tekken 7, Soul Calibur VI

Classic 2D fghters: Street Fighter V

Anime fighters: Guilty Gear

Tag fighters: Dragon Ball FighterZ

Furthermore, you may want to take into account the kind of player-base a game has. A rule of thumb is that the most populated games have the more varied range of skill levels. You don’t want to really fight against people of your level, but you probably don’t want to get destroyed by veteran players either (or maybe you do, I personally don’t care). So if you still decide to go for a more niche game (and that’s great) be aware that most people there will really know how to play it.

1.2. Picking a character

With time, you will start learning what in a character clicks with you and what doesn’t, to a mechanical level. If you lack any experience, which if you are reading this I assume you don’t, you most likely won’t be able to tell just yet. So for the completely new player, it is a matter of trial and error. Once you get your fresh new fighting game, you go into training mode and take a look at the cast and just pick whoever gets your attention. You try it out a bit in training and if you don’t feel comfortable, you go to the next most interesting one. If none of them seems to click with you, which may happen, just go with the first character you picked and play with it. Give it a bit of time. If it still doesn’t work, go for the next. Eventually you will get there. For what this guide is concerned, just pick the one that peaks your interest and go with that, as this “evaluation” should be done once you know what this guide is trying to offer.

Img. 2. Guilty Gear Xrd Rev2’s select screen

You like the awesome pink haired, amputee samurai? Go for it. A common approach people take in similar (but not quite equal) guides or newbie-oriented recommendations is to pick the “main character”, or “poster character”, which is most likely a character archetype known as “shotokan” or “shoto”, which is, in simple words, a character that derives from Street Fighter’s Ryu and is considered the basic character that embodies the fundamentals of the game. However, as fundamentals are an inherent part of any fighting game, you will always have fundamentals in some extent. While it is true that some focus more on it than others (e.g. Guilty Gear’s Jack'O uses algorithmically controlled minions that move on their own), there’s always some to the character. For the purpose of fun, any character is valid. But do be aware that the fundamentals are skills that are shared between all fighting games, and learning such skills first is really helpful on the long run. But what exactly are the fundamentals? That will be answered not far down the line.

After this, you now have your candidate for a main character and can start getting into the core of the matter.

2. The search for intentionality: Understanding fighting games

As such a complicated genre, there’s a considerable amount of information to be learnt, and that’s not counting move-lists, combos and setups, but general ideas about space, timing, movement, possible states and other things of the sort.

And between all this information comes the fundamentals. This term that you will see and hear over and over again when discussing fighting games is the key set of skills involved in the proper play of fighting games and can be reduced to one umbrella skill: controlling space.

2.1. The fundamentals: Space and time

To get a grip of the fundamentals, there’s 2 things that should be understood: frame data and hit-boxes. So I’ll explain what those are about without getting into too much detail, as that is not necessary until you are already waist deep into the genre.

Img.3. Big Band’s hit-boxes for one of his moves in Skullgirls

‘Fundamentals’ are a matter of time and space. Hitboxes are the ones that provide the space. These are present in one whay or another in basically every game you get your hands on. In the case of fighting games, these are usually rectangles with different types associated to them that dictate what can hit or be hitted. Fundamentally, it is the representation of your body as a character, but simplified for the calculations.

On the other hand, frame data is the main source for the time element. Each attack has 3 different phases: startup, active and recovery. That means that they take some time to start, are able to hit for some time and then they have to recover. Unlike other genres, this recovery is portrayed only by animation instead of a cooldown. Another factor in time would be the speed of projectiles and their position, but that’s a story for another day. So, knowing that, we can begin to study our game and character. And here is where the approach this guide is trying to follow becomes apparent. The goal is to teach you how to think like a fighting game player, so you are able not to play, but to learn to play whatever game, whichever character. So now that we have this fundamental piece of knowledge, we can try to answer the most basic yet important question: The fight starts, what should I do?

The first, just as basic, answer is: You have to hit the opponent and avoid getting hit.

Now, everyone gets that far. What most people, however, don’t do, is taking into account the properties of space and time mentioned before and elaborating their game-plan based on it. They approach the game blindly and, because of that, the game gets reduced to “get close and press buttons to hit, go away not to get hit”, or some other basic strategy of the sort.

Here instead, we want to learn what do we have and what the opponent has. Each move reaches so far, takes so much to hit and takes so much to let you move. And so do your opponent’s moves. This is the data we want to know and with which we want to work. The proper use of this kind information is the fundamentals.

Let’s then answer the question with a bit more detail. We want to hit, and as a consequence we want to be within the range of our attacks. However, we don’t want to get hit, so we would want to be outside of the range of our opponent’s attacks. Depending on the characters you may find that you have moves completely outside of the opponent’s attacks, but a lot of times this is not the case. With this information, you should be able to infer which range should be the ideal.

However, this rabbit hole goes a tad deeper. As it can be seen in the image before (Img.3.), attacks generate hit-boxes that hit the opponent, but also alters your hurt-boxes, which can be hit. Most of the time, these roughly follow the shape of your characters body and wherever there’s a piece of your character there will be a hurt-box to hit. However, this is not always the case. Some moves have hurt-boxes or hit-boxes that do not follow what the eye sees, sometimes intended but sometimes accidental. This generates attacks that can hit behind you even though it looks you hit forward, or can’t be hit on the top half of your character’s body. These properties can be exploited with some cleverness, but are not always shown (Japanese fighting games usually do not show any information of the kind). Nevertheless, this is a final piece in this beginner’s puzzle of space.

Now, how about time? Some attacks hit quicker than others, and some recover faster. This has a series of consequences. In first place, faster moves are less likely to be countered, as there is less time to do so, and slower moves could be countered even if they have a long range, due to the opponent potentially being able to get close in the meantime, or to give your opponent a better chance to hit you if you miss; the latter is call whiff punish and will be really important further on.

This, combined with the space related ideas explained before, leads you to associate certain moves to certain situations, which eventually will lead to a bare-bones game-plan. Applying this knowledge correctly, you are now pressing the button knowing that it will do X move, for Y reason. Be it the range you’re at, the hurt-boxes it has giving you a better chance at hitting a character jumping at you or just being the fastest move in the range you’re in. At this moment, you already are gaining intentionality, even though there’s much to learn, applying this knowledge will stop you from button mashing and will have you thinking while you play, which is key to start having fun.

2.3. Defense: safety and punishment

Fighting is not all about attacking. Every fighting game has at least a blocking mechanic (though some games may offer multiple ways of blocking). Blocking lets you get touched without receiving damage (although some categories of moves may result in residual damage called chip damage). Blocking and getting around it is a key dynamic in fighting games that deserves its own section.

Blocking not only prevents damage, but also reduces the stun you take. Each move in a fighting game produces a specific amount of frames of stun in hit and a separated amount on block. The consequence of this is that some attacks may guarantee a successful hit to that who blocks the move. This kind of guaranteed hit is called a punish. This will alter your approach in many ways, the first being that you want to avoid attacks that leave you open, or “unsafe” attacks.

But how do you deal with a blocking opponent? In general, fighting games have 3 types of attacks: low, mid and overhead. Lows can only be blocked crouching and overheads only standing, while mids can be blocked either way. Thus, the most basic way is to alternate between heights in order to make the opponent miss the height when blocking. However, depending on the game there may be different ways. Throws are a common mechanic that lets you break other’s defense, but there are some other game-specific mechanics and properties.

As an example, in Blazblue there’s low and high blocking, air blocking, then instant blocking and barrier for all heights. The height rule still applies on the ground, but some moves are blockable or unblockable on the air in a per-case basis. As for attacks, it offers the 3 heights, different air-blocking properties, throws but also a move that can only be blocked with barrier.

<<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/959cf3f654ce5b7e67d9ed3f9babd8a8/tumblr_inline_pjoyv2z4LE1w3m3ig_540.png" alt="image">

Img.4. Different ways of blocking in Blazblue

Blocking is the safest action you can perform, as crouch blocking will usually cover most attacks in 2D games (this does not apply in 3D games like Tekken). So it’s a good thing to do when in doubt on what will happen next. Some situations may force you to block due to the time factor. With that in mind, you can use blocking for safety but also in order to look for a chance to take the leading hand in battle.

2.4. Footsies: applying fundamentals

Ideally, the information provided up until now should allow you to understand the genre and piece things together in order to figure out how to play with a bit of time and practice, leading you to learn the genre and then the specifics of your game and character, alongside any future fighting game you play. Nevertheless, I still want to provide a general look at how the fundamentals usually work out in matches with a one to one environment (i.e. not a tag game).

“Footsies” is the term used for the scenario in which both players are in a neutral state, at a considerable range and not blocking or getting hit. This is the state in which all rounds start.

Img.5. Neutral state in Guilty Gear Xrd

At this point and at this distance many things can happen. There’s a bunch of moves tey can perform, they can run, jump, backdash, etc. From this point you want to safely get to your desired range, if you are not already in it. But also, fighting games are played by two people, so you know the opponent wants to get in their own range.

In this specific scenario, you don’t want to attack straight away but you don’t to back off either. Dizzy is a long range character that will most likely try to back off first then try to get an opening with projectiles. You, as Elphelt, mostly work in mid-short range, so you want to get in as soon as possible so Dizzy can’t start filling the screen with projectiles. However, Dizzy has some moves with very serious range but quite slow and long lasting, so you can wait blocking for a bit to look for the retreat or an attempt at stopping you.

If Dizzy tries to attack and fails, not hitting anything, you get a chance to whiff punish, i.e. hitting the opponent before the have the chance to recover from an attack that didn’t connect. Whiff punishing is better than regular punishing in that, since you don’t get any kind of stun, the window is way larger; also, most games won’t let you cancel the animation for an attack that whiffs, so there’s no way for them to save themselves, except for some meter consuming mechanics for some games.

If Dizzy backs off with an air dash, you can try to catch her, aware of the range of her air normal moves. If you don’t, you are in her range and will have to work to get in your range again. From afar, she can cover a lot of the screen with the projectiles to keep you away and, upon hit, capitalize on it with a combo.

Finally, if you remain in range, Dizzy has the problem that her normal moves can’t compete with yours, she has to be careful with what she does and either take the risk and hit you or try to find an opening to punish you and/or run away.

Now, how about characters that work in the same range? This is a common situation in more footsie-based games, like Tekken or Street Fighter. In those games, specially Tekken, most of the characters work in similar ranges and their long range possibilities are limited or non-existent. In that kind of scenario, the key lies in playing with the range, getting in and out of range, looking for the opponent to make a mistake and whiff. That’s for most people the “purest” form of fundamentals.

2.5. The fighting game attitude

A very common issue I’ve encountered when introducing people to the genre is the attitude or mentality they go in with. They expect relatively immediate results, i.e. to win soon, very soon in fact. Usually, they expect to win in the first or second session of play.

For many reasons, that is not possible in a fighting game. Not only is it a very niche genre, but also very standardized. These fundamentals that apply to any game make it so any experienced player has better results at first even if the game is a brand new series. Completely new players are scarce and so it is an uphill battle.

The core of the issue with the general mentality is that new players do not get satisfaction from the game without winning. And for this a very important idea has to be settled: One must learn to enjoy the satisfaction of improving. Fighting games are one of the genres with the best and most organic sense of progression there is. By organic, I mean that it is actually you progressing as a player, as opposed to in-game variables. Even if you keep losing, it is very easy to see the progress and improvement done over time. Learning to appreciate this improvement within the losses is a key component of the mindset.

You’ll lose, but you’ll lose better every time.

This leads us to the second key aspect of a good fighting game mentality: Learning is fun.

Such a deep and complex genre is daunting, sure, but also wonderful. With so many tools and options under your belt, fighting games (some more than others) give you the chance to explore new ideas, elaborate solutions to problems you find along the way, and discover things no one knows about. This is on itself a great source of fun that under the wrong mentality might seem like work, but they offer fun of its own as if they were puzzle games or engineering games (such as Besiege). Considering this, fighting games become a way more diverse and interesting experience that extends the already intense fighting core even further.

3. Going forward

Now that you have the information to have a basic idea of what you are doing, what will go next?

Well, there’s plenty of things. Of course, the first is practice. Also, as this guide is really generic, there will be a series of game and character specific mechanics that you will have to learn and figure out on your own. And that’s the fun part! Play, train, experiment, think; you can do whatever you want, there’s no teammates expecting you to play a certain way. See what works and what doesn’t. If there’s something that gives you problems, like a move or a situation, go into training mode and investigate how to get around it. At this point you have all the tools you need to start and figure stuff on your own. Or maybe you have an idea for some use of a move that has never been used before and you can experiment in training mode.

As an example, there’s a really common thing to do called a “cross-up”. In most fighting games, blocking is performed by holding the opposite direction to that in which the opponent stands. However, what happens if you can jump over the opponent and hit it from behind? Many moves hit so far behind you that they allow you to do that. In that scenario, the opponent has to react and change directions, so it is an alternative way of breaking someone’s defense. In a genre as complicated as this one there’s plenty to learn but also plenty to discover. So go crazy.

Fighting games, however, are a hard genre, and a lot of losing is to be expected. But with time you will start to lose better and, eventually, starting to win. And that is the best feeling ever. So don’t feel discouraged.

Appendix I. On guides and online resources

As I said before, I have a grudge against character guides. But why? For me, they are an obstacle for the proper learning of the character, the game and the genre as a whole. They are in part the inspiration for this “guide on how to learn”. They set a specific group of instructions for you to follow. They don’t encourage you to figure things out, think or experiment; but rather, to follow an algorithm. What it’s worse, it makes you follow someone else’s plan instead of doing your own, which makes the game less playing and more performing a task. However, what is really useful is pure data. Frame data, descriptions of mechanics, hit-boxes, etc. Where do you find that? Most modern games include a tutorial, but they are somewhat limited as a lot of the game knowledge is discovered after launch by the players. So, here are some valuable links:

Dustloop Wiki: For the biggest anime fighting games.

Shoryuken Wiki: For the biggest classic and tag games

Infil’s Killer Instinct Guide

Mizuumi Wiki: For the very small anime games out there

Tekken Zaibatsu Wiki

[duhragonball]

[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (73/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: About 1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

Previous chapters conveniently available here.

[1 March 234 Before Age.  Nat-Chezz II.]

Floating over a mountain range, Vigurd was busy sparring with her teammate and fellow Saiyan, Bodi.  None of the them liked Bodi very much.   He was asinine.   He spent far too much time trying to sound impressive or clever, and far too little time noticing that it wasn't working.   He also flirted with every humanoid woman within the sound of his voice.  No one liked his cheesy lines, least of all his own people, who found such blatant romantic overtures to be unseemly.  

Nevertheless, Vigurd found him to be a worthwhile sparring partner, if only because his power level was roughly the same as hers.  He hit on her just as persistently as any other woman, but she was willing to put up with it for the workout.   Besides, she had been putting up with a lot since she joined Zaperc's gang.  

Like Bodi and the others, she had joined Zaperc because he promised them a path to achieve greater power.   He claimed to be studying the Super Saiyan who had mysteriously emerged a few years ago, and he believed that he would eventually discover how to become one himself.   Vigurd was skeptical, but she ultimately decided that Zaperc might one day succeed, and she wanted to be there when he did.  

But she soon learned that Zaperc's followers only had the one goal in common.   As loathsome as Bodi was, the rest of the team hated each other almost as much.  Zaperc's son Brockle was a spoiled brat, Hijik was a misogynist, Lesseri was an opportunistic coward, and Jikama was a half-Chezzi wimp.  Indeed, part of the reason Vigurd enjoyed sparring with Bodi was that it gave her an excuse to avoid the others.  At least she could tune out his pathetic pickup lines while they fought.  

Even so, Luffa had turned out to be the worst of all.  Following Zaperc had been annoying enough, but it turned out that he knew even less about the Super Saiyan than he had realized.   Vigurd was amused at first to learn that the Super Saiyan was a woman who mocked everything Zaperc had been trying to do, but then Luffa assumed command of their team, and began a training regimen of equal parts humiliation and self-righteous preaching.

It didn't take long for Vigurd to figure out that Luffa was a hick.  Oh, her adventures had taken her to a few dozen planets, but the girl still clung to whatever backward morality her mother had probably taught her as a child.   Everything Luffa said was about honor and pride, as if either of those things mattered in a universe that was constantly trying to kill you.   But the most outdated nonsense Luffa spouted was her condemnation of Vigurd's use of artificial gestation facilities.  

A lot of expat Saiyans still bought into the old traditions like that.   Saiyan mothers were expected to regard pregnancy as their offspring's first battle in life.  They were supposed to set aside their own battles to ensure the birth and upbringing of their children.  They were supposed to pass down the old stories, which always seemed to be about Saiyan men getting too much credit for a lot of stuff that probably never happened in the first place.   Vigurd's own mother had taught her the same things, although she hardly expected Vigurd to believe any of it.  

And so, when Vigurd was Luffa's age, she became pregnant and refused to let it get in the way of her career.  The babies were brought to term, raised by caretakers, and left to fend for themselves.   It was survival of the fittest, after all.   If her sons couldn't find the strength to manage in the real world, then there was never anything Vigurd could have done for them anyway.  

For all of Luffa's might, she lacked the simple understanding that it was kill-or-be-killed.  Mercy, even for one's own offspring, was an opening for your enemies to exploit.   Maybe a Super Saiyan could afford to be weak, but Vigurd couldn't, and that was what Luffa didn't understand.  Luffa had somehow unlocked tremendous power within herself, but it was in spite of her old-fashioned values, and not because of them.   And now that Luffa had become this almighty creature, she was going to ram her morality down everyone else's throat.  

Vigurd thought about leaving the group, but just as she began to consider leaving, Luffa left the planet on some vacation outing with her alien wife.   That was the real hypocrisy of the whole thing.   Luffa expected women like Vigurd to be happy homemakers, while Luffa herself struggled to maintain a crumbling marriage to an alien floozy.  

"What are they even doing on Tingi V?" she asked aloud, as Bodi narrowly dodged one of her kicks.

 "Ah, who can say?" Bodi mused.  He knit his brow and stroked his chin thoughtfully.  A knowing smile grew on his face as he said: "But I know they wouldn't have as much fun as we would, my little cherub.   Suppose we--"

Vigurd caught him with an energy blast to his groin.   She didn't like to hit below the belt, especially in a training match, but he had left himself wide open, and besides, it was only Bodi.   She crossed her arms and watched as he tumbled to the mountains below.  

"Well, I hope she loosens up by the time she gets back," Vigurd said to herself.   "Otherwise, I'm bugging out for good."

*******

[1 March 234 Before Age.    Tingi V.]

The ground floor of the resort was a casino, and from early afternoon to late at night it was abuzz with patrons looking to spend their money on gaudily decorated games of chance.  Their excited chatter combined with the buzzes and bells of the electronic devices to produce a strangely soothing ambiance.

At one of the card tables a dealer was shuffling a pair of decks for three players.  One of them was a Saiyan in a red dress with a wig of long brown hair.  

"Well, at least I'm getting a handle on the rules," Luffa said to the dealer as she looked over her cards.  

"You can always try a lower stakes table, ma'am," he offered helpfully.  

"Nah, this is fine," Luffa said.  "I can afford to lose a few more times.  Keeps me motivated."

Luffa main problem was inexperience, but she never let that stop her before.  She had hoped to compensate with psychological warfare.  The real reason she stuck to this dealer was because he kept staring down the plunging neckline of her dress.  It wasn't an advantage she was used to using, but Luffa wasn't used to wearing wigs either.  This was because she wasn't supposed to be Luffa tonight.   It didn't make any sense but she had given up trying to figure it out.  

"Mind if I sit down?"

Luffa glanced up to see her wife standing beside her, only it wasn't her wife, even though she didn't look all that different from usual.  She had blue skin and short red hair in a bob style.  Her left eye shone a brilliant green and her right was covered with a black patch.  Her dress matched the eyepatch, though its sequins reflected the multi-colored lights of the casino.  The purse in her hand probably contained at least one weapon that she had managed to smuggle past security.  Luffa knew it was Zatte long before she approached the table.  Indeed, she had been waiting for her to show up all night long, but now she had to pretend that they didn’t know each other.  

"Suit yourself," Luffa said, gesturing to the adjacent seat.  "Your friend can tag along too if he wants, but I'm afraid I'm not much fun to watch."

"My friend?" Zatte asked.  

Luffa pointed her thumb over her shoulder as she laid down her cards to fold.  "That tall guy with the green hair," she said.  "You two looked like you were getting along pretty well."

"Oh him," Zatte said.  "Never saw him before tonight.  We were just playing the roto-wheel for a while, but I got bored and decided to move on."

"Too bad for him," Luffa said.  "You made a cute couple."

Zatte flagged down a server and ordered a drink.  "So you've been watching me?" she asked.  

"Maybe," Luffa said.  Of course she had been watching Zatte.  That had been the whole point, but they were supposed to pretend they didn't know each other.  Everything had to be a game with Zatte.  Luffa didn't mind that most of the time, but she preferred it when she knew how to play.

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Saiyan in a casino before," Zatte said.  

"That's because we're all terrible gamblers," Luffa said.  "If I need money, I just fight for it, or take it."

"But you're different?" Zatte asked.  

Luffa shrugged.  "I'm between assignments.  Figured this was as good a place as any to spend some downtime.  I like the atmosphere, and I can afford to practice a little.   Only trouble is my strategy isn't working like I thought it would."

"What's the problem?" Zatte asked.  

Luffa examined her next hand of cards and shook her head.  "Besides the fact that I suck at card games, I've been trying to watch this guy's mannerisms.  Saiyans are good at that sort of thing.  Helps you anticipate your opponent's next move.  Read his mood, things like that.   The thing is, he just works here.  If he was playing with his own money, maybe I'd have an edge, only he doesn't care if he wins or loses."

"That's clever," Zatte said.  "I wouldn't have thought of that."

"Well, it's only clever if it actually works," Luffa muttered.  She laid her cards down and folded again.  

"It seems to me like you've got a solution in search of a problem," Zatte suggested.  "You just need to play against someone with something on the line."

She reached into her purse and produced a hotel key, which she slid across the table to Luffa.  "I'm hosting a private game in my room later tonight.  Maybe you can try out your strategy there."

"You sure you want a Saiyan at your little party?" Luffa asked.  "We have a certain... reputation."

Zatte sipped her drink and smirked.  "You seem to know how to behave yourself," she said.  

"That only makes me more dangerous, doesn't it?"

"I'm willing to take that chance.  I like a little danger."

"Is that the sort of line you used on that green-haired man?" Luffa asked.

"Why worry about him?" Zatte asked.  

"I just feel bad for him, I suppose," Luffa said.  "He and I have something in common."

"What's that?"

Luffa looked at her next hand and snorted.   "We have the same taste in women."

"I can invite him instead of you," Zatte suggested.  "If it'd make you feel better."

"If you want to play it safe," Luffa said.  "Your other guests would probably appreciate it."

"There are no other guests," Zatte said.  "It's a very small get-together."  

"Not much of a pot that way."

Zatte finished her drink, then stood up to leave.   "Drop by when you're finished here.  If the stakes aren't high enough for you, I'm sure I can find some other way to keep you entertained."

Luffa watched her leave and noticed a certain swagger to her walk that hadn't been there before.  She turned back to the table, and noticed the dealer was now staring at the hotel key instead of Luffa's chest.  

She ignored it and continued playing, losing several more hands and a small fortune in credits.  

*******

When Luffa finally arrived at the room, she didn’t bother using Zatte’s key, since she already had one of her own.  She found her wife wearing one of the terry bathrobes that came with the room.  There was a bottle of wine on the table with two glasses, but at the moment she was too busy triple-checking their luggage to notice Luffa’s entrance.  

When she finally spotted Luffa, she blurted out “Oh, hi!” then snapped back into character and tried to lean seductively against the wall.  “I mean, hello,” she said as she tugged open the  shawl collar of her robe to make it more revealing.  “You didn’t knock, but then you don’t strike me as someone who favors a direct approach.”

Luffa had already taken off her wig and tossed it on the bed.  “Wait, are we still going?” she asked.  “I thought we were done.”

Zatte broke character again.  “Did you want to stop?” she asked.  

“I thought the idea was to pretend to be strangers around other people,” Luffa said.  “We’re alone up here, so I figured we were done.”

“Well, I thought we’d play a few hands to set the mood,” Zatte said.  

“Hold on, you actually wanted to play cards?” Luffa asked.  “I thought that was just a pretext to get me into your room.”

“Well, I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Zatte said.  “It was going to be, you know, sexy cards.”

Luffa sat on the bed and took off her shoes.  “I’ll do whatever you want, Zattie, but let me do it barefoot for a while, at least.”

“You were great down there, Luffa,” she said enthusiastically.  “There were times I could almost believe you were someone else.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she said, “because I honestly have no idea what I’m doing half the time.”

“It’s therapy,” Zatte said.  “Dr. Shunga said we needed to spend some quality time together.  Work on communicating without telepathy.”

“Fine, but he never said anything about all this role-playing nonsense,” Luffa groused.  “What’s the point of acting like we’re other people?”

Zatte went back to inspecting their luggage.  “Because we do it all the time anyway,” she said.  “You’re a celebrity, so you have to wear wigs or cover your tail to keep a low profile, and I don’t want people to find out I’m a Dorlun.  And it’s kind of fun sharing a secret with you.  I guess I just like adding more secrets on top of that, especially for frivolous reasons.”  

“If you say so,” Luffa said.  

“I think you’d get more into the spirit of things if you would play a different species,” Zatte said.  “Like a felinoid  mining executive.”

“What the hell do I know about mining?” Luffa asked.  

“As much as I do, so what’s the difference?” Zatte said.  “We’re just pretending, so you can make stuff up.”

“All right, I’ll give it a shot,” Luffa said, “but I still don’t understand.”

“It’s about being more than yourself, Luffa,” Zatte tried to explain.  “I feel a little weird too, but playing a character helps me loosen up.   This way you get to be seduced by an exotic Avoirdupoian socialite instead of watching a Dorlun you already know fretting over how many clean socks you have left.”

“I like it when you triple-check the luggage,” Luffa said.  

Zatte stared at her.   “No, you think it’s dumb.”

“I never said that,” Luffa insisted.  

“You thought it,” Zatte pressed.  “I’m going to keep doing it anyway, but you don’t have to patronize me.”

“I’m not--!” Luffa stopped herself before her voice grew any louder.   “We’re doing it again,” she said after a deep breath.  “We’re taking something we picked up from each other’s minds and blowing it out of proportion.”

Zatte rolled her good eye.  “You say that every time you get caught in a lie, Luffa.  ‘Oh, we shouldn’t argue.   Remember what Dr. Shunga said.’”

“Bull,” Luffa muttered.  “You were the one who wanted to start seeing him, and he takes your side the whole time.”

“My side?!  Oh that’s rich.  Then why does he always blame me every time we link our minds together, even though it’s your power?”

Luffa set her jaw.   “Probably because you’re always cajoling me into using it,” she said through her teeth.  “I half-suspect you only do this role-play nonsense to confuse me so much that I’ll read your mind to understand it better.  And then you’ll just catch some stray thought about me not liking your butt or something, and I’ll catch hell for that!  I can’t win.”

“All you care about is winning!” Zatte said.   “You only ever-- Wait, what’s wrong with my butt?”

“It’s got a big crack in it,” Luffa snorted.   She took a moment to revel in her brilliant joke, but then she saw Zatte backing towards a mirror above the dresser.  “There’s nothing wrong with your butt, Zattie!” Luffa shouted.  

Only there was something wrong with it.  Whatever the flaw, even if it was too insignificant to describe, it still existed in Luffa’s mind, whether she consciously admitted it or not.  Nothing in life ever quite lined up to one’s imagined ideals.  For most couples, this was a matter of accepting one another as they were, not in spite of their imperfections, but because of them.  

The problem, Luffa knew, was that they had grown over-reliant on using telepathy to share their most intimate feelings.  It was just an easier way to communicate, one that bypassed the cultural barrier between them.  When they joined minds, Luffa’s pride dissolved into mist, and Zatte’s insecurities faded into the background, leaving nothing to get in the way of their mutual affection.  But this also exposed them to less pleasant feelings: petty resentments and half-formed thoughts that didn’t even make sense most of the time.  

True telepaths learned to filter out these intrusive thoughts, or to accept them as irrelevancies in the greater truths of the mind, but Luffa’s mental abilities were something she had stumbled upon mostly by accident.   She had found ways to develop them for combat purposes, but she lacked precision and control.  It was easy to mentally interrogate an enemy, or to communicate with an ally, but she found that she typically took more away than the information she sought.  

Dr. Shunga had asked them to cease their telepathic activities, and while this had helped, it also left them to deal with the resentments that  they had already created during past rapports.   Only now they had to deal with it across the cultural and emotional gulfs they were used to bypassing.   Literally anything could spark an argument.  This time it was Zatte triple-checking the luggage.  Six weeks ago it was Luffa’s ears.   There had been a month where they had stopped speaking to one another over a matter involving dental floss.    

The counseling sessions had helped, but-- as Dr. Shunga often reminded them--it was their marriage, and they would have to be the ones to put in the real work to save it.    By Luffa’s way of thinking, the true sign of improvement was that the arguments were getting shorter and easier to resolve, and the honest communication that followed was growing more productive.  

There were times, however, when Luffa missed Kandai, her husband from her first marriage.  It was another stray thought she hoped Zatte wouldn’t come across, but in spite of Kandai’s treachery, at least he had been a fellow Saiyan.  Marital bickering was considered a healthy part of Saiyan matrimony, since both parties understood that it couldn’t be taken too seriously.   When they were truly fighting, they did it literally, with fists, and the difference in their power levels had made this very rare.   At least then, Luffa had felt like she knew where she stood. 

Zatte was different.  She would joke around one minute and then make a cutting remark that hurt more than Kandai’s strongest blow.   Dorluns didn’t fight their spouses physically; they used words to hurt one another, and Luffa had found Zatte to be especially deadly in this regard.   There were times when Zatte almost seemed disappointed that Luffa couldn’t keep up with her taunts and jibes.  

Still, they were making progress.  They each weathered the storm, and eventually the apologies came like rays of sunshine, and slowly but surely they began to make up.  

“I respect your triple-checking the luggage,” Luffa clarified.   It seemed easier to find the right words when she was holding Zatte in her arms two hours later.    “It may be unnecessary, but you don’t do it because you need to.  It’s a discipline, and discipline is important to me.”

“I wish you would have put it that way before,” Zatte said as she kissed her on the cheek.  

“I... I just never had to put it into words before,” Luffa said.  

“The thing is,” Zatte said, “Keda managed to stow away in my carryall when we went to Extraliga.  She said I didn’t catch her because I only double-checked it that day.”

“Oh...”

Tears were welling up in her good eye.  “I know we agreed not to blame ourselves for what happened, but... I can’t help thinking she might still be alive if I hadn’t gotten sidetracked--”

Luffa held her close and mimicked a shushing sound Zatte often used to console Luffa when she was the one who needed it.     As she did this, she began to speculate, and then she remembered something Dr. Shunga had said in a session.   So instead of guessing what Zatte was thinking, she voiced her guess aloud, to see if it was correct.  

“I think I see now why you wanted us to pretend to be strangers downstairs,” Luffa said.  “Not so I’d get so confused that I’d have to read your mind to understand, but so that we could have a fresh start.  Set aside our problems for a while.”

Zatte smiled.  “You finally got it, you lunkhead.”

Luffa chuckled.   “Well then, how about we try something tomorrow...”

NEXT: Performance Review.

[darkwinterchild]

Tommy Merlyn - Slytherin

Albus Dumbledore: You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue... resourcefulness... determination... a certain disregard for rules.

So from what I’ve seen, Tommy Merlyn is usually sorted in Hufflepuff. I respectfully disagree? I think he’s a Slytherin, just like his best buddy Oliver, and Hufflepuff is actually the house that fits him the least (the puppy eyes are made to fool you!). Tommy is a troublemaker, he is resourceful and determined, he puts a lot of value on family and brotherhood but not on loyalty in general, and he definitely has a lot of potential for greatness. Ergo Slytherin.

Long post under the cut! Consider yourself warned.

I’m just going to go over the major Slytherin traits and values and how they relate to Tommy. Talk about the other houses is at the end.

“A certain disregard for rules”

Tommy: I wish we had just met, and that all this was just beginning and there wasn't so much of me I wish you'd forget.

- 1x07

Both Oliver and Tommy were rebellious playboys: it’s almost their entire backstory. It seems to have been even more the case with Tommy if possible - at least we hear about him getting Ollie in trouble more than the reverse (“Don’t let him get you into too much trouble” from 1x01, or “Tommy had me out a little bit later than maybe I should have been, and I'm wiped” from the 2x20 flashbacks, or how he got Oliver to go with him to Max Fuller’s club in 1x03, or even that story in 5x09 about how Oliver once tried to land a helicopter on the grounds of the US Open because Tommy wanted to impress some girl named Maria Sharapova). An early Arrow promo even describes Oliver hanging with Tommy as “running with the bad crowd”.

If that’s true, it could be because of their different relationships with their parents. Ollie was a bad boy, but he was very close to his mother and hero-worshiped his father. So he did bad things, but that’s because they let him (as Oliver himself said). He probably never intentionally disrespected them or did things that he knew would really upset them. It was different with Tommy. His relationship with his dad was disastrous, and I think this meant he could get even more out of control than Ollie in his own way. Tommy’s parties were apparently legendary (“I never left one of Tommy's parties with my memory intact.”) and prompt to get broken up by the cops. He filled his dad’s pool with beer (roughly a thousand kegs or so), majorly pissed him off, and didn’t care. Heck, even years later as a 24 year-old adult, he stole Malcolm’s private jet to fly to Hong Kong without warning or permission, and when he called him Tommy literally told his father to fuck off (“No, I didn't tell you I was taking the jet because I knew you would freak out like this” and “Look, why don't you just go back to banging your Pilates instructor, ok?”). I do think it’s kind of telling of his mindset.

Point: insubordination toward authority and a love for mischief are Slytherin qualities and Tommy Merlyn certainly qualifies.

Brotherhood

Unlike Gryffs and Claws, Slyths are team players. It’s a group-oriented house, where “you’ll make your real friends.” They stick together and protect one another. Tommy is all about brotherhood and family. We know that he’d sometimes look after Thea in his best friend’s stead after the Gambit sank, that he posed an alert on Oliver’s e-mail account just in case, and went looking for him in Hong Kong when it went off. We know he had a really strong friendship code:

Tommy: No, man, you were with Laurel. And whether you were dead, or as it turns out, alive on a deserted island, you are my friend. And me being with Laurel violated that friendship in about 50 different ways.

-1x03

This code included keeping your friends’ secrets no matter what. As early as the pilot, we saw that he was ready to lie to the police to support his best friend’s story without even being asked beforehand. This is reinforced after 1x16: Tommy chose to keep Oliver’s secret against his own morals. No matter what he thought of him, he didn’t give him up to the police, he didn’t ask Oliver to stop, he didn’t even tell Laurel when it started to put some strain on their relationship. When Detective Lance almost discovered the lair in 1x19, he actively helped him escape the authorities, by lying to an officer of law and his girlfriend’s father, making himself his accomplice. He didn’t have to: he saw the Hood as a murderer, wanted nothing to do with his crusade, and Oliver never even asked for his help. But Tommy protected him anyway. Helping a friend when you think what he is doing is wrong is a very Slytherin thing to do. In general, they’re the ones who’d help you cheat at an exam or bury the bodies, whereas Hufflepuffs’ strong beliefs in justice and fairness would conflict with their sense of loyalty.

Speaking of loyalty, another difference between Slyths and Puffs is that Slyths are loyal to their people, but not necessarily very dependable in general. Just like Tommy used to be:

Tommy: Lying, keeping secrets about who she’s spending time with… Does that remind you of anybody we know? Oliver: Me, in every relationship that I’ve been in. Tommy: Me too. Except this one.

-1x13

Tommy was that guy who’d do anything for the people he loved, but prior to his character development, he wasn’t the most trustworthy person out there.

It’s also interesting to note that despite being a very extroverted person who spent a lot of time outside with other people, he didn’t seem to have any close friends apart from Oliver and Laurel (by season 1 anyway, he seemed a bit lonely on that front). I think he was rather detached from all the people he spent time with - he was their host, their entertainer, even their lover for the ladies. But he couldn’t relate to them like he and Ollie could relate to each other. Here again, this way of living with people - a few very close friends and a giant network of contacts - is very slytherinish.

Ambition and determination

Tommy doesn’t seem very ambitious at first glance, but one has to consider the fact that he’s been drowning in money since birth. For all his life, he could get everything he wanted whenever he wanted (even girls, thanks to his good looks). We know he and Oliver used to talk about going into business together since forever (like opening a ski-lodge), but he never felt the push to go on and make these ideas a reality. He was already Prince of Starling, why bother? In a way, he never needed to be ambitious until his father cut him off.

Oliver: Why didn't you say anything? Tommy: Embarrassment, shame, jealousy. Probably a few other emotions I'm not used to feeling.

-1x08

Tommy never felt threatened before. But after Malcolm froze his funds, it became another story. There was Laurel, whom he was trying to impress, Oliver, his best friend for whom she still had deep and complicated feelings, and then there was him, now forced to work for said best friend. I doubt Tommy left the club and went to work for his father only because Oliver refused to see him for the man he’d become. There was probably a lot of complex reasons behind that choice, and one of them was definitely that he was trying to reclaim his place in the universe as one of the elite, on equal if not superior footing to Oliver Queen (not just in terms of money, but also in terms of power and position - executive at Merlyn Global Group versus manager of a small nightclub in the Glades). He was born with power and prestige, and jumped back into that world without hesitation. But this isn’t even the primary reason I think Tommy was more ambitious than he let on:

Tommy: I'm trying to change. Not sure into what yet but I don't wanna be what I was anymore.

-1x08

This strong desire to be more than what he was, as soon as he realized that it was no longer enough and that there was more, to become someone worthy of Laurel’s love, that makes him pretty ambitious. He started the show a useless playboy and man-child, became a great boyfriend, a successful businessman, and ended the season as a hero.

And I think this is important about Tommy: once he’d find a goal, something for which he was really motivated, then he was driven to the hilt and did whatever he could to succeed. The club, Laurel (winning her heart, becoming a person she’d want to be with, building something with her), even his job at Merlyn Global. It didn’t even have to be something huge that would demand a lot of effort, it could be just another goofy idea, like filling his parents’ pool with beer or playing strip kickball with models on a pro football stadium - Tommy had a tendency to go big with his projects. He was capable of following through an idea to the end even when it became difficult. So he proved he had plenty of determination, the kind Salazar Slytherin would have loved.

Leadership

Tommy was shown to be able to assume leadership positions with ease. Before the start of the show, he seemed to have been a leader in troublemaking around Starling - the guy who knew how to have fun, the guy who hosted the biggest parties, even the guy with the shady contacts (“Before I left, you played hard. You played with bad people who were into bad stuff!” - 1x19). During season 1, we saw him effortlessly falling into his role as nightclub manager - he immediately took charge of the construction process, made sure everyone was doing their job, and showed his willingness and ability to be an authoritative boss (1x10 and 1x11). We saw him do an excellent job at Verdant, and then we saw him comfortably assume a leadership role at Merlyn Global Group for the short period of time he was working there. Tommy was a natural leader, like his father.

Cunning and resourcefulness

We haven’t seen much in terms of cunning and ruthlessness from Tommy in the show per-se - which is why I think he wasn’t as perfect a Slytherin as other characters like Moira or Malcolm - but it was suggested that he was capable of that to some degree. Pre- character development, Tommy was a playboy, a charmer who cheated and kept secrets in every relationship he’d been in. He wasn’t shown as manipulative or anything, but as we’ve seen with Laurel, he knew how to win people over. He was also no stranger to deceit and evasion, and used them to achieve his ends whenever he felt it was necessary. E.g. when he had to keep Detective Lance from discovering the Arrow cave in 1x19. This episode also showcased how resourceful he could be: in very little time, he was able to clean up and hide all the evidence of the Hood’s activities in the basement without anybody realizing it. We also learned he had no problem using illegal solutions to his problems, like bribing a city inspector.

Concerning the other houses

Hufflepuff is in my opinion the house that suits him the least. Honesty and loyalty we’ve seen weren’t really Tommy’s forte. And he hated the idea of hard work. He was called lazy by several characters including himself. Before Malcolm decided to “jolt his son into adulthood” in some late parental awakening, it seems Tommy planned on keeping up his life of debauchery forever, living off daddy’s money (bless inheritance). People expected Oliver to eventually get his act together and take his place in his father’s company, but everyone seemed to think Tommy would always be Tommy. In general, he also didn’t really seem to care all that much about ideals of justice and fairness. As the son of the most powerful billionaire in Starling City, he was extremely privileged, knew it, and loved it (“Isn't that place ridiculously expensive?” “Everywhere worth going is.” -1x08). He was raised in an upper-class environment with rich people values and the understanding that the rules do not apply to him the way they do other people. The fact that Malcolm regularly had to bail him out is one of the three things that came to mind when he described his distant relationship with his father. Tommy actually literally used to laugh in the face of justice. He loved whenever he and/or Oliver would break the law and get away with it (“I just picked up a new sports car. I'm thinking, we can open her up, pick up a few speeding tickets…” -1x06). So yeah, I don’t think Hufflepuff fits.

Gryffindor is not a bad house for him, but not a good one either. Bravery, boldness, recklessness… Tommy didn’t seem to have ever been particularly action-oriented (Oliver was the one doing the crazy taxi or helicopter stealing stuff). He was certainly capable of immense bravery (the way he stood up to the Hood in 1x16, the way he protected Taylor in 1x20, or his final sacrifice in 1x23), but he wasn’t particularly into grand showings of strength, daring or heroism à la Gryffindor. Among the main characters, he was one of the less enthusiastic (utterly unimpressed) about the Hood’s exploits (he saw him as a crazy murderer - see 1x13, 1x17 or 1x19). In fact it’s interesting to compare his opinion to Laurel’s, a true Gryffindor.

Ravenclaw I think would actually be a good sorting for him. Tommy was clever (the way he was quickly able to learn the ropes of club management). The show seemed to hint at a rather developed pop-culture geeky side (just small stuff like his talking about Lost, he read movie reviews, his wanting to name his dog “Arthur” as a kid because he was a “Merlyn”, etc.). He was charming, talkative and witty, even just a little bit eccentric in the way he could tell shameless jokes and be totally inappropriate. He was also very creative - in deeds (I mean, the beer-pool and strip-kickball game with models were certainly original ideas) and in speech (he doesn’t just say “I love you”, he says “I have finally figured out why poets have been in business for the last few thousand years”). So, if he wasn’t a Slytherin, I could see him making a pretty good Ravenclaw.

[neogandw]

NOW IF YOU ALLOW ME TO SHILL FOR A MINUTE HERE.

Presenting one of my favorite steam games, now entirely free to play, AWESOMENAUTS.

Ever felt like playing a MOBA-like game, but felt intimidated by steep learning curves, memorizing meta builds, going for optimal strategies and just plain affraid of being shouted at by your team mates because you didn't go for that specific thing at that specific time and now the entire base is on fire because of your blunder?

Yeah, me too, DOTA and LoL are great, but sometimes one does not feel like dealing with that ammount of preassure, for people like me who prefer their games simple, fast paced and chaotic, boy do i got the game for you.

GAMEPLAY

Awesomenauts prides itself on being a simplistic MOBA style game, in fact, its not even traditional in that sense, as it prefers another approach: if you are fan of megaman-like games you'll find this one great, because the gameplay is very much jump and shoot style 2D platformer gameplay!

As it is a team based 3v3 game, you can join up with random people online or friends to duke it out in splitscreen, online or even against bots, you are not limited on how you want to play your game, even giving you power to edit the configurations of the private matches if you so desire: want to give everyone all the upgrades at once? would you prefer for an infinity of creeps to fill the battlefield? how about a random character per death? the choice is yours to take.

It is also very simple to learn, you don't need to learn the meta mindset of advanced players to play the game, as the shop system only requires you to pick your 3 favorite upgrades -tailored to each specific character- for each of your abilities, and these abilities take effect not by numbers, but by altering the functionality of their abilities to your favor: want bouncing dynamite sticks? slowdown on top of healing? a faster shooty gun or a stronger shooty gun? Big double buzzaws that cause a slowdown on the enemy? You got them.

STORY

The game is also filled to brim with lore, though unlike most games out there, the lore of the awesomenauts is mostly a comedic epic, the game is self-stylized like a 90's cartoon where everything was build to be incredibly awesome.

In awesomenauts, you control the titular squad, a ragtag bunch of misfit aliens from across the galaxy, each one with a reason to fight:

“Riding his combat walker onto the battlefield, comes Derpl Zork. The nephew of Blabl Zork, president of Zork industries. Derpl Zork lacks his uncle's business-smarts. In fact he lacks any kind of smarts, managing to get his IQ rated under the level of plankton in the official galaxial IQ test.

Nevertheless Derpl is the heir apparent to Blabl's galaxy-spanning business empire. This is something that doesn't sit well with Blabl, not well at all. Dreading the day Derpl would inherit the company and run all the hardfought accomplishments into the ground, Blabl put Derpl in charge of fieldtesting the new Specialized Universal Secretary Interface (S.U.S.I. for short) in one of Zork Industries' combat walkers. Asking Derpl what form of devastation should be issued forth from his vehicle of destruction he simply drooled and said: "I wuv cats!"

Now Blabl is anxiously awaiting the day that Derpl would suffer a fatal blow on the fields of battle but as of yet Derpl's combat walker has proven to keep making up for its dimwitted driver. “

”Once part of the soviet space program, Yuri was a monkey, experimentally shot into space during the 1960's cold war spacerace. Mysteriously, monitoring soviet scientists suddenly lost track of monkey Yuri's spacecraft.

Puzzled by its sudden disappearence, Soviet space-command wondered what had become of their beloved test-pet Yuri. Little did they know that Yuri's spacecraft had entered a warpfield anomaly and was transported hundreds of years into the future!

Also, the warpfield's radiation boosted Yuri's mind to superintelligent levels. The new, more intelligent, mad and slightly sadistic Yuri quickly grasped the situation and modified his broken rocket into an equally mad timetravelling supercomputer jetpack.

With the jetpack translating everything Yuri says and does, enemies are never quite sure who is in control, the mad scientist monkey, or the computer it created? “

“Ted McPain was one of the great heroes of the first AI Wars, a long time ago. He has led his squad of elite super soldiers, the Killer Koala’s, against many opponents and has been decorated as an outstanding soldier a hundred times over. His ultimate achievement, during the climax of the First AI Wars, was a solo operation onto the AI’s battle station Starstorm. This mission ended in Ted McPain single handedly unhinging all of the station’s crucial power couplings, effectively making sure the station wouldn’t be completed before the end of the war. Ted McPain eventually died when he sacrificed himself to save the Sunny-Daisy Alien Orphanage from a band of bloodthirsty dinosaur zombies in 3021. Ted’s heroic deeds would never be forgotten.

He lived on as he became the star of various video games: Ted McPain I through XVII, Ted McPain: Zombie Blast, Ted McPain vs. evil Ted McPain and Ted McPain Unicorn Dance Karting.

When Voltar The Omniscient learned of the violent dimwitted video game star, he brewed up a plan that would backfire horribly. He created the Materializotron XT8000 with which he wanted to bring back the war hero of old to be his personal assistant. Extracting Ted McPain’s digital essence from his video games, Voltar managed to materialize a life-size flesh and blood version. The Ted McPain that appeared though was missing his pants for unknown reasons. Voltar waved the issue aside saying “Stop asking stupid questions! He looks fine to me.”

“Yoolip has been a scientist for the greater part of his life on the transistor planet Calias. Creating wondrous inventions and contraptions like the dog aura reader, the nightmare-to-VHS recorder, the random number phone, the cereal-to-milk ratio calculator and an actual time machine. One day after combining the time machine into some comfy slippers, he teleported to the Mesozoic era and found himself surrounded by some scientist hungry velociraptors.

Barely escaping the predators he lost one of his slippers. Being stuck in time he spent years to craft a new slipper to travel forward in time to return to his beloved granddaughter, Ayla. He joined the Awesomenauts team to finally spend some quality time with her and eat some over-engineered pancakes. “

This is a game that does not even attempt to take itself seriously, as the characters will crack a joke or a reference in the middle of battle to your ears' delight.

MUSIC

speaking of ears, how about checking out the sweet tunes of the awesomenauts?

Extended Theme Song

8-bit Yoolip

Electronic Supersonic Cybertronic Rocco

Ted McPain's Theme

I'll make you a star

Nibb's Killing Spree

Sentry's Killing Spree Theme

Deadlift's Killing Spree

Eye of Aguillon

Chucho Krokk’s Killing Spree

Lonestar’s Killing Spree

Raelynn's Killing Spree

FREE TO PLAY? MORE LIKE FREE TO PAY AM I RIGHT

Actually no, awesomenauts's Free to Play system is actually very simple, similar to other MOBAS of its kind it uses the standard 3 hero rotation, but a a bonus, you can try all of the characters in full whenever you want against bots, see who you like from the get-go and decide who you want to buy next.

Adding on to that, the game gives you the in-game currency by doing what you do best: play the game, and it doesn't even have to be vs online opponents, you can just pop it in with 3 of your friends (or even alone if you're lonely) and fight against an enemy team of bots, win experience for your characters to unlock their upgrades and songs, and parts to obtain cosmetic upgrades.

The only real aspect that requires money is merely cosmetic: costumes for each character that are simply visual, add voice lines or change their theme songs.

The things that matter can be obtained through gameplay alone, but one can opt to buy the all nauts pack on steam, this merely unlocks all the nauts to be played at any time though, not their upgrades, which require XP.

But if you get the game on steam and use one of the following codes (don't worry, they can be used up to 50 times each)

WVHE-9CLM-9KPH 9MQT-3JS7-NMCR CHCP-3HHX-X5Q5

You'll get a character entirely for free: the elite sniper raelynn.

These codes can be obtained if you play the game long enough, if you use your own code to invite people, their achievements give you loot too, free loot for everyone!

So feel free to jump into the action, there is nothing to lose and tons of fun (and salt or memes) to be had, bring your friends, bring your friend's friends, bring your grandma even.

It's time to get awesome!

[thenickdefalco]

My Very Late  Halo 5 Review

I have been debating posting this for a very long time. I wrote it in November of 2015 for a friend who was going to publish it on his new gaming website, so now here we are over a year later, and it was never posted. so here it is, I hope to star posting reviews for other things like movies and games, so hopefully this will not be the last and only review...

Hunt the Truth that is what Microsoft and 343 industries have been asking us to do for the better part of six months. However as I put the last bullet into the last Forerunner enemy I sit and wonder, what Truth was I Hunting. While I completely understand that mass market advertising can be misleading, but in no way was I expecting what would play out in HALO 5. The plot of HALO 5 is a bit underwhelming, to say the least. Part of that has to do with the set up you were expecting after some of the more reveling advertisements that ended up on TV and across your social media. These ads would have led you to believe that the Master Chief and Spartan Locke are engaged in a great philosophical battle, between the Chief and his former command and Humanity in General. Yet this is most definitely not the case, instead you spend most of the time as Spartan Locke, about 80% of the campaign, and Master Chief the other 20%. The big showdown you expect never really happens; it all plays out over a few cut scenes, and some in game chatter. As the game progresses, it sometimes makes you wonder, am I missing something, did I skip a cut scene? But alas you are probably not the only person, a lot of the backstory seems to be missing, or even major plot points. HALO 5 expects you to have played and completed the first four HALO games, and to be heavily invested into the lore. While I understood most of what was going on, as I have fallen deep into the rabbit hole that is HALO cannon, I was still left questioning many things. There is also the question of character motivation and growth. It seems to be lacking both, as great as HALO 4 was; HALO 5 is seriously lagging behind. The world HALO 4 expanded on is almost completely missing; Captain Lasky is relegated to a tertiary background character, Dr. Halsey is magically a good guy again, Captain Palmer is just an afterthought, Roland the AI gets a longer exposure time, and even the Arbiter is in almost blink and you’ll miss him cameo, ok no not really, but you get the point. That’s not to say I didn’t like the campaign, I liked it very much. The Squad aspect is something new and injected a new spark into the already awesome HALO formula. The set pieces are some of the most beautiful landscape’s I have ever seen in a video game. The Enemies have never looked better, and the weapons are majestic. This is truly one of the best next gen games graphic wise that I have seen. The story is also not as convoluted as I may have made it seem either. There is a clear beginning middle and end; just how you get there is muddled. The squad based combat however is where the campaign truly shines, the interaction between the characters is great, and allows you to understand who your team is without having to read anything or visit a wiki page. This also allows you to last a little longer in the harder difficulties, as you can revive your time and they can revive you. It also allows more for a more vertical playing field, like no other HALO campaign has had before. It creates a new element that allows you to find new angles to defeat your enemies, as well as find hidden Skulls, a HALO Staple, and Intel. The new Spartan abilities also add to the fun, with the clamber ability and of course the new fan favorite SPARTAN Ground Pound, being able to take out horde of enemies in a single go, without a grenade is always fun. While no HALO has ever really had boss battles, the few fights with the Warden Eternal, a new Forerunner enemy, is a welcome break from the normal action. His fights require skill and tactics to beat him, and patience when fighting him on higher difficulties, especially on Legendary where you might have to muster some willpower to outlast him. I did welcome the return of the Arbiter, as it was nice to see that his fight was still going, however if you were one of the people that found and watched all the Terminals in HALO 2 anniversary, and beat HALO 2 anniversary on Legendary, then again you will find yourself wondering, what 343i was trying to achieve, as those cut scenes do not necessarily add up to what is going on in HALO 5. Spoiler Warning! The biggest change of pace that comes with HALO 5 is the return of Cortana. If you finished HALO 4 then you know Cortana was presumed dead, and lost forever. However in scenes similar to the first half of HALO 3 Cortana reaches out to the Chief seeking his help, and through what seems as random cuts of cut scenes in the Locke portions of the game, we find out the Cortana may not be the same. As it turns out, she has “cured” her rampancy, what happens when AI begin to lose competency, and has taken on the Mantle of Responsibility from the Forerunners. And as such that is why you are fighting the Warden Eternal, as he is tasked with protecting her. Thus Cortana is now the main antagonist of the game, and if you beat the game on Legendary you will see that HALO 5 is only a set up for future HALO games, such as the ending of HALO 2. Spoilers End. After playing the campaign I wondered about the whole Hunt the Truth, was this plan all along, did Microsoft and 343i just want to make you think? Obviously they knew what would happen, and possibly did not expect the backlash. Maybe, just maybe the whole point was to throw you off the main trail, and if you listened to the accompanying Hunt the Truth on Soundcloud it would make a while more sense that the whole point of the ad campaign was to throw you off. Now let’s get down to what really makes HALO the behemoth that it is, online multiplayer. HALO 5 has one of the best multiplayer experiences since HALO 2 redefined first person shooter multiplayer way back in 2004. After last year’s debacle with the Master Chief Collection 343i needed to make waves and deliver a solid multiplayer experience and they did more than that, they brought the house down. The maps are solid, as ever, and the Spartan abilities, like clamber, the ability to climb up on any ledge, makes for a more well-rounded experience. It has been a long while since I wanted to sink my teeth into a HALO, and this is the one I have been waiting for.  HALO 5Multiplayer has two modes, WARZONE and ARENA. ARENA has 6 ranked modes; one unraked, and has an additional ranked playlist that changes almost every weekend. The Ranked modes include Team Arena, SWAT, Slayer, Breakout, Free-for-All and Holiday Doubles, or Big-Team-Battle, depending on the season. You earn your rank after 10 matches of a single playlist and will be ranked bronze, silver, gold, platinum or diamond. If you are ranked ONYX or Champion Division that means you are individually ranked between 3000 and 1 overall, 300-201 for ONYX and 200-1 for Champion Division. Forge is also back in HALO 5 and is the best yet, every year Forge gets more fine-tuned and adds more depth and customization, making it easier and easier fr you to become a HALO level designer. Yet HALO 5s biggest best mode is the new WARZONE. It is a massive 12 on 12, along with enemy AI. It all plays out on four of the biggest maps ever made for a HALO game, and is arguably one of the best and most fun additions to the HALO universe.  The biggest change that comes to HALO Multiplayer and is a major component of WARZONE is the REQ system. According to the Halo Wiki, the REQ system is “The requisition system is a feature in Halo 5: Guardians Arena and Warzone multiplayer that grant players cosmetic and in-game bonuses. Requisitions (REQs) are unlocked by obtaining Requisition Packs, which can be earned through gameplay or purchased via the Xbox Store.” You earn Requisition points in every multiplayer match that you can use to buy one of three REQ packs, bronze, silver or gold. You also earn REQ packs by leveling up; finding them in various promotional items such as one of the HALO themed Xbox one controllers, different MEGA BLOCKS HALO sets, or you can earn them simply by leveling up and earning different commendations in HALO 5 multiplayer. There are two types of REQ cards that a player can earn as well, one time use, and unlimited use. Unlimited use REQ cards are mostly cosmetic and can be used in WARZONE and Arena. This includes Spartan Armor, Helmets, visor color, assassinations and weapon skins. While the one time use cards can only be used in WARZONE and still have to be unlocked via REQ level in WARZONE. So no play to win here, as everyone has is on “equal” footing at the start of every WARZONE match. WARZONE itself has two different modes to play, WARZONE and WARZONE Assault. WARZONE is one the most fun I have had in a long time. WARZONE pits two teams of 12 against each other, and the first team to 1000 points overall wins. Each game starts with your team trying to take back your base from AI invaders, being either Forerunner or Covenant. After you take back your base you are now free to roam the map, where three more bases are available to capture. Once your team captures two basses you are able to start manually racking up points. On top of capturing basses and killing enemy teams, various AI bosses will appear on the map, and the team that kills the boss gets a huge point boost, so if your team is lagging in the base capturing department set your sights on a regular of Legendary boss and just watch as the point gap virtually disappears. On average WARZONE games last about 20 minutes, unless your team is so good you can lock up the three bases and boss kills and finish the game in 10 or less.

[ciathyzareposts]

Challenge of the Five Realms: Summary and Rating

Notice how the box has little scenes from each of the five realms.

             Challenge of the Five Realms: Spellbound in the World of Nhagardia

United States MicroProse (developer and publisher, under its Microplay label)

Released 1992 for DOS

Date Started: 2 November 2019

Date Ended: 31 December 2019

Total Hours: 35

Difficulty: Easy-Moderate (2.5/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

Summary:

Challenge of the Five Realms is a plot-heavy axonometric title set on the flat world of Nhagardia. A prince must race against a creeping darkness to retrieve the five crowns of Nhagardia’s five kingdoms (human, gnome, elf, fish-man, and effete flying man), whose leaders have been killed by the mysterious, demonic Grimnoth. The game is as full-featured as anything in 1992, with animated cut scenes and voiced digital dialogue at the beginning and end. There are hundreds of NPCs, dozens of side quests, and a book’s worth of dialogue. Many of the NPCs may join the party, which maxes at 10. The tactical combat system works relatively well. But the game lacks in other key role-playing areas, particularly character development. *****

Challenge of the Five Realms is easily the best game from the team that previously created the Paragon Software adaptations of Games Designers’ Workshop (GDW) titles, including the two MegaTraveller games, Space 1889, and Twilight: 2000. This suggests that either the GDW games were fertile practice ground or the development team did better without GDW fetters, or perhaps both.

However, Challenge is far from a perfect title, and at least one of its weaknesses was seen likewise in the GDW adaptations: almost no character development. Characters enter the party as full adults with long careers behind them. You may choose, keep, or reject them because of their attributes and skills, but you don’t expect those attributes and skills to get better during the game–at least not in any consistent, understandable way. Some skills increase not at all, a few increase by 3 or 4 points, and a couple increase by 50 points. That’s a Paragon game if I ever heard one.

It’s too bad because the game is quite strong on other RPG mechanics, including combat and side quests, but Challenge really drives home how an RPG player like me only cares about those things in the context of character development. Take away the reward, and I don’t really care if the old woman gets her wedding ring back or not. The economy and inventory systems are likewise a bit of a mess, meaning that not even they compensate for a lack of intrinsic character development.

There are a few other flaws that don’t entirely cripple the game but come close. The time limit is employed badly. The limit itself is fairly generous, and it’s hard to imagine a moderately conscientious player running afoul of it. The problem is that the “creeping darkness” slowly eats the map from the bottom up, so that your time constraints are a lot more urgent for the locations in the south The various towns and castles in Nhagardia are all interesting in appearance and character, and it’s a shame to have to rush through them. It’s equally a shame to reduce replayability by forcing the player to prioritize the southern locations; without the “creeping darkness,” the game would be satisfyingly non-linear.            

What happens if you miss the time limit.

            I have a feeling that this is going to GIMLET in the extremes, with several high scores and several low scores.

1. Game World. The setting, backstory, and plot are all strong. I like the way that each kingdom has its own character, and the people have their own values. In the human kingdom, each town and castle has its own story to impart. I love the slow reveal of the depth of Clesodor’s evil. The twists at the end didn’t do as much for me, but at least they brought the whole thing to a proper conclusion. Someone really wrote this one. Score: 7.                 

Grimnoth lays out the charges against my father. All of this was unknown at the beginning of the game.

             2. Character Creation and Development. If the old Paragon develops should have kept anything from their GDW experience, it was the Traveller-style character creation process that puts the character through a wringer of training and experience before shoving him out the door and into your party. Instead, the authors opted for an Ultima IV-style process of answering role-playing questions to determine the main character’s starting skills and attributes. Other characters come as they are.

Unfortunately, where the creators’ GDW experience comes through the most is in the lack of character development. No explanation is given for why some skills (“Learn Spells,” “Bargaining”) increase steadily with use while others (including all the combat skills) don’t increase at all. It is a depressing oversight that nearly strips the game of its RPG credentials entirely. Score: 2.             

Chesotor ended the game hardly better than where he started.

          3. NPCs. Challenge undoubtedly offers more NPC speech than any previous game. It isn’t quite “dialogue,” though. Except for a small number of yes/no responses, the game speaks for the characters, and thus the NPCs’ speeches are more like information dumps than anything approaching “role-playing.” Beyond that, the attention to NPC characterization is excellent, as is the general quality of the text.

Even more fun is the sheer number of NPCs who will join your quest. You have a generous party size (10) and at least three times that number of potential members, including the novel idea of “grouped” party members. For the first time that I remember in RPG history, your NPC companion have bits of banter as you enter areas, talk to other NPCs, and solve quests. My only complaint is that dismissed companions utterly disappear from the game instead of going back to where you acquired them (or to a central location). Score: 6.          

The NPCs in this game were interesting, but man did they have a lot to say.

         4. Encounters and Foes. Weak again. Almost all of the combat foes are people, with very little to distinguish them or to change player tactics. There are no puzzles beyond simple inventory puzzles. However, the game does excel in what I call “contextual encounters.” Nhagardia is not a land swarming with monsters that you must mindlessly kill; every combat is set in a context, usually with some preceding dialogue, so you always know who you’re fighting and why. Score: 3.

5. Magic and Combat. Ironically, the old Paragon team finally fielded a decent combat system in a game that only has about a dozen battles. It’s hard to characterize the exact nature of the system. It looks somewhat like “real-time with pause” except that it only appears “real-time” and there are actually turns at fixed intervals behind the scenes. Either way, whether the player micromanages the combat by issuing new orders every round or just relies on “quick combat,” the mechanics and tactics are generally satisfying.

Spells are another matter. The spell system is primarily used for puzzle-solving (woe is the character who lacks “Truth,” in particular) and travel. Combat spells are a bit under-developed. There are no area-effect spells and only a couple of buffing spells. Magic depletes so quickly that you can only cast a few spells in any given combat anyway, which makes it jarring to have so many endgame enemies that don’t respond to physical weapons. Again, the developers’ lack of experience (none of the GDW properties were fantasy RPGs) shows here. Score: 4.            

Fighting some peregrines.

         6. Equipment. Another weak area. The game has slots for a lot of different equipment types, but I only ever found a few rings, one item of headwear, and a couple of pairs of boots. There are maybe three magic items to find during your adventures, but beyond that the roster of weapons and armor is no different than the starting store in a typical D&D-derived game. Score: 2.

7. Economy. The economy is so favorable to the player that I think it might be bugged. From the moment the game began, I spent blithely whenever anyone asked for money, and I never seemed to lack any. Of course, there isn’t a lot to spend money on. All shops of the same type sell the same things, and you can get most of your equipment in the starting castle. Score: 2.

8. Quests. If you can say one thing for the Paragon team, they’re one of the only groups of developers in this period that truly understands “side quests.” Every map area has a bunch of Joe Commoners with their own problems that they’re hoping that the characters will solve. These side quests are rewarded with gold, spell reagents, equipment, and the availability of new NPCs. Some of the quests even have multiple options for ending them, usually favoring one town faction over another.

Meanwhile, the main quest and its various stages are equally compelling. An open question is whether it would be possible to complete the game by murdering each king for his crown. Score: 6.

9. Graphics, Sound, and Interface. The graphics are very good for the era, and I particularly like the title cards that precede each map. Sound effects, on the other hand, are a bit too sparse. There are no background sounds, and only the occasional effect during combat.

The interface is horrid. Keyboard backups for the most common commands don’t help much when you have to move exclusively with the mouse. The process of hailing and talking to NPCs is needlessly complex and inconsistent. After 35 hours, I still can’t give a good account of it. Sometimes, you have to both “Hail” and “Speak” and other times you just seem to have to walk near an NPC to get him to start talking. Sometimes, the speech cursor remains active and you can keep clicking on other NPCs, and sometimes you have to start over. Sometimes dialogue exits on its own and sometimes there seems to be no way to exit. Once or twice, I literally had to reload the game.           

The multiple inventory screens added needless complexity to what should have been a simple process.

          The inventory interface is also needlessly cumbersome. The idea of a single chest shared by all characters is great. Beyond that, each character simply needed an individual “wearable” inventory. Instead, each character has his own pouch, backpack, and non-specific “inventory” space in addition to the wearable inventory and collective chest. Also, the process of removing and replacing things in the chest could have been quicker. The interface issues were so consistently annoying that they weaken the entire category score despite the good graphics. Score: 2.

10. Gameplay. As previously discussed, the game would be wonderfully non-linear if the team hadn’t forced the player to prioritize the southern locations. Even with that weakness, there’s still a lot of non-linearity to the game, which enhances its replayability. The length and challenge are about right. We thus finish on a strong category with only minor complaints. Score: 7.

The final score thus adds up to 41, well above the “recommended” threshold. I thought it would out-perform all of the Paragon games, but it turns out I gave the same score to MegaTraveller 2, which had many of the same strengths and weaknesses.

I don’t know what was happening at Computer Gaming World in the fall of 1993, but the lukewarm review (by Gordon Goble, who I’ve never seen before) is the worst one that I’ve seen in the magazine since its first few issues. It’s like it didn’t even pass the eyes of an editor. (Among other things, Goble makes reference to “Darth Vadar.”) It’s full of pretentiousness, non-sequiturs, dumb jokes, senseless allusions, and tired cliches. He spends several paragraphs complaining that he attacked some random NPC, and that NPC turned out to be harder to defeat than would make sense. His concluding paragraph references “inadequate beta testing” and “a certain awkwardness to gameplay” that aren’t justified by any of his previous text. Gods know what editor was asleep at the wheel for this one, but I certainly hope this is the last we’ll see of this writer.

There must have been something in the water that month, because Dragon magazine’s three-star pan is equally baffling in different ways. The author’s enjoyment is far too influenced by what he or she sees as plot holes (“Why the evil fellow simply can’t take the crown after he kills the king makes no sense”), as if any fantasy RPG of the period holds up to the most cursory plot scrutiny.

As we previously covered, Challenge was the first RPG from the old Paragon Software team after the company was acquired my MicroProse. The team included Marc Miller, F. J. Lennon, Paul M. Conklin, and Quinno Martin. For some members, this was their last RPG. Others contributed to MicroProse’s BloodNet (1993), which uses a similar interface, before leaving MicroProse for Take-Two Interactive. BloodNet will be our last MicroProse title and the last of the Paragon legacy. Hopefully, by then I’ll have been able to get in touch with one of the team’s principal developers and get some insight as to why this series, though innovative, always slightly missed the mark.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/challenge-of-the-five-realms-summary-and-rating/

[nazih-fares]

Whether it is the movies, books or games, the task to reboot an established franchise is never an easy thing for any developer or publisher. With some much expectations from the series’ fans, on top of making sure they are not forgotten while trying something new, the new God of War was definitely a gamble. To achieve this reboot of a flagship PlayStation brand, it took over five years of hard work and dedication from the iconic producer Cory Barlog and the team over at Santa Monica, carefully dissecting the franchise and putting everything back into something new, from the gameplay mechanics to the general artistic direction of the game.

However, everything in this “reboot” of  God of War is actually a balance between retaining the essence of the franchise will creating something new. Beyond the obvious technical and the artistic aspect that comes from a switch to next generation, the game still pays a tribute to its legacy in all sorts of ways. While it would have been easier to start from a clean sweep to reboot this franchise, there’s a certain genius behind Santa Monica’s studio to switch to another lost mythology and yet keep Kratos at the center of it. You see, I personally wasn’t a big fan of the original God of War series, even if I admire the lore of ancient Greek myths, but it’s this episode that changed my mind, as we now venture into the Norse realm, with Odin on its throne, paired with other deities and creatures.

Despite his divinity – Kratos is, after all, a demigod and one of Zeus’ many sons – it made sense for the developers to do something similar to other iconic franchise reboots, and be interested in the human side of the character. Like it was the case with the reboot of Tomb Raider, Hitman and many others, the game is focused on Kratos’ inner struggle, as well as the desire to tell a deeper and equally intense story through his quest for redemption as a father, in a journey of initiation with his son Atreus, following the death of his wife. While this sounds a bit like a recipe a la “The Last of Us“, the similarities end here, as the script is done so well that it flows naturally even interspersed with very numerous clashes against ogres, trolls and other legendary Norse creatures.The narrative is intelligent in its structure, swinging back and forth between emotional, brutality and humor, with excellent conversation playing mostly on the Atreus’young innocent and playful reactions, contrasting those more contained a battle and life hardened Kratos.

And so in the rough 20-25 hours of gameplay to reach the end, the story of God of War contrasts with that of the other opus, because it’s all about Kratos finally teaching his son Atreus to not fall in the same mistakes he sadly did. For the rest of you, if you hope to discover a story of vengeance and treachery between gods, like the previous games, then you’re probably be disappointed. While these are present, however, they are not the central element of the story despite the journey of our heroes punctuated by clashes against some of these Norse gods. If you’re coming with the expectation of the previous games, then the sooner you realize God of War is indeed an entire story, the better. This 2018 game is dedicated to the Spartan and his son, his new life and being more human than ever, despite his divinity, and that is not an easy thing to do. Constantly struggling with this rage and anger slumbering in him, Kratos is looking for redemption by teaching Atreus to become a better man than he ever was, hiding his past for a better future. Everything makes sense and you’ll notice how the boy’s reactions remain credible, both in his burst of childish joy or uncontrolled anger, on top of his natural tendency to stand up to his father.

Between Kratos and Atreus, there’s also enough room in the game for some secondary characters, notably the first you’ll meet such as Brok and later on his brother Sindri, both dwarves with quite opposite personalities. The award for best-supporting actor though will probably go to Mimir. An important figure in Norse mythology, this god of knowledge and wisdom will be saved from Odin’s torture by our pair of heroes, forming an interesting trio with perfect chemistry. In addition to becoming the brain of the group, both literally and figuratively, Mimir will constantly give interesting tidbits about the game’s world, and several Nordic legends, helping Atreus – and the player – perfect his knowledge. This whole coherence of the universe is one hell of a blast for a history nerd like myself, as everything in God of War makes sense, or is interconnected for a purpose, including making the game even more fun.

Without presenting fooling anyone of being an open world – in comparison Horizon Zero Dawn, the last Action Adventure game from the publisher – God of War offers a huge map which you’ll truly enjoy. The set is built in a way that urges you to discover every nooks and cranny, revisit areas, and from time to time appreciate the beauty of its digital brush, as you enter a majestic cave or dock on a river bank still acting as a witness to a forgotten war. Although the system of traveling portals could’ve been better thought of, there’s never a feeling of too much backtracking, with even minimal touches of Metroidvania as you’ll end up opening new areas in the map, once you gain new powers and skills.

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Inspired obviously by Norse mythology, the Santa Monica team created one hell of a visual canvas, filled with sumptuous landscapes and confined sets embellished by a neat work on lighting effects. Whether you are in Midgard, Helheim or Muspellheim, the setting will take your breath away, as you cross an icy expanse in front of a giant that has been lying down for centuries. You thus find all the strengths of the saga’s visual strength, now help with a much more contemplative camera angle – behind the shoulder – to travel at your own pace and enjoy the panorama. But I’m a bit annoyed by the lack of variety in terms of the bestiary, which is smaller than those of other games, with barely any major changes or visible upgrades on most creatures, whether it is the trolls or just mere wolves. Thankfully, this lack of variety is completely forgotten when you see how devastating and visually complex Kratos’ attack are on those creatures. Adding the special effects and motion blur, with some subtle use of slow motion, the fights are staged so well that every monster or enemy will in a way feel different.

Remember when I spoke about the new camera angle? If you played the previous God of War games, then you probably are trying to figure out how that old gameplay system works with a behind-the-shoulder angle, correct? Well, the developers have only improved what was already well made, with the new a closer camera angle literally plunging the player into the action. While it’s might seem surprising that it works, playing God of War that way feels almost natural, thanks to Atreus or Mimir’s warning of incoming dangers (a bit like Senua’s inner voices). You’ll then have to fight in a traditional hack and slash – similar to the old games – but with extra mechanics like a switch to hand to hand and shield combo, a parry, and secondary skills. All of this will be confusing for the old veteran of the series, but enjoyable, especially after a few hours of play when we start to unlock more of the skill trees.

You will also need to learn the new weapon and gear system, which are linked to both Kratos and Atreus’ skill tree opening more branches and nodes. To start with, most of your weapons and gear will need to require a key amount of materials and money acquired from chests, completing quests or eliminating enemies. It is regrettable that some materials are sometimes difficult to find because of a lack of guidance, especially when it comes to crafting some legendary loot pieces and unlock more awesome abilities and combos for Kratos, or passive and supportive attacks for Atreus. On that front, I’m actually glad that it wasn’t another “The Last of Us”, as Kratos’ son is not imposed on your, and its usefulness in combat is quite well, especially when he gets the opportunity to bring you back to life with a resurrection stone.

Finally, we got the Rage mode, which builds up with effective combat skills like proper parry or dodge, as well as successfully chaining combos between Kratos and his son. While that mode is recurring from previous games, it was also tweaked for this new game, switching the Spartan into a berserker, with boosted punching attacks. The latter can become quite devastating when unlocking more nodes in its dedicated skill trees, such as a blasting area of attack ground stomp, or even the ability to pick up a large boulder and throw it at enemies. So yes, you get the gist of it, the gameplay has evolved and will be difficult to get used to for hardcore fans, however, it does not deny its true essence: the savage ferocity in each of Kratos hits.

Before we end this, there are two things that might be important for some of you to know. While I tested the game on two different consoles, both the vanilla and original PlayStation 4 (not even second generation slimmer model) and the Pro version, I totally suggest the latter. If you don’t have a PlayStation 4 Pro by now – even without a 4K TV – this game is a totally viable reason to upgrade your console, because you can feel the normal suffering with its intense fan sound. While there might not be damage visually on the screen in terms of performance, the game is visually better looking on the PlayStation 4 Pro. In both cases, the game runs at a locked 30fps, but it’s the HDR that really turns this game into one colorful digital canvas, full of crisp details and rich textures. Sadly, while there’s one thing that I truly like in the original series, it was the soundtrack, but this episode feels a bit hushed or not as epic as the original game music. Don’t get me wrong, It’s not bad, but it’s maybe not as powerful as the first titles.

God of War was reviewed using a PlayStation 4 digital download code of the game provided by PlayStation Middle East. We don’t discuss review scores with publishers or developers prior to the review being published (click here for more information about our review policy).

With this new God of War, Santa Monica Studios managed to perfectly refresh the franchise without losing its essence, making it the best entry ever made. While veterans might feel overwhelmed by all the changes, they will easily get used to it, and will play one of the top 5 best looking games on the console. Whether it is the movies, books or games, the task to reboot an established franchise is never an easy thing for any developer or publisher.

[seganerds]

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]ince SEGA acquired Atlus’ parent company Index Holdings back in 2013, SEGA Nerds have had an additional boost of titles to enjoy under the SEGA umbrella, not least the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei franchises.

This extension of franchises now includes the likes of Rock of Ages. Developed by ACE Team, the first game was released on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Windows back in 2011, and while Rock of Ages wasn’t perhaps a game that set the world on fire, it was very well received and left fans craving for more.

So, it’s great to see, some six years later, that ACE Team and Atlus are at it again with Rock of Ages 2: Bigger and Boulder.

Take Super Monkey Ball, remove the monkey…

The world map kind of reminds me a little of Super Mario World… though not in appearance.

For those who the original passed them by, the best analogy for Rock of Ages is to take a tower defense game and mix it with Super Monkey Ball. The objective of the game is to defend your castle, using a variety of weapons, barriers and traps, while attacking your enemy’s castle and being the first to break down the door and squash the occupant (your enemy) inside.

The franchise features two main gameplay components, firstly you place your series of weapons and traps along the level – a downhill obstacle course – in the best way to either damage your enemy’s boulder or destroy it completely. That’s the tower defense side of things.

The second part of the gameplay involves you taking direct control of your giant boulder, where you need to navigate the course, avoiding enemy projectiles and traps, to smash down the door of their castle. The more damage your boulder receives, the weaker the impact damage will be on their castle and should your boulder lose all its health, it will be destroyed. This is the Super Monkey Ball part of the game, although, unlike Monkey Ball you control the ball/boulder directly, you don’t move the ground… oh, and there are no monkeys in the game either (shame).

If you enjoyed the gameplay in the original Rock of Ages, then you’ll be happy to hear that Rock of Ages 2 is very much more of the same, just bigger and boulder… err bolder.

One of my first attempts at wall building… it was not very successful.

Its ACE Team’s Flying Circus

Believe it or not, the game has a story to it, which lends itself in alignment with its name.

In Bigger and Boulder, you follow Atlas, the Titan from Greek mythology who was forced to hold the sky upon his back. Though Bigger and Boulder has taken the modern misconception here and adopted the idea that Atlas was holding the Earth on his back – but this common error is forgivable, as it works well with the story.

Anyway, Atlas is doing his thing, holding up the Earth, when God comes along and distracts him. Atlas accidentally drops the Earth and it falls to the heavens below. Panicking, he replaces the Earth with a large boulder. When God notices the Earth looks different he goes to put on his glasses to inspect it. As God is looking away, Atlas jumps from his plinth, still holding his boulder, and as he falls through space, he lands on Earth.

That bit is a little weird, as he was a giant holding the Earth, but is suddenly smaller, more human sized, and can now walk around on the planet, along with the boulder he brought down with him.

Now on Earth, Atlas is walking through notable periods of time, meeting various historical and mythological figures, all of whom have been depicted (in real life) in paintings and other works of art, such as statues or books – from the likes of Henry VIII, to Medusa, to William Wallace and a demon that blew up Mount Vesuvius. Each historical/fictional character you meet, you end up fighting against.

One of the great things about Rock of Ages is the fun art style and sense of humour, which has returned for Bigger and Boulder. The most accurate and best likeness for the art and humour is Monty Python’s Flying Circus – ACE Team has taken samples of works of art and animated them in a similar way to Monty Python’s animated scenes, right down to the absolute insanity, silliness and audio style, with mumbles and odd noises.

For those not familiar with Monty Python’s animation, think South Park, Salad Fingers or Apollo Gauntlet, where you have flat, paper-like, cut-out 2D images – taking figures from old paintings and animating them.

Granted, humour is always a matter of taste and if you really hated Monty Python’s animated scenes, there’s a chance you’ll hate these, but I loved them. While they are not entirely original in design or concept, this style is uncommon enough to give Rock of Ages a unique feeling and one that I really enjoyed throughout the game.

A brief lesson in history and mythology

Starry Night by Van Gogh is one my favourite level designs

In the story campaign, you roll around a map of Europe (and a small segment of north Africa) with each country containing at least one moment in history for you to visit. The map kind of reminded me a bit of Super Mario World, as you can make your way along, tackling the levels in almost any order, as defeating some enemies opens up multiple paths around the continent.

The art style goes much further than in the story animations, as the game’s levels feature a brilliant variety of interpretations of artwork from across time. You find yourself rolling down incredibly well-designed courses, each appropriately matching the historical era or the artistic style of the enemy you are fighting.

In England you fight against Henry VIII, against a medieval backdrop of rolling hills, while in Egypt you face Rameses with the stereotypical pyramids and giant statues surround by a sandy desert. But things change dramatically when you face against mythological enemies such as Baba Yaga and Medusa, as the artistic styles of the levels become something otherworldly and, on occasion, merge a different artistic style into the mythology.

For example, when you face Baba Yaga (a witch-like being from Slavic folklore), you are transported to the Van Gogh painting, Starry Night. It’s brilliant, you wouldn’t think to merge these two ideas, but it works really well and this ended up being one of my favorite levels in the game, because it felt so magical and, frankly, was beautiful to look at.

The great thing is that each course feels unique. While you are essentially rolling down hills getting from point A to point B, ACE Team has done a fantastic job in bringing the world and its history to life through their level designs and no two are alike.

I should also note the music in the game is brilliant. ACE Team has taken classical compositions that are associated either with the country you are fighting in or with the time-period. While I’m not so hot on classical music, I did recognise most of the songs and think it’s great, as it works well to complement the art styles and the world around you.

Great balls of fire!

No moss on these stones

While it’s a joy to look at, the game is also very fun to play. The controls are simple enough to pick up from the short (and very well designed) tutorial level, but you have the skill factor in learning what each weapon/trap does and knowing exactly where to place them for maximum effectiveness.

As you progress and defeat more and more enemies, you unlock new defenses and new boulders. While understanding the weapons is one thing, learning the strengths and weaknesses of the boulders is another.

There are no boulders that are perfect in every situation, but there will no doubt be ones that you prefer, due to your play style. Boulders have different statistics based on: Strength, Speed, Acceleration, Damage and Weight. Each of them affect how well they handle across different types of courses and against different types of weapons.

Each boulder looks unique and many of them have additional bonuses/advantages – such as the Angel Boulder being able to double jump, whereas the Globe Boulder has a moon spinning around it, so it can damage nearby obstacles without receiving any damage.

I think most gamers will enjoy the Monkey Ball aspect of the game – it’s really fun rolling over enemy structures and satisfying destroying the castle door first – but the tower defense side of things is equally enjoyable.

While this side of the game does slow things down, it can be brilliant fun to watch your tactics play out well. Essentially, after you have smashed your boulder into the opposing castle, you need to wait for your new boulder to be built, and this is the time to ready your defenses.

When I first played, I just dropped defenses anywhere on the course, not really caring or bothering to observe how well they worked. But after losing one early level three times in a row, I decided to take notice, and that’s when things clicked for me.

It’s really satisfying when your defences destory the enemy boulder

Rather than dropping defenses all over the map, the best solution is to pick defenses that complement each other and put them in close proximity (I often put them near my castle, because that tended to have the best space for lots of defenses). Once I worked out a good strategy, the tower defense bits became a real joy for me, as I tried to ready them in time before my enemy was able to roll.

If everything works out well, and you continuously destroy the enemy boulder before it can reach your castle, you can unlock a ‘rare’ achievement for destroying the enemy without taking any damage. I’m happy to say I was able to do this, and it’s a really satisfying feeling seeing your defenses work perfectly.

Chip off the old block

In Obstacle Course mode, you race against the opponent to the finish line, avoiding defences

There’s not just a single player to Bigger and Boulder, there’s also some decent offline and online multiplayer modes, including 2-player co-op across the whole single-player campaign – where you both are able to create your defenses at the same time, on the same course and roll your boulders into the enemy structures. But be warned, the AI also has two boulders in this mode, so you will need those extra defenses to fend them both off.

There’s also additional game modes, for both single and multiplayer, which extend the gameplay further, plus plenty of boulders, defenses and customization options to unlock during the main campaign.

Offline, you can only ever have two human players, which is a bit of a shame. Though online you can have up to four players in game modes, two players per console.

The single-player campaign also mixes things up slightly with four boss battles, which take you away from the downhill slopes of normal levels and to battle-type arenas. I’m not sure if everyone will enjoy these, though I did find them a good break from the norm in the campaign.

Geez! Would you look at the buns on that guy! He must work out…

You missed a spot

While I found the majority of my time with Bigger and Boulder to be really enjoyable, there are some things that hindered it.

Firstly, I came across some bugs in the game, one of which ruined the game for my girlfriend. See, she’s not a gamer, and Bigger and Boulder seemed like the perfect game for us both to play – as it is very easy to pick up.

Two player was really fun, when the camera behaved itself

After showing her the tutorial and playing a practice match against her, she picked things up, and we were ready to fight together against the AI. But something kept going wrong with her camera – every time she fell or was pushed off the course, her camera kept swinging around, so it was facing the wrong way. This led to her going backwards up the course and getting frustrated with the game. At first, I thought she was holding down the stick to change the camera angle, but I paid close attention the next time it happened, and sure enough, when she was placed back on the course, her camera was backwards.

The game does try to give you subtle indications on the direction you need to go, but it’s not always clear, especially for someone trying to get used to the controls.

Unfortunately, she became so annoyed with the game she gave up. It’s a shame because she thought it looked really fun when I was playing it, but I don’t blame her for quitting. Strangely, this camera situation never occurred for me in single player, but it was definitely happening to her.

Honey, I broke the cat!

Another annoyance is that to play two-player co-op offline, you need to create a separate Xbox Live account for the second player. There’s no option, like in other games, to just have a guest account. Frankly, this is ridiculous.

I also encountered a game-breaking bug against the Sphinx boss (see image to the left) and accidentally hit the “restart level” button once or twice. Couldn’t they have added a confirmation option?

Even if those annoyances didn’t exist, the biggest downside for Bigger and Boulder is that the game does feel rather repetitive during long gameplay stints. Even with the different boulders, new weapons and varied courses, you’re essentially doing to the same thing over and over again. But it’s great fun for short blasts of gaming!

Another point to note is that the campaign mode isn’t very long (it can be done in about 4-6 hours). But don’t let that put you off as the game is only £11.99/$14.99, and the amount of gameplay across the modes is well worth the entry fee.

Prepare to be squished!

Summary

Rock of Ages 2: Bigger and Boulder is a really enjoyable game and unique enough to warrant a purchase. While it has some flaws, some of which I’m hoping can be ironed out with an update, it is let down solely on its repetition during long gameplay stints.

But the game has enough variety in its level designs and content there for single and multiplayers, that it will keep bringing you back, even after you complete the main campaign.

While the visual aspects of the game don’t push modern hardware, the quirky art styles and imagination put into each level really draws players in, with a cracking soundtrack to roll your way to victory to. The odd humour may not be for everyone, but the gameplay should be enough to draw people in and keep them there.

Pros: + Really fun mix of gameplay styles + Great visuals bring historical & mythological characters/settings to life + Excellent soundtrack complements aesthetics + Good selection of game modes and unlockables

Cons: – Can feel repetitive in long play sessions – You need a second Xbox Live account to play multiplayer offline – WTF? – Bug! Camera kept twisting round in two player co-op

My favourite ‘boulder’ is a giant cube. Hard to control, but very powerful

It’s really satisfying when your defences destory the enemy boulder

Not all boulders are spherical

Starry Night by Van Gogh is one my favourite level designs

We danced on the crsuhed bodies of our fallen enemies

Geez! Would you look at the buns on that guy! He must work out…

In Obstacle Course mode, you race against the opponent to the finish line, avoiding defences

My favourite ‘boulder’ is a giant cube. Hard to control, but very powerful

Two player was really fun, when the camera behaved itself

Once you break down the enemy door, you squish them and claim victory!

Angel Boulder has wings to double jump

Honey, I broke the cat!

Two player was really fun, when the camera behaved itself

Just chilling on the back of a Sphinx…

Cat is still broken…

The world map kind of reminds me a little of Super Mario World… though not in appearance.

Prepare to be squished!

You have plenty of customisation features to unlock

One of my first attempts at wall building… it was not very successful.

Placing defences stragetically helps ensure victory

Great balls of fire!

Time to get the ball rolling again with our #review of #RockofAges2 #Bigger&Boulder! @theACETeam @AtlusUSA #SEGA Since SEGA acquired Atlus’ parent company Index Holdings back in 2013, SEGA Nerds have had an additional boost of titles to enjoy under the SEGA umbrella, not least the…