#you will not get a chance to do everything your first playthrough but you will get a chance to talk to everyone. just prioritize

[indigoire]

I admit am curious about the Pentiment but do i have to be some sort of strategist to play it or actually be detective smart?

Oh my god no. No, seriously trust me, if I'm ever really into a game just assume anyone can play it. I love games but I am so bad at them.

Please do not worry about accusing the wrong people of murder. As far as I can tell from two complete playthroughs, as long as you have enough conclusive evidence you can accuse damn near anyone with a motive. It does not equal a game over to accuse the "wrong" guy, and history will vindicate you.

The point of Pentiment is that whoever you accuse, you take out of the story. This affects the story in huge ways. Just from comparing my two playthroughs I can see vast differences. Someone dying can even affect the personality of their descendants. I'm trying really hard not to spoil here, please just take my word for it.

BASICALLY just be careful that whoever you accuse is someone who you're comfortable with getting removed from the narrative. Every death has a consequence.

[wetsocksinbed]

Baldurs Gate 3 is so wild when you realise how vastly different the game is depending on if you choose Tav or Dark Urge

Dark Urge Playthrough: you’re the child of Bhaal, but unlike the Bhaalspawn, you are created solely by Bhaal himself. The first true child of Bhaal. The daughter of one of your father’s previous Bhaalspawn turns on you, attacks you and tries to kill you. In your dying state, she infects you with a parasite so that you’ll die an incredibly humiliating death, and become her slave.

By some miracle you end up on the same nautiloud ship as a Sharron Cleric who happens to to be carrying a gith artefact that contains Baldur himself. Baldur, who was made a mind flayer and is now calling himself the Emperor, realises there’s an incredibly powerful Bhaalspawn on the ship, and that he can use them to his advantage. The power you have will help him destroy Gortash. Of course he picks you, it makes so much sense.

On your way to Baldurs Gate you find out through an unsent letter that you used to be into Gortash. When you get to Baldurs Gate, the man you used to fuck turns out to be an absolute loser and with horror you realise he is still into you. It’s okay though, he’s very easy to kill.

You end up facing off against Orin, your niece, and kill her. Your father appears to you and offers you the chance to become his Slayer. On the high chance you turn him down, he murders you in front of your loved ones, and leaves you to rot.

Then Jergal, the actual Lord of the End of Everything, the original God of Death, who was the very being that turned you father into a God all that time ago, who’s been in your camp for weeks pretending to be this undead scribe called Withers, appears next to your corpse and brings you back to life, basically adopts you, states that he will protect you from Bhaal, and announces that as long as he lives, you will never die. You’re essentially immortal.

Tav Playthrough: you’re a random nobody that was unlucky enough to get kidnapped by Mind Flayers. The Emperor must pick one of the many idiots on the ship to be his pawn. He sees Tav and thinks “ugh, yeah this one will do”.

[magical-girl-coral]

I do find it funny how much discourse there is around Astarion when Neil Newbon said he based him off a cat he tried to domesticate for three years.

"Why does Astarion keep making rash decisions?" Because he thinks he's going back to the streets any second now and refuses to leave survival mode.

"Why does he hate when we make good decisions?" Bitterness at being rescued "so "too late" plus the aforementioned survival mode that makes him want to leverage everything.

"Is he a good person or a bad person?" He has real safety and body autonomy for the first time in forever. Let him figure this out first by going on a Frieren style self discovery journey first and then discuss personality aspects.

"Is Astarion romantic or are his fans projecting other's aspects onto him?" See above. Also, the graveyard scene proved he can be romantic. He just figuring out beyond "laying dead animals on your doorstep" gothic part of romance.

"Why does Astarion try to go through the ritual even in playthroughs where he wants to stop it at any cause?" Imagine being a kicked street cat forced to his shit for all your life and finally getting the chance to not only eat the face of the person who forced you into this life, but steal all of his shit as well. It's a urge that's deeply hard to fight.

"Why is he an asshole?" He's a cat.

"What is the true face of Astarion?" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. No one knows, least of all him.

He's just a cat, guys. Leave him be with his favorite person and he'll probably be fine.

[actual-lea]

So who wants to hear about the stupid stupid way I'm playing Baldur's Gate 3?

I made it to Act 3 on my first (original character) playthrough like a week before Patch 5 came out, and after finding it absolutely unplayable (on the PS5) decided it was time to go ahead and start an origin character run for the funsies while waiting on the new patch to fix the Lag Hell. Naturally, I picked Gale. Since this was mostly just for fun/to hold me over until I could continue my other file, I decided it would be a nice time to see what happens if you just refuse to consume any magic items. Of course, if you are not playing as Gale and ignore his Orb Problem, he will apparently eventually leave your party, but what if you ARE Gale? I couldn't find an answer with a minimal amount of Googling SO

There are three stages to his Arcane Hunger, each of which give you increasingly debilitating debuffs: Arcane Hunger, Greater Arcane Hunger, and Severe Arcane Hunger. It seems the triggers for progressing to the next stage are the same as the triggers where he would start needing an item in my other file (i.e. that bridge next to the Blighted Village, entering the temple at the Goblin Camp, the Hag's Lair, etc.) which obviously makes sense. I figure with the amount of contingencies in this game for incredibly specific situations, surely there is some kind of unique dialog or fun cutscene that will play if I ignore the Arcane Hunger long enough and just play through the debuffs.

I played Act 1 completely normally, doing a lil quicksave every time I was about to Long Rest just in case the game gave me a cutscene of the big explosion upon waking up (I thought maybe it would be time-based, similar to the game over you get if Gale dies and you leave him for 3 days (? I think?) which does not seem to be the case). I made it through basically everything without anything odd happening besides the aforementioned debuffs. The Severe Arcane Hunger is where things get really sloggy, because Gale can only move at half speed.

I have been slowly trudging EVERYWHERE since the Goblin Camp.

I eventually started going out of my way to make sure I hit all the Arcane Hunger triggers I know about, to see what would happen, and the answer is nothing, aside from Gale occasionally reminding me that he's wracked with terrible pain.

So, surely, the game will certainly not let me into the Mountain Pass without SOMETHING happening, right?

WELL

That's surprising, but whatever, at least now I have the chance to see what happens if you go meet Elminster without having consumed any magic items,

Except

He wasn't there.

I went to the area in the Mountain Pass where the cutscene is supposed to start, and it just. Didn't happen. Nothing happened. I could walk right up to the entrance to the next area.

But SURELY, the game won't let me into the gotdamn Shadow-Cursed Lands without saying SOMETHING about the fact that the orb has been starving for several weeks at this point, right? The game isn't going to let me into Act Freaking 2 without at the very least giving me a game over to tell me I'm not allowed to do this and make me reload and actually feed this poor starving wizard, right?

RIGHT?

WELL

WELL

Here we are. I'm at the Last Light Inn, I'm at the Taco Bell, I'm at the combination Last Light Inn Taco Bell with a bag full of delicious Cheesy Gordita Magic Boots that I refuse to eat.

SO LIKE. How far does this go??? Am I gonna be able to infiltrate Moonrise Towers without ever speaking to Elminster? Am I gonna trudge all the way to Ketheric at half freaking speed and fight him with Disadvantage on everything?? Am I gonna make it all the way to goddang Baldur's Gate with a Netherese orb that is long overdue to explode???

Like I said, I did not find an answer on what happens if you do this on a Gale Origin playthrough, and at this point, I don't even want to, I just want to see how far I can take this.

I already know I'll have to do another normal Gale playthrough where I actually FEED HIM after this, because I'm sure I've missed out on a ton of dialogue and whatnot, especially from Tara who only ever has this to say when I speak with her in camp:

I am genuinely beginning to wonder if there is actually nothing in place to stop me from doing this. I am wondering what the dialogue options will look like when I get to the "Heart of the Absolute" where Gale would ordinarily want to blow himself up, if Elminster had ever shown up to tell him to do so. Maybe the devs just didn't bother, and figured that no one would be stupid and stubborn enough to play through the whole dang thing while so severely debuffed.

Joke's on them, Disadvantage means NOTHING to Magic Missile Machine Gale Dekarios.

[vigilskeep]

i have never thought of the bg3 paths as railroaded before but oh my god... i see your vision. i think that, for all that can be picked apart in the writing of dragon age, the worldbuilding in that series is so so interested in complicating all factions that you can envision a character who /makes sense/ while bouncing through various ideologies. and the sort of fantasy writing in (most of) the forgotten realms doesn't really allow for that.

dao is particularly the light of my life because the origins mechanic is specifically intended to let you create a character who has a distinctive perspective on the world that’s grounded in the worldbuilding. one of my favourite aspects of this is several origins having completely different codex entries on their own culture as opposed to those an outsider would get. it’s really good! it’s also a reasonably grounded world (while obviously silly) because, like, the basic fundamental premise of thedas, from which they ikea flatpack built almost every feature, is “how would people react to magical and fantastical diversity? the same way they react to human diversity.” you’re meant to feel like, aside from i guess the darkspawn, people are normal and have real motivations. sure it has to fulfil certain roles in a story, and dragon age was manufactured too quickly and purposefully for everything to land feeling authentic, but evil in dragon age should feel recognisable. and in most of the origins they give you a chance to do something that is bad, but also totally makes sense, because of the context of your character belonging to this world where these things happen

in dnd/the forgotten realms it’s a bit different because capital e Evil exists, so there are people and deities and devils (and, to open another can of worms, races) whose entire goal is to Do Evil. it’s also harder to produce grounded evil because in a world where i’m being given basically no context and just told to make whatever i want, i don’t have an inch of the kind of social information i get from for example a dao origin: what my character has been taught to believe they should do to survive, who they are willing to sacrifice, whatever. bg3 also happens to have a main plot goal that is, at least for the first part of the game, broadly selfish (“i am sick, and i need a cure”) which works really well for getting a bunch of people with vastly differing moral standards to band together for the same goal, and not so good for any kind of “greater good” type blurred morality, so that’s out too

however much the worldbuilding factors into this, bg3 specifically went for quite a clear distinction between the good path and the capital e Evil Path, and i find it pretty hard to vary up the good path. when i say railroaded i mean you either do the specific thing that gets you a quest down the line or not. i was really disappointed actually in my playthrough where i totally fucked up in the druids’ grove and caused a fight to break out, because it immediately instakilled tons of characters i knew i would need down the line. the few it spared needed some of the dead ones to stay alive in later quests, so it’s like... oh. that’s just... over. for both factions. bg3 arguably lets you do basically anything you want but they are able to do that because if you fuck around it just breaks the entire quest line from coming up again, which means playing a character who fucks up is not even really going to get me consequences it’s just going to cut content from the game. does that make sense? and then the Evil Path is just straight up evil, like... there’s no way for me to complicate and empathise, here, especially playing a blank canvas character whose motivations i would have to make up from nothing, and who faces basically no consequences for not doing this. the only neutral/cowardly/self-interested option in act 1 is to do neither path, which gets me the least content because i literally don’t get to play the fucking game

i don’t know, i’m not saying it’s necessarily bad just that it’s hard for me, personally, and how i like to create characters. especially when you have my constant restart disease and you have to do this all over again a dozen times just for a handful of different dialogue. does any of that make sense

[stars-and-inkpots]

True Love's Embrace | Gale x Reader

Finding those rings gives you the chance to protect Gale. Sure, he would never agree to you putting yourself in danger for the sake of himself, but he doesn't have to know.

Pairing: Gale/Reader

Tags: Canon-typical violence, blood and injury, codependency, self-sacrifice, forehead kisses, hurt/comfort

Notes: Inspired by some combat in my playthrough and thinking about the reactions some things may have caused. I simply think that Gale would have an opinion on using those rings, and it wouldn't be a good one (mildly hypocritical, of course).

Ao3 Link: True Love's Embrace

Word Count: 1,785

You know what those rings can do. You know what the wife who gave her husband the matching ring did. What she did was horrible, but you aren’t going to use them like that. 

You know Gale won’t approve of it at all; but the thought of the ring's magic protecting him (even if it was at the expense of yourself) gave you peace of mind. The thought of his safety is enough to drown out the thought of his disappointment if he does manage to find out. 

He didn’t question when you placed the silver ring in his hand. You almost worried that he would know what it was, that he would immediately see through your plan. You gave a relieved sigh when all he did was thank you for the gift and slip the ring on his finger before pressing a kiss to the back of your hand. 

When you put your hand on his shoulder later, it was simple to let the magic of the rings flow through you. You feel the invisible thread that connects you to each other. Gale doesn’t seem to notice.

“Is everything alright? You seem distracted,” Gale asks. 

Guilt runs through you once more, urging you to tell him, but you ignore it. You needed every reassurance you could get to keep him safe here. You could take a few extra hits in battle, it wouldn’t matter. As long as he was safe. 

“I’m fine, just have a lot on my mind… and well, in it, I suppose,” you say, hoping the joking tone will hide the real concerns you have about the danger that surrounds you; and despite the distaste you have for the parasite that has made its home in your skull, you aren’t one to give up the opportunity for an admittedly awful joke. 

Gale groans, but huffs out a reluctant laugh all the same. 

“Hold on-” All of you hear Karlach begin to warn the group from her place in the front, but she isn’t quite fast enough. 

Creatures of vines and shadow shamble out of the bushes ahead. The biggest of the group creeps quickly out of the shadows as it towers over all of you. You barely have enough time to dodge the first round of thorns it shoots at you. 

Karlach is quick to start rushing at the nearest monster, axe swinging wildly as it cuts through wooden tendrils. Astarion manages to get himself further back where he can shoot safely. You and Gale, can’t move away quick enough before the ground erupts into a swarming mass of roots that entangle around your feet, trapping you. 

You do your best, blocking most strikes when you can, swiping your blade across the roots and vines that try to reach out, but your lack of movement makes it increasingly difficult. Several hits make it through your defence, thorns cutting through your armour, pinpointing the weak spots. You can feel the ring working its magic when pain blossoms from phantom wounds as Gale is hit behind you. You endure, knowing that Gale’s injuries would be far worse if you didn’t have these rings. 

You can feel the heat from yet another fireball launched into the thick of the trees. Gale is doing his best to avoid catching anyone else in the crossfire of the blaze. 

When the last creature finally falls, you can take the time to untangle yourself from the roots at your feet. You finally notice the sheer amount of blood that coats the ground around you. Despite the lightheadedness you feel, you push on. 

Gale, though still injured, looks far better than he could have been. That makes this worth it , you assure yourself. It’s nothing that Shadowheart’s magic won’t be able to fix. 

---

Hoping for a simple excursion through the Shadow-Cursed Lands is a laughable desire.

The next day is much like the last. You and your companions are walking through the darkness, ready for some new horror to lunge out from the shadows; and are entirely unsurprised when they do. 

You’ll never get used to the shadow creatures. The tall and imposing beings of pure shadow, but still very much physical and capable of hurting you. Their claws are sharp when they dig into your flesh, and there are so many of them that it’s hard to keep track. They suffocate the light around them, plunging anyone nearby into darkness. 

You can feel each time one of them slashes at Gale. You are made painfully aware of each time the wizard isn’t quite fast enough when jumping out of the way. Even though the pain is lessened by the magic of the ring, combined with the strikes that you’re taking yourself, it leaves you struggling. Standing on unsteady feet, hands shaking as you hold your sword out in front of you, you realise that you might not be strong enough to protect him like you wanted after all. 

Exhaustion takes hold of you quickly. It pulls at you; your muscles feel weak. You let yourself collapse to the ground, unable to hold yourself up any longer. Stars dance across your vision, the world blurs and darkens at the edges. You keep your eyes open as long as you can. Distantly, you can hear someone yelling your name, frantic and scared. Sleep overtakes you, and you slip into the oddly comforting darkness of unconsciousness. 

---

The world returns to you in moments. In one, you are held tightly against someone’s chest, their arms wrapped around you, warm and strong. It is Karlach, you recognise vaguely. You drift away again. In the next, you can hear Shadowheart speaking to someone. Her hands are warm on your arm. You can feel her magic seep through your body; the wounds closing steadily. Then darkness once more. 

The next time you wake up, you aren’t sure where you are for a moment. 

You try to sit up, immediately regretting it as your whole body is wracked with pain. You lower yourself back down on the bedroll which has been covered in many plush blankets. It is then that you recognize the blue fabric of the tent and the books around you that are stacked neatly along the walls. 

With a sudden clarity, you feel the absence of the ring on your finger. 

Shit.  

Pushing through the entrance of the tent, is none other than Gale. He looks down at you, relieved, but also clearly upset. 

“Care to explain what these are? And perhaps, if you would be so generous, tell the truth this time?” Gale holds the two rings in his hand. 

You’re quiet for a moment. You feel awful for lying to him. 

“The rings we found. I thought maybe they were just normal rings, but after reading the diaries we found with them, I realised they could cast a one-way warding bond. I just wanted to protect you. It was something I could actually do to help keep you safe. I’m sorry, I know I should have told you, but you wouldn’t have let me if you knew-” 

“Of course I wouldn’t have let you!” Gale cuts you off. “Why would I let you do something like this? It doesn’t matter what the rings do, I’ll have none of it if it hurts you.” He sighs, frustrated, but clearly only because he is worried about you. 

“I’m sorry.” Your voice is quiet, wavering only slightly. 

Gale kneels down beside you, putting the rings aside and taking your face in his hands instead. “I care about you. I care about you a lot, in fact. When I saw you fall out there, I was terrified. I never want to get that close to losing you again. I know you had only the best intentions, and I am not angry with you; I love you, so very much. I never want you to put yourself in harm's way for the sake of me. Promise me.” He sounds desperate, like the thought of you doing something like this again physically pains him. 

“I promise.” In all honesty, you aren’t sure how much of the truth it is. If there was ever a moment where you would have to make a decision between him and yourself, you can’t promise that you won’t protect him then too. 

But Gale can’t fault you either. He isn’t sure that he wouldn’t do the same for you. In all honesty, if he was in your position, he might have used the rings very similarly, and he can imagine you giving him much the same lecture. 

Both of you are too ready to bleed for the other, for just the chance to keep each other safe. It seems that’s all one can do in this world right now. 

“I love you,” Gale whispers before kissing you, soft and careful not to move you too much while you’re still healing. 

“I love you too,” you answer, covering one of his hands on your cheek with your own. 

“I’ll go and get you some food. You’ve been asleep for a while, I kept near the fire to keep it warm for you.” He presses one more kiss to your forehead before leaving the tent again. 

For now, the rings are forgotten. Your earlier guilt dissipates slowly as you wait for Gale to return. He helps you sit up when he gets back, pain still very much present, but fading the longer you lean against him. He’s quick to wrap an arm around you, letting you put most of your weight against him, which you’re grateful for. 

The entire rest of the night, there isn’t a moment when he’s near you and touching you in some way. While you eat, he’s talking to you about another one of his books, but his arm is around you, hand resting on your hip. After, when you’re laying down again, he’s running his fingers through your hair, or resting his hand on your arm. Guilt returns momentarily when you realise just how much your injuries must have worried him. 

When you finally feel sleep tugging at you again, though less demanding this time, he lays beside you. The pain has subsided for the most part, and you’re able to move yourself to cuddle closer to him. He holds you close to his side, chin resting on the top of your head. 

You can’t promise something like this won’t happen again. Gale can’t promise that he won’t do the same thing. But both of you can promise to try to keep your self-sacrifice to a minimum, at the very least. And you can promise that you’ll always come back to each other at the end of the day. 

[techlove-1999]

i am going 2 be completely honest. the idea of yes man always and 4ever betraying the courier in the independent ending feels like blatant mischaracterization 2 me.

i can see it happening should the courier continuously do shit that he doesnt like. like blowing up the securitron army, allying the brotherhood with the ncr, etc. these are actions that will absolutely sour yes man 2 the player and under these circumstances, then yes, i can see him ousting the courier the first chance he gets.

but at the same time the game shows the player time and time again through his route that he very much genuinely enjoys your presence. he signs his printout with “Love, Yes Man.” he often greets you warmly, saying things like “I am so happy to see you!” and “Yay! It’s you!”

he even basically refers 2 himself as the courier’s best friend when going over the mark two update demonstration by saying “I mean, some of your best friends are Securitrons, right?” over and over again does the game show the player that yes man does genuinely care about them and regard them in a positive light. this isnt even mentioning the fact that the devs 4 the game straight up confirmed that when yes man mentioned his assertive update, he did not mean that he would betray the courier, but instead would only answer 2 them.

now, of course, not every courier is the same. not every independence playthrough is going 2 be one in the same, and thats the point. the ending is tailored 2 specifically what you want 2 do with the mojave’s inhabitants. you can blow up the brotherhood or leave them alone. you can make the boomers your friends or ally them with the enemy. this is the route where you get 2 choose what you want 2 do. and of course, that means allowing you 2 choose options that yes man finds unfavorable or detrimental 2wards not just your goals, but his wellbeing as well. and under those circumstances, it would absolutely make sense 4 him 2 take the reigns from the courier. after all, why would he want 2 work with someone who actively puts him and his goals in harm’s way?

but 2 say that yes man would always betray the courier ignores everything that the game otherwise sets up 4 your dynamic with him. it ignores every piece of dialogue where he regards you in a genuinely positive light, everything he does that shows the player that he really does value them. so why would he do that? why would he do that 2 someone he evidently likes spending time with, 2 someone he enjoys working alongside? what would he even have 2 gain out of doing something like that?

it just doesnt make sense 4 him 2 do something like that 2 someone he genuinely, truly cares about.

[white-eagle-roleplay]

FO4 Memories #3

Happy Belated Fallout Friday, guys! Was feeling under the weather yesterday, so my post is delayed to today! Hancock's first affinity conversation with my sole survivor got interrupted by raiders, but his final one was as romanctic as you could get. Imagine this: you enter an abandoned church with Hancock late at night to escape the rain and catch some shuteye. Surrounded by candles, he nervously asks you if you have the time to talk, and gives you the option to romance him... So, being the writer that I am, I had to write a short drabble based off of a real affinity conversation that I had with Hancock during my last playthrough of FO4!

Pairings: Hancock x reader Words: about 1267

Hancock stumbled into the abandoned church after you, eager to get out of the cold, icy rain. By some miracle, it was completely void of raiders and super mutants—there wasn't even a single radroach. It was almost too good to be true, but after carefully scouting the premises, it became clear that the church was indeed empty. Breathing a sigh of relief, you lowered your gear onto a dusty pew while Hancock began lighting some candles on the tables behind you. It wasn’t much, and the roof was leaking in a few places, but it was better than nothing. If you pulled a few of those pews together and spread a sleeping bag under them, you could make a cozy bed… "Hey, uh… When you have a moment, I've got something I need you to hear." You almost dropped your bag in surprise at the sudden closeness of Hancock’s voice. The ghoul mayor had always been surprisingly quiet upon his feet, and tonight was no exception. You stopped what you were doing and glanced over your shoulder. “Of cour—” You froze, surprised at how nervous the ghoul appeared. This was very uncharacteristic of him, especially with his charismatic, flirtatious demeanor. Although now that you thought about it, he had been quieter and more pensive than usual as well… Concerned, you stood up and walked over to him. "Is everything alright? Hancock was quick to reply, his words rasping out before you had finished speaking. "Oh yeah, better than that. This is just… tricky." Hancock averted his gaze and rocked from one foot to the other before finally drawing in a deep breath and turning to face you. "It’s just… being out here with you… It’s made me realize that most of my life I’ve been running out on the good things I got.” His words were cautiously paced and carefully selected, as though he had been rehearsing this conversation in his head for quite some time. “I skipped out on my family, my life in Diamond City." Once the words started tumbling out, Hancock could not stop—so you just let him continue. “Took up with you just to get outta Goodneighbor.” He paused, his face contorting with regret. “Hell, running from myself is what made me into… into a damn ghoul…"

This caught you by surprise, because on the rare occasions that Hancock did talk about his past, he never referred to his ghoulishness so negatively. It made you realize that the mayor of Goodneighbor might be less secure about himself than he let on, and that all that confidence he exuded was just a facade. Your gaze softened, but you did not interrupt. He rarely talked about himself, let alone his past. If you said anything now, you might not get another chance to learn about the ghoul you had developed feelings for. “It’s just…” Hancock’s voice was soft, and his gaze even softer, “Being out here with you, it’s made me realize just how small time I’d been thinking, and that maybe all my running from my life, myself… maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.” The ghoul seemed less nervous than when he initiated the conversation, but something told you that there was still more to come. You had no idea what, but you could tell that what he needed right now was an open ear and support. Finally, you reached out and laid a hand upon Hancock’s arm, your fingers brushing against the crimson velvet of his coat. “You may have run,” you agreed gently, “But you always ran for a reason.” Hancock’s lips spread into a small smile. “Been trying to convince myself of that for a long time,” he said, “but hearing that coming from someone like you… I don’t know if you understand what that means to me.” There was something about the tone of his voice that gave you pause and made your heart beat just a little faster… Thinking back to how nervous he had been at the start of the conversation, a sudden realization began to dawn upon you. Could it be… “So, lemme get to the point,” Hancock continued, “Throwing in with you has been the best decision I’ve ever made. It’s like I found a part of myself I never realized was missing… which happens sometimes when you’re a Ghoul.” He gave a wry smile, a small inside joke between him and himself. “If I hadn’t taken up with you, I’d probably be in a gutter somewhere, getting gnawed on by radroaches. You have been one hell of a friend.” One hell of a friend. Your heart sank at those words, and your chest felt as though a cold fist had just pummeled through it. You swallowed the bitter taste upon your tongue. Could it be that you had misinterpreted him? He did have reputation for being… very affectionate… But then, there were times when you suspected that there may have been something more, especially with the way his voice softened and his gaze deepened… "Have… have you ever thought about us as maybe more than just friends?” As soon as those words left your mouth, you wanted to take them back. What if you had misinterpreted everything, and were just about to ruin— "Heh," Hancock breathed, a sad smile spreading across his ruined lips. "It that obvious?" His voice seemed to crack, and when you looked over at him, his face was tight, as though he was struggling to keep it passive. Before you could say anything, he plunged on, trying to cover himself. "But come on, you don’t want to wake up to this mug every morning. Never wish that on anyone I cared for…" This last part was spoken so quietly that it was barely audible against the increasing storm. "Hancock…" It was then that you realized that he was terrified of rejection, and that he really was far more insecure than he let on. And here you were worried that he only saw you as a friend, when in fact he had been harboring deep emotions for you for who knows how long. Gathering your courage, you reached out and tenderly touched his jaw, tilting his face towards yours. "Hey…" you said softly, "D-don't call yourself that. You're perfect the way you are and… nothing would make me happier than waking up to your handsome face every morning." You felt your cheeks grow warm as you tenderly caressed Hancock's scarred check. "Screw anyone who makes you feel ashamed…”

With a smile, Hancock reached up and covered your hand with his, holding it against his cheek. "Wasn't thinking about the folks doing the shaming," he murmured. He brushed his lips against your fingertips in a delicate kiss, then pulled you into a tight embrace, his face burying into the crook of your neck. You could have sworn that you felt a dampness against your skin… Tentatively, you wrapped your arms around him and gently rubbed his back. “Hancock? You… are you alright?” “Yeah…” Hancock’s voice no longer sounded nervous, but rather relieved. He went silent for a minute, then exhaled slowly. “Heh… You know… moments like this, I know all that karma stuff is bull, because no one like me should be this lucky…" For a long time, he stood there, holding your body firmly against his. Time seemed to slow to a standstill, and the world reduced to nothing but the dust, empty pews, and flickering candles around you. The storm outside had long since ended, or perhaps it was drowned out by the beating of your own heart…

[wolfnanaki]

So. Goodbye Volcano High.

I've been following this game closely since it was first revealed at Sony's Future of Gaming event back in 2020. And after suffering delays brought on by the pandemic, a narrative reboot, and a years-long hate campaign, the game is steadily approaching its August 29th release date. And while I've posted a bit about it here, I haven't properly introduced the game to you all.

Set in a world of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, you play as Fang, a nonbinary pterodactyl and musician. Senior year has just started for them at Volcano High, and Fang's ready to go legit with their band Worm Drama. But their friends and bandmates, Trish and Reed, now have their own diverging interests.

For Fang, it feels like the world they knew is coming to an end.

Except it literally is.

There's an asteroid coming, one that will wipe out the dinosaurs in eight months. And as the day approaches and the threat of extinction becomes more real, Fang is forced to live boldly and make hard choices with the time they have left.

Fang will perform music throughout the game in the form of a rhythm game, and they show how Fang expresses their feelings throughout the narrative. The choices you make will impact the music they play, giving every playthrough its own unique soundtrack.

Of course, there are lots of other exciting activities. You can design your band's logos and posters. You can doomscroll on dinosaur Twitter. You can play TTRPGs with friends. You can check out other dinos' social media profiles. You can get Tarot readings. And your interactions with other characters can unlock past memories you can recall later.

But most important is the game's narrative system. Rather than choices being assigned to a simple button press, you have to move and hold the analog stick on the choice - and the game makes sure each choice feels like it matters.

Choices can have a visual effect to indicate Fang's state of mind. Choices can change before the timer runs out. Choices might require extra input to show how important committing to it is. And you can miss out on choices if you hesitate or wait too long.

This is a game that wears its queer heart on its sleeve with a plethora of gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and nonbinary characters. It has a story that encourages you to truly commit to your thoughts and feelings. Because you're not going to get the chance again. Every choice you make impacts Fang's relationships, music, and story.

There's eight months of your life left. What are you going to do with them? Fight tooth and nail to live your dreams? Patch things up with your family? Finally tell your crush how you feel? Spend time with your friends? Knock out your bucket list? Try to do it all?

Or is it better to leave everything unsaid?

If any of this sounds interesting to you, I highly encourage you to wishlist this game on Steam or on the PlayStation Store.

[spitblaze]

Hello, Mr. Lev, sir! They added Octopath Traveler to GamePass, and I've been itching to play it after seeing how much it has enraptured you. Any advice or anything I should know going in?

Oh absolutely, lemme lay out some stuff:

Gameplay-wise, this game is very strategy-based and often grind-heavy. If you wanna slap some mods onto it to make the gameplay less tedious in terms of exp/jp gain, I would not blame you At All. If you're into that kinda stuff (like me) it's a LOT of fun utilizing strategy to take down beasts, but if you're not, I say there's no shame in watching a playthrough instead.

You will see people talking a lot of shit on this game. These are typically people who got their opinions from people who already do not like RPGs and went into a game mis-marketed by Square Enix, who is already well known for botching the marketing on everything they produce except Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. The game is a pretty consistent 7-8 out of 10, it's not the best thing they've ever made but it is not even CLOSE to the worst thing theyve put out and people get wayyy too mad about it for some reason.

Don't, like...go in expecting super deep inter-party interactions. You get plenty of them, like 3-4 per chapter after everyone's chapter 1 (in order to get them you need to have the specific character they wanna talk to in your party. After a major plot beat the move is usually to go to the tavern and swap people out until you see the party banter icon in the corner, but if you don't wanna do that they're all available on the octopath wiki). It's annoying that there's not more of them but for me what really makes my brain like to gnaw on it is that the characters are all strongly written but there's a *lot* of space left in the air to be filled in, and if you mesh with the characters and the storytelling you'll find that it's so easy to fill in the blanks yourself.

If you don't vibe with one, that's fine. Two is generally considered the better of the two for the technical improvements and more inter-party interaction, but there's no right answer in terms of which one is narratively better. It's alllllll subjective

btw invest in Therion early. hes good as a dodge tank and a magic user but the OT1 Thief movelist is actually kinda nuts. He doesn't have to be the one you start with but if you do I apologize in advance for the funny purple thief brainrot

Same with Tressa, parts of the Merchant movelist may seem underwhelming at first but once you get to the point where money is easy to come by and you have A Certain Secret Job, it's VERY hard to justify leaving her at home for tough fights.

also you should play Live A Live. its not quite right to call it OT a spiritual successor but it takes some strong cues from it. also the remake on switch is really good

That's all I can think of in this moment. I'm sure other people have their own stuff to add, and I don't think I can add anything else myself without getting overly biased so. ye, don't be discouraged by individuals saying it sucks, play octopath, if you like strategy-oriented turn-based games then there is a good chance you will like it i think!

[antianakin]

I just got the chance to watch a full playthrough of Jedi: Survivor (I haven’t the funds to be able to play it myself 😭), and IDK if it’s just me but there were two things that bugged me. The first one being just how casual Cal seemed to be about killing his enemies— obviously he killed mooks in the first game, but in this game heads were rolling left and right, seemingly without a care in the world.

And that brings me to the second thing; I’m not certain it was just this guy’s playthrough or not, but it bugged me that the Dark Side was not only used as a significant power up, but seemed necessary to complete the final boss fight of the game without insta-dying. Obviously the Dark Side can feel like it’s more powerful in the moment, but the way the game seemed to passively encourage you to use it without consequence. Again, I haven’t played it, so I don’t know that for certain, but it certainly looks that way.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

I think the important thing to remember about Cal's story is that it's a video game and video games, by necessity, are going to be told a different way than the usual narrative. Cal is always going to have to kill a lot of enemies without it being that big of a deal because that's how these kinds of video games WORK. He's going to murder basically every stormtrooper and Imperial officer he comes across because that's the mechanics of the game. But we see that he offers the Ninth Sister mercy initially, he doesn't WANT to kill her, he only does so because she begs him to and it's more merciful to kill her than leave her alive. It's not cold-blooded murder. Same with Bode, he doesn't WANT to kill Bode and he TRIES to get Bode to stop so that he doesn't have to, but Bode refuses and Cal has to defend himself.

If you want to try to look at a more in-narrative reason for why Cal kills a little more often, Cal is a Jedi in a time when it's a death sentence to be a Jedi and the support he has is incredibly minimal. NORMALLY, Jedi wouldn't kill this much, but Cal is openly a Jedi and openly fighting the Empire to the point that his face is displayed really prominently on wanted posters in the middle of Coruscant. He's a huge target and he's trying to take down a galactic Empire. That's not something you can do peacefully and it takes everything he has just to survive. He's not living in a time of peace nor does he have the support of a major organization like the Republic to back him up the way he was supposed to, so he can't necessarily get away with being more merciful here. So yeah, he's more willing to kill stormtroopers and Imperial officers when necessary on a mission (and it's OFTEN necessary). While I don't think that necessarily indicates bad writing or anything, I DO think that it makes sense that Cal, as someone who's been doing this for five years now, isn't holding back very much.

Also, the storyline in this game is all about Cal having to struggle with his own darkness. In Fallen Order it was more about Cal figuring out what it means to be a Jedi, he's going around helping people a lot and seeing how other people are fighting against the Empire. In Survivor, he's been Knighted already and he's been out there fighting for five years. Everyone he cared about has wandered off to do their own thing and he has to build up a new crew that are almost all immediately killed off, starting Cal's struggle with darkness and feeling abandoned and losing his hope. He's confident now, and he is slowly losing more and more of the things he started to rely on, and that comfort with killing evolves into his more literal struggle with the dark side and having to let go of his own anger and fear and pain. He CAN'T use darkness to kill, he can't kill out of anger. And that's exactly what he does. It's hard, he nearly loses it, but he's able to hold himself back just enough to keep himself from completely falling. So while I think it's UNDERSTANDABLE that Cal, as a Jedi openly fighting against the Empire during this time period, would be more willing to kill people than show mercy in order to complete a mission, it's also part of the overall story being told about Cal in this game.

For the final battle, you DO have to use the dark side power-up thing in the fight, but the fight itself is just game mechanics, the CUT SCENES are the important story bits. Cal wins that fight WITHOUT killing Bode, he makes a whole speech about letting go, and then he turns away and when he DOES kill Bode, it's not with the power-up, it's not out of anger, it's just basic self defense. It's not entirely unlike Obi-Wan vs Maul in TPM where Obi-Wan IS sort-of reacting out of anger and a desire for vengeance earlier on but has to let that go BEFORE he kills Maul. Luke COULD kill Vader out of anger, we see how close he gets, but he ultimately chooses not to because he recognizes he shouldn't. Cal's fight with Bode is following in those same footsteps narratively. He DOES pull on darkness during the fight, but he's ultimately able to let go and doesn't KILL Bode with that darkness at all. It's a pretty basic Jedi storyline we've seen a few times before.

When dealing with video games that are telling the story, it's very important to separate the video game mechanics from the actual story. Quite often, the story itself isn't told through the regular gameplay and the gameplay can even contradict the story we're being told. For example, if you keep playing Survivor after the final battle with Bode, you can STILL USE THE DARK SIDE POWER UP even though Cal has NARRATIVELY moved away from that darkness already and would theoretically not actually be using it anymore at all and certainly not in like... regular little battles against the local wildlife. You can also obviously utilize it that way between the moment you DO get the power-up and the final battle, even though Merrin has already talked about how dangerous it is and asked Cal not to use it. The power-up in game mechanics is JUST a power-up, it has no character impact at all to use it. It's just another tool in your arsenal until you get to the cut scenes. What the dialogue is telling us is almost directly contradicted by how the gameplay works.

Hopefully this helps you a little. I like the characters and the story enough that I'm willing to sort-of work with what they give me to create a narrative that fits the way I want it to. I think there's a good story in Survivor about the impact of being a survivor of a genocide and having to fight against the people who want you dead for YEARS. I generally like the way that's handled and the messages being sent in this story. I think there's areas that are a little awkward and moments I like slightly less, but overall I really enjoyed it.

[shadowshrike]

Ascended Astarion Appreciation Post

I'm not going to do a true analysis here because I feel like all the individual lines of spawn/ascended/neutral Astartion and how broad the interpretations of them can be depending on the context of your playthrough have already been discussed ad nauseam by the fandom. The stellar voice work only adds to the ability for a player to feel a connection with whatever narrative they like best. However, I want to throw my personal experience with his storyline into the ring because I feel it's rather unusual.

For my style of play, I initially only brought Astarion along on my 'clever evil' run. I had no knowledge of his storyline before I started and didn't do any metagaming to win his approval; I just brought him along because the 2 minutes I saw of him in my main run made him seem like a good fit for a Tav with selfish choices. This was a custom bard playthrough where I made everyone love me by being a great con artist, killed the few who might make my rise to power more difficult (like the Nightsong), and lightly manipulated our companions into giving me their protection while I only took on minor risk. Naturally, Astarion played well with this character. He was entertained by having a partner to 'play' with, one who didn't get put off by cruel comments or his lust for power and was good at pretending to be manipulated by the questionably charismatic vampire.

I expected the power lust and loss of humanity toward the end of his story. What I did not expect was that by doing an Ascended playthrough first, I would ruin my desire to reload for the Spawn ending later. After all, aren't you supposed to want to do the "Good" thing when your default gameplay style is Good-aligned?

What solidified it for me were two things. First, his response to the Gur. His reaction suggested to me that he was probably a power-hungry noble before he was turned, one who paid the consequences for his cruelty, jumped at the chance for an escape through Cazador when faced with the consequences of that cruelty, and then spent the next 200 years being tortured horrifically for it. From everything I gleaned through his half-retelling, his story was much like the victims of hags or devils. I felt bad for the disproportionate horror of his fate, but there was an odd sort of justice in it as well, one that had long descended into pure evil thanks to the creature he fell victim to.

The second thing that turned me from doing a full playthrough just to see the Spawn ending was, oddly enough, the confession where he explains he's been manipulating you and has accidentally developed feelings. Now, this is partly because I may have accidentally skipped part of the animation, but when I decided to reciprocate the 'heartfelt feelings' as part of my character's manipulation, his answering smirk seemed to say, "Gotcha. So all I have to do is act vulnerable, weak, and like I would be nicer if someone just loved me for once in my life, and they'll protect me forever. I can do that."

After that point, I could never take any statement he made about redemption seriously, especially not if he was particularly blunt about it. The nail-on-the-head speeches I'd seen from him on the spawn path seemed exactly that - too perfect. Like it was exactly what a good character would want to hear, and something a rather poor manipulator but one who specializes in making people feel loved (which Astarion is) would fall back on. That's not to say the words don't ring with truth - they really do thanks to the beautiful voice work - but in the context of his relationship with power and dependence, every word felt like falling back on old habits to manage his fears. Ones he may not even be aware of, truthfully.

Do I think that was the intent by the writers? Absolutely not. But the more I pressed on in the story and he never reverted to that overly sweet act after he realized my character was actually more interested in giggling with him over how to obtain absolute power, the more it felt like the whole 'poor victim' act, although absolutely rooted in some truth, was truly an act to him.

He was terrified, would always be terrified, and had no problem doing whatever he needed to do in order to keep that terror at bay. His desperation made him easy to manipulate. He begged for both the tadpole's powers and Raphael's deal, staying true to a character that would always take the risk as long as it didn't threaten his vanity like the astral tadpole did. He was clearly incapable of forming a healthy relationship with anyone and had no interest in actually working on himself. Still, he was a master at adjusting his behaviors just enough to make himself safer in his new 'goodish' environment by acting like he had come to appreciate goodness. Not that he was ever completely heartless, even on a selfish/evil run, but it became clear that he mostly wanted goodness for himself. He didn't want a lack of chains in the world. He wanted to be the one holding them.

Ascending him was the obvious choice in an evil run. I would both be giving him the one thing he truly wanted and putting him forever in my debt...at least until his annoyance at having a debt outweighed his fear of being alone.

Becoming his spawn, on the other hand, was a hard choice. And probably the most satisfying narrative choice I made in all my playthroughs, good or evil.

For context, I had refused to use any tadpole powers in this run, giving it to him instead, so he could deal with the risk while being pleased by being handed more power. I didn't want to sacrifice anything personally while I was busy putting everyone in my debt. But here I was faced with a dilemma - did I have confidence that my character could still manipulate this vampire driven by fear enough to take the world if I let him turn me into a spawn so I could be immortal? Would the good and evil armies I'd raised to my name be enough to stop Astarion if he started to lose his utter devotion to me and made me a mindless thrall? If I said no or suddenly cast doubt on him, he'd certainly be enraged, given my prior support of him and his fear of rejection. Was the danger of angering him on top of losing that ascended vampire power worth my mortal freedoms? How long would that freedom even last if I said no, assuming he truly did end up exactly like Cazador, who would likely have just taken it from me in a rage?

Interestingly, this choice was made for me by the insight check that some people hate so much. When I saw he thought my character was still above him, that I had to degrade myself to be with him, I realized the man's leash hadn't gone anywhere. I could use him to get me the world. Yes, he would continue trying to manipulate me with empty promises, but I would continue manipulating him in turn by appealing to his petty vanity and insecurities. And together, we could have everything he ever lusted after with the only cost being a soul he was more than willing to lose.

I think the perfect cap to this was the ending. A romanced Ascended Astarion's ending was easily the most satisfying ending part of all the little character moments of all my playthroughs. The evil power fantasy was perfect. With the choices I made, it implied he was 100% as much my thrall as I was his (less literally in his case), leaving the corruption of his character beyond pure power lust open to interpretation. Add to that the satisfaction of his new unique dialogs near that end, and I was blown away. His confidence, for once, did not seem fake, though it was still informed by the fears that had driven him from the beginning. It was not his most healed or kind self (and how could he be either of those in any ending after 200 years of torture unless he was lying?), but his most free self, enjoying everything he ever wanted in a blaze of glory, relishing in his control, and fully giving himself to the newfound passions given by his second life.

Is he evil, selfish, and controlling? Absolutely. Will some hero inevitably take him out down the line when he gets a little too crazy with his powers? Probably. But such is the beauty and fun of the evil power fantasy.

It's unfortunate that playing this route, I can't enjoy how he is chained by the spawn route. I can understand what it is trying to do. Promoting the power of forgiveness, love, and support to allow someone to be their best self. It aims to apply human healing patterns to a supernatural creature in a cathartic way, one that has been successful for a great many people. But for me, it just doesn't land.

On runs where I care about his fate on a personal level, I hate to see him forced into a life where he loses all the things that have brought him joy, either now or when his lover dies. I don't want my choices 'for his own good' to mandate he forever sacrifices his own wants and needs. I hate how he tells you that you made the right choice after things have calmed down if you refuse to help him because what other option does he have? You've stripped him of hope outside of your protection. Without a cure, he's helpless at the feet of the Good heroes surrounding him who could end him in an instant if he's anything other than grateful and fawning for how much you've saved him. After the other route, that fate feels like dying a second slow death for a character so desperate for freedom and power, no matter how self-destructive it is. And since he basically says you did the 'right thing' when you have a high relationship no matter what end you choose with him, Good or Evil or in-between, it loses its power to me as a narrative anchor to any feel-good moments.

Personally, I like Astarion most as a character who is able to fulfill his base desires, ugliness and all. I think he's written in a way where he's well-suited to be both a victim and an awful person. I like the unique narrative of him being someone who is a bit of a monster and most fulfilled by being his worst self rather than seeking redemption, but appreciate that most people feel more fulfilled by a route where he's humanized and gets to heal through romance or a supportive friend.

I encourage everyone to find their own favorite variation of him. To me, he is one of the messiest characters who can have wildly different 'truths' depending on the context of your playthrough and your interpretations of his lines. Since he's a known liar and manipulator (and an unfathomably old one at that by human standards), there are a million and one different headcanons you can use to fill in the blanks on what he really means, who he really is, and what he really wants or needs.

I hope everyone out there enjoys whatever version of Astarion they like best. For me, I think I just might have to try a different variation on an evil playthrough. I want to see what other contexts I can get for his Ascension story and whether any of them hit as many satisfying narrative notes as my first.

[deltaswapjevil]

Undertale rants pt. 1

As much as I love Undertale Asriel is such a disappointing final boss of what's meant to be Undertales true ending When compared to Sans, Omega Flowey, and even Asgore; Asriel fails as a final boss

Sans practically cheats the whole fight; getting the first cheap hit, his karma damage, dodging all your attacks, and just using general cheap tricks to mess with you. For the entire Genocide route all monsters (for the most part) go down easily and let you walk all over them. Sans is the perfect final boss as he shows you that your actions have consequences and if you're gonna fight dirty then so will he. It's not just how hard his fight is, it's how he playfully mocks you throughout the fight that really frustrates you. He doesn't want to kill you. He knows you'll just come back. He just wants to piss you off until you quit. Until you reset and bring everyone back. That's why his fight works. It's made to be frustrating and annoying. You've made your choice now Sans is gonna make sure you pay for it

Throughout the entire game characters have dropped hints about the King Asgore. Truly setting him up to be the final boss. And while any player knows that he is not he sure as hell still feels like one. The choice to let us know at the very last moment that we are going to have to kill him is heartbreaking for anyone who is trying to play the game as intended and spare everyone. Especially after hearing how much the monsters of the underground look up to him. He gives them hope for a better future and the player, if they wish to return home, has to tear that all away from them. And when you finally meet him...it's even more heartbreaking. He is a kind gentle soul not truly wanting to hurt anyone. He'll even let you run away or wait until you're ready before he fights you. He creates a very peaceful welcoming aura that you know won't last long. When you do fight him the opening song "Bergentrückung" plays as you're given one last boost of determination. One last reminder that this is it. This is the end. Everything you worked for is finally going to pay off...and then he destroys the mercy button. Now you are forced to fight him. No matter how badly you want a happy ending the game will force you to turn to violence. The fight is designed to get harder the longer you stall. Like Flowey said: It's kill or be killed. If you want to win this fight then you have to attack back. The regal boss fight music and increasingly difficult attacks truly create a very tense fight. Asgore can't even look you in the eyes as he fights you... knowing that one of you won't leave here alive. My first time fighting I had died so many times that I forgot the person I was fighting and I just kept spamming attack and then after the final blow...you defeated him. It was over. You won but at what cost? But you're given one last bit of hope... One last chance at a happy ending as the Mercy Button reappears....you spare him...he talks about taking you in as a family...and then....that's ripped away from you. As you watch Asgore be killed by Flowey who has been hiding in the background for much of the game who you've surely forgotten about during your adventure but might always been in the back of your mind wondering what that weird flower from the beginning was all about... Then he takes the human souls and-

Omega Flowey breaks everything you know about the game. From sending you back to the start only to twist it, to destroying your save file just like that, to mocking you Everytime you die then bringing you back just to do it all again he, much like Sans, is toying with you. But for a different reason. Simply for his own enjoyment. The fight takes everything already established in the game and throws it away for something truly chaotic and, during the first playthrough, frightening. Everything about it is meant to be unnerving, suspenseful, and make you feel like everything is truly hopeless. Flowey twisted himself into a grotesque mix of flesh, plants, and machinery. The fight has no turn based combat or even a bullet box instead putting you for a, seemingly infinite, bullet hell section. The music is like nothing else in the game being very overwhelming, suspenseful and frightening as well as being timed to the phases of the fight. The first time you play you have no idea what's going on however it's also not too confusing to where you can figure it out and eventually gain the upper hand. The hopelessness that the music and Flowey conveyed changes into an uplifting melody as Flowey slowly loses his confidence and begins spamming attacks in hopes of regaining some control. It's not noticeable at first playthrough but Flowey seems to spam one attack a bunch in the final phase while spamming reloads as if he's trying to find something, anything that will work as the tables are turned. Ending the fight with the option to spare...or to kill Flowey... The fight is one of the most beautifully constructed combinations of boss design, music, and gameplay that create a very unique and edge of your seat experience

And then theres Asriel

The fight is built up very dramatically. Everyone came together to try and find a peaceful solution just like you, the pacifist player, has strived for. Only for Flowey to try and take it all away again. And I do mean all of it. The human souls. The monster souls. Everyone's hopes. Everyone's dreams. And now...he's back to Asriel...but with the powers of a god. The fight starts off like any other until the song kicks into beat and the background becomes a collection of beautiful vibrant colors and- Well that's about it for the first phase. The unique actions are pretty fitting and definitely makes that unique...the music definitely slaps...but most of the attacks aren't anything game breaking. Not like Omega Flowey or Sans or even Asgore breaking the mercy button. There's nothing that's too fundamentally changed about the gameplay. The final attack isn't even that interesting and it's not until the second phase that we get anything really groundbreaking. Asriel (despite saying he's been holding back and is going to unleash his full power) only uses one fire attack. Though I guess it could be reasoned that he is still very much a child inside and spamming this attack is similar to Omega Flowey or a kid playing a particularly hard video game and they'll just start spamming whatever seems to work. Saving The Lost Souls and Asriel is very compelling storywise but it doesn't make that much of a fun fight. That sums up Asriels fight perfectly. It's very story driven, is a beautiful conclusion to the game but not a very satisfying final boss the same way Sans and Omega Flowey were

But I love Undertale and Toby Fox and no disrespect to him or anyone else working on it. It's still a very fun game and has characters and fights I adore. I just was disappointed at how standard Asriels fight is in comparison to the other final bosses. I hope the final boss of Deltarune would trump all these bosses and we'll see Toby create more masterpieces in the future whether it be games or just music.

But hey....maybe the reason Asriel didn't break the game as much as Flowey is because he didn't get every monster soul...maybe he is in shock the entire fight as he's not at full power and is confused about how this isn't working... because he missed one soul ... Napstablook's....If he got Napstablook's soul there's no telling how powerful he'd be Maybe he'd be unbeatable But .... Napstablook didn't let him take their soul....therefore:

Napstablook is the true hero of Undertale

[moghedien]

I just started my first playground of baldur's gate 3, do you have any tips?

sorry for answering a bit late, I'm about to hit by a hurricane lol

anyway, I may not be the best to ask as a lot of people have been playing the game for much much longer than me, and I'm not always sure what people don't know/miss

overall, I'd say don't worry too much about picking a "wrong" option or messing up, especially not in the first playthrough. there are very few instances where you make a "bad" mistake and don't immediately know it. if you don't like how something turns out, just reload and try again. or just go with it and see what happens and do it differently next time. also remember to save and quicksave, and that you can quicksave in the middle of dialogue even.

also don't worry too much about your build. like yes, you can minmax everything to your hearts content to do maximum damage at all times, but you can also just not do that and do whatever you want and get through the game just as fine. from my experience, its very hard to break a character and make them useless, and even if you do that, you can just respec them later.

Also some quick tips that might be slightly spoilery. I'm not gonna get into details with it, but I'm putting them last in case you don't wanna read. It mostly pertains to stuff that you might actually miss/think you're gonna miss:

You can go into the Underdark or Mountain Pass (Gith Creche) whenever you want and still go back to the main act one area. Those aren't really points of no return, they just have harder enemies, but you can back track after going to those places and even go to both of them despite the game making it seem like you have to make a choice. You just don't want to proceed past those places until you're ready to leave act one for good. You'll know you're near the exit for Act One when you meet and a certain old wizard.

You can absolutely recruit Minthara in a good playthrough and while still recruiting Halsin. When Halsin asks you to kill the goblin leaders, you still need to fight Minthara, but toggle on "non-lethal" damage (google how to do it if you don't know, its a bit different based on PC vs console and its probably best to visually see what you have to do anyway). Fight her and knock her unconscious, and take out the rest of the goblins (lethally or not, your choice), just be careful of hitting her with area effects. Once the battle is done, hover over her body, and it should say she's unconscious instead of dead. She's still lootable, and just leave her sleeping there. Later in the game, she'll come back and you'll get a chance to recruit her (and it won't really be something you can miss, you'll know when you're at that spot).

In Act 2, when you're at a certain Inn, if you want the best case scenario for certain NPCs and also probably one of your companions, DO NOT let the cleric get kidnapped. If she gets taken in the fight, reload and try again until she isn't.

Long Rest in camp (especially in act 1) with different companions active in your party. Some cutscenes won't trigger unless they're in your party so you can miss out on some scenes if you don't swap people out occasionally. The main ones for this that I remember are Astarion, Shadowheart, and Lae'zel.

If you aren't playing a durge character, maybe do that afterward. I think I'm glad I did durge after I beat the game with a non-origin character first, but playing durge is an entirely different experience for the game. I imagine playing as the other origins too, but I haven't done any of them yet.

ummm, that's all I can really think of at the moment, so if anyone else wants to chime in with stuff, feel free

[alicelufenia]

would you recommend pursuing a minthara romance with her current state?

and follow-up questions—can a resisting durge still work with minthara? will she hate us? do you have to go all or nothing?

Despite every Minthara fan's protestations she is literally the most stable and accessible ever right now.

Her romance dialogue works, as little as it is (you "only" need external tools to access one set of dialogue, whereas before it was two or more, but even then it wasn't a big deal). Her kisses from patch 6 are 🔥🔥FIRE🔥🔥 and have a chance to trigger an easter egg dialogue where you feel strange after one of your kisses. Pretty sure that's unique to her, so that's cool.

Knocking her out in a "side with the Grove" run is as simple as using non-lethal damage on the last blow. She has banter with and comments on every other companion (except Halsin; they used to be mutually exclusive so they'll just ignore each other. Honestly preferable to them remaining exclusive)

As usual the most reliable way to recruit her is still to side with the goblins which is not everyone's cup of tea. If you can though, it is EASILY the best experience; her act 1 romance is incredible and ties in beautifully with her recruitment in act 2 (hint: enter her mind rather than fighting the guards first)

It's also recommended cause she still doesn't have an act 3 romance scene. The quest to retrieve Orin's Netherstone effectively becomes her companion quest, which is okay. Romancing her without her act 1 scene is still totally possible, get ready to say and do some questionable things (not too bad tho: my Tav is Oath of Devotion and I have 89 approval in act 3 without breaking my oath)

Resisting Durge CAN still romance Minthara, they have an epilogue scene together and everything. Telling her you intend to resist will earn you a warning that she'll end the relationship, but nothing happens if you do. The only thing that will end your relationship is cheating on her. On the upside, that means lots of reactions to everything you can do by end game.

Hotfix 21 added dialogue where she claims to break up with Redeemed Durge after rejecting Bhaal, then hotfix 22 removed it (it didn't actually end the relationship so Larian only knows why) Minthara fans have STRONG opinions one way or the other as to whether this addition/removal was good or bad (my opinion is that no reaction is less satisfying than SOME reaction, but especially with Larian's announcement that they will end creating new content for bg3 soon, we can't realistically expect anything more here either way)

Bottom line: you can romance her in any playthrough, you just need the approval. She has by far the least romance content out of all the companions except maybe Halsin, but if you enjoy her dialogue and like to headcanon-fill in the blanks you will still have a good time (I certainly have!)

Every Origin character has special lines and epilogues with her too. Fan favorites seem to be Karlach and Gale (don't know anything about the others personally)

Thanks for your question, hope that helped!

[fraeuleintaka]

AAIC: German Translation!

This is the 13th post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 68 days left until release!

Today's topic: the German Translation!

With the first official Western release for Investigations 2 in the Investigations Collection we not only get an English Localisation but also translations into German, French, Korean, Traditional and Simplified Chinese! After so many years of English-only (and sometimes not even Western) releases it's great to see that AA reached such a popularity high in recent years that they translate it into multiple languages again.

I will mainly talk about the German translation as it’s my mother tongue and the language I first played Ace Attorney in. I originally played the German releases of AJ and AA1-3 back on the DS. Apart from being translated they change nothing about the games, names and everything stays the same. So for everyone who doesn’t know, the von Karmas are still German in the German translation which was weird and kinda cool for my teenage self because it’s such a random choice of country for them to be from but I loved seeing it in a game I really enjoyed. Klavier was an even weirder case because the German translation doesn’t change the language he throws in phrases from which is why you don’t really get that part of his character in German except his quirk of calling women „Fräulein“ (which is not a word anyone really uses anymore except mothers when they scold their daughters sometimes). His name is also the only one that’s been changed because „Klavier“ is really just „piano“ in German and therefore very unfitting as a name when the entire game is in that language. (Which is also the reason why I actively pronounce his name differently than what the object is called because just calling him „piano“ feels terrible and I like the way it sounds when I pronounce it differently.) In German he’s Kantilen. Back then I only switched to playing AA in English because Investigations 1 only had an English release in the West. After that I replayed the other games in English as well because I got used to thinking of the characters talking in English and any new releases since then also being English-only reinforced it all the more.

Returning to the present, I finally get the chance to play not only Investigations 1 but also Investigations 2 in German! (DD and SoJ as well but I’m focusing on the Investigations Collection.) It’s been so long that I honestly never thought this in particular would happen, even getting Investigations 2 in English seemed like a distant dream for so long, but here we are! It’s not something that I felt I really needed, as I said I got used to playing AA in English, but now that I know I will have the option I feel weirdly giddy about it! I already mentioned in previous countdown posts that I intend to replay the entire collection immediately to get any achievements that I missed and to try out the arranged music tracks for both games so I'm also going to use this opportunity to play both games in German for the first time after doing the first playthrough in English. So excited to see what the translation is like!

I don't think I even remember what the original German voices sounded like but I look forward to hearing them again and I'm especially excited for the new ones! I hope they're fitting. And I'm curious how they'll translate the special phrases like Shi-Long's "Not so fast!" or Justine's "Overruled!". For Shi-Long's I think "Nicht so schnell!" would easily work the best, it's the 1:1 equivalent, sounds just as natural and takes the same amount of time to say. For Justine's I'm not so sure. I can really only think of "Abgelehnt!" as what a judge would say to overrule an objection but it's not as specific, you can use it for any kind of suggestion or proposal which might make her sound like a really annoying clerk in an office who won't accept your documents in triplicate 😅 On the other hand, that might fit really well in a way, Idk. For Miles' "Eureka!" it's easy again, "Heureka!" is the 1:1 equivalent here.

Looking forward to finding out!