#I lowkey hate the end result but hey. I finished it. It’s decent. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ryttu3k · 3 years

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Finishing up SoNY, ‘bad’ end and final thoughts!

But first, the early game over.

Wow, she just gets shot. Not even slurped? That’s rude as hell XD;;

And on to the ‘bad’ end!

Beginning is much the same, ofc.

“You’re too in love with weaving a good story and establishing a seductive narrative to let facts get in the way.” Foreshadowing for the ‘good’ end, maybe?

God that Embrace scene gives me literal goosebumps.

Alright! Last time I did Danse Macabre and Retributive Justice, let’s try The Risks of Swiping Right!

lmao god I’d eat this guy too. Back to the ghost club! That legitimately is a really neat scene. ...Ooh yes so that’s where the girl was from.

Panhard just lowkey dying at the mental image of Katherine Weise in a fast food restaurant is so good.

The sweet scene between Julia and Dakota hits a bit different after the ‘good’ end XD;;

Went to the park, reminisced, and helped out the guy. That was sweet ;_; High-humanity Julia, this time!

‘Fairy God Mother?’ is great but ‘Vin Diesel?’ is objectively the funnier response.

“Shining even more brightly than usual, Aisling.” Samira got a cru-ush~

Poor Julie. It’s probably been tough without Sophie around :(

Huh. Interestingly, refusing to lie to Mia results in Julia actually feeling genuine loyalty to the Cammies (for now, at least).

Believing Agathon is still alive = more optimistic = different dialogue! See, this is how you make choices have consequences, game!

Oooh boy time to meet Adelaide XD;;

“She uncrosses her legs in a strangely seductive motion. In her mind’s eye, it probably looked like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, but in reality, it had all the grace of a tracksuit Slav squatting.” *snickering*

Fight me, Adelaide >:(

‘sup Nastya. Went with the slightly less disruptive routine here XD Huh, she’s an aspiring DJ! Julia is deeply confused as to how being a DJ and being head of security works together.

lmao Julia referring to Hope as a girlboss. That phrase has lost all meaning to me...

The conversation between Julia and Father Leonard is still really interesting. Man, you know who I want Julia to talk to? Anatole. Interesting insights into balancing being queer Catholic vampires there for sure.

lmao oh my god I want to fight this street reporter.

‘I can almost feel my brain losing its wrinkles.’ *snort*

Yeaghhhh the Abyss bit is still so creepy...

Oops. Being honest regarding Tamika and Torque’s relationships gets a fail :(

Oh, or not XD That works! Also, uh, apparently the giant albino ghoul alligator is real, according to New York by Night. He’s Calebros’ pet.

“Because I think I have a pretty good nose for people’s auras. And when I take a good look at you... ...somehow, I have a feeling you’re a surprisingly decent person. Whatever way of unlife you choose, I hope you don’t change it. And that you remember my advice.” :)

“I know.” Oof.

“Hi.” “WAAAH!” lmao sorry Princess XD;; Just trying to imagine Qadir’s face as he tells Julia to find a 1990 glass statue of Scrooge McDuck... dying...

Oh she’s so a Toreador XD Low art options are a fantasy book, an anime DVD, or a video game... those can all be arty, though! And went with the anime DVD called ‘Ririsu no Daibouken’... that translates to ‘Adventures of Lilith’. How on the nose XD “The cover says ‘Lilith’s Carnal Carnival’.” Oh. Yeah, that’d do it XD

“This 90s original video anime presents us with a tale of five big-bosomed samurai warriors travelling through America in search of General Hastavista, The Incubus King. Don’t let all the titillation misguide you: the main draws here are peerless direction, a nearly avant-garde editing rhythm and dialogue that coyly comments on traditional gender roles in anime. Once you see the animation in the final battle, you’ll understand why it never fails to set a sakuga fan’s heart ablaze!”

She’s my new favourite.

“So can I know your name now?”

“Hmmm... Let me think...

No. <3″

I need to stress that the heart appears in the dialogue box. Like. The actual less-than-three heart.

Didn’t investigate the rat this time, so Qadir did and I die. “Glad you’re alright, little guy.” Qadir...

Still not over the drunk blood doll rats.

Kaiser’s still a goddamn creep and this time Julia is not going too far. She still has her humanity, dammit. Final set of traits:

Loyal to the end

Glass half-full

Not into a bad cop schtick

Honesty is the best policy

No more human, still humane

Onwards to the ‘bad’ end! Oops, and Dakota still did the Single White Female thing XD;;

Man I’m still really curious who the ‘good friend’ is!!

Okay! Time for end game!!

So that’s the good friend, huh? “Let me phrase it differently, then. You’re not Ecaterina the Wise, the Agitator of Prague, a Brujah elder causing turbulences all over the world... are you?”

Mention of Christof! Mention of Christof doing shady shit :| Poor Hana.

“An immigrant from Eastern Europe comes to New York City, takes the position she always expected to find herself in, is molded into someone who is no longer herself.”

Julia and Dakota representing Carthage is kind of neat.

I want to say the mention of St Jude is a reference, but I’m not sure what to XD;; Is that from Redemption? Christof could have been the one to tell Hana that.

“Like a two-person human centipede loop or something. An Ouroburos? Or an, uhh, Mobius strip?” No, that’s the other traditionally Sabbat clan XD

That‘s. That’s a hell of a reconciliation XD “Yeah, let’s give it a try. By the way I’m on the run for my unlife, want to go to California and try to find utopia?”

Julia, wear a fucking mask XD

“Hey.”

“Yeah?“

“Do you love me?”

“... Of course I do. For now, at least.”

I still don’t know if I love her. Or even if I can love anyone, for that matter. I’m a fucking monster, after all. I don’t even know if we’ll exist next month. The prospects are not looking good. But although I can’t see myself in the rearview mirror right now...

...I will remember this image of us leaving the city, somewhat melancholic, and somewhat hopeful, forever. And maybe the meaning of this image will be clarified with time. Or maybe I will just force a more positive description on it, and that is what I’ll believe.

No matter what happens... even if oceans of blood lie before us, I will make this a cherished memory.

Whatever possible salvation still remains for me... ...it probably lies in the eyes of another.

Oh dang I have chills.

So the ‘bad’ ending is about the subverted compromise. Julia resigns herself to letting the compromise about the truth of Callihan’s death go ahead. ‘Catherine’ is a walking compromise to hide the Ecaterina’s real deeds. But while Hana is still stuck in her role for now, Julia refuses to accept the compromise she’s made, both the one relating to the investigation and the compromise she made of her own views and morals. It might blow up in her face, yeah. But damn, she’s going to try.

So, final thoughts! For the sake of completion, this is what I said about Coteries:

And of course this is the part where the game all falls apart :-\

Just… god. This is probably the biggest problem with CoNY, and the reason I didn’t bother getting it until it was like… 60% off. The bulk of the game is great - the writing is intriguing, the design is stunning. But the choices themselves are so limited it’s barely worth even getting it at 60% off!

You have three choices of characters, with their own opening chapters and own individual scenes with their touchstones. You have four choices of coterie members, and three sidequests. You can probably get in at least three full story arcs and a sidequest or two, but you’re only ever limited to two of your coterie members showing up at the not-yet-endgame.

So let’s say you decide to play all three protags, which, indeed, is encouraged (there’s an achievement for it). You are going to repeat coterie arcs and side quests, because there simply aren’t enough for three unique playthroughs.

And then you get to the end and literally everything is scripted. You get attacked by the SI. You get rescued by your two coterie members (and then never see them again, despite the game being called Coteries of New York). You meet Torque, you escape the SI, Sophie reveals her plan to Torque, you go to Ellis Island, Adelaide kills Sophie (and despite the fact that you’re given multiple options there, none of them work), Arturo does his spiel, end of game. You don’t even get to choose between ending up blood bound or going “no fuck you” and at least dying with a bit of dignity!

I just. I really want to like it, and there genuinely is a lot there to like! But uuuugh the ending. Like damn at least give the poor protag the option to choose what happens to them!

Anyway. Not sure what’s next. To get all the achievements, you have to finish with all three protags, so that’s three full runs and a lot of repetitiveness (compare to, say, Bloodlines or Night Road. I have eighty-five hours on Night Road and there’s still stuff I haven’t seen!), so I can’t even just… rush it through up to the meeting with the touchstones on the third play. Nope. Gotta finish it :-\

Final rating: 6/10

8/10 characters, 9/10 atmosphere, 8/10 story aside from ending, 3/10 story ending, 2/10 replayability. Final consensus: get it on major sale if you can, otherwise, you might as well just watch an LP. I might do that instead of doing a third run, although I at least want to do a second.

I ended up revising that 6/10 to 5.5/10 after finishing all runs and getting the achievements just out of how goddamn repetitive it was. So, how does Shadows measure up?

Absolutely continued with all the things I enjoyed about CoNY (characters, atmosphere, and writing), and of the bits I hated (cookie cutter protagonists, lack of real choice, repetitiveness, the godawful ending), every single part has been completely improved.

Instead of three fledglings so similar they even have the same internal thoughts, we have Julia, who’s got such a distinct voice that she becomes the most memorable game protag I’ve seen in years, and I’m including non-VtM games in this. This is absolutely her game, and it’s just... absolutely fascinating to read and watch.

Related - actual real choices. There are five key choices that determine the ending, and every single one has actual consequence in-game. You get different dialogue. Different introspection. Different philosophies. And this carries across - if Julia believes Agathon is alive, she’s more optimistic about her relationship with Dakota, too. And of course, both endings are completely distinct and incredibly written - the ‘good’ ending where Julia gives in to her most Lasombra instincts, plays the game, wins it, gets power and respect at the expense of her humanity and avoiding all those wraiths... or the ‘bad’ ending when she listens to her morals, reconciles with Dakota, and leaves for California, uncertain, but hopeful.

Not a lot of repetitiveness. Yes, by design, you’ll probably do two playthroughs. The main plot is much the same, but there are enough options there to get multiple dialogue options and stuff. And for the little sidequests, you can actually get all in with just the two playthroughs, only repeating like... two, I think. Still, I wasn’t feeling actively bored like I was midway through my second run of CoNY!

Loved seeing more in-depth backstory and development for the coterie members. Agathon’s section was particularly fascinating, literally getting into his head.

And just. Atmosphere and music is so, so good.

Final rating: 9/10. Thank you, Draw Distance, you hit it out of the park.

#vampire the masquerade #vtm shadows of new york #ry plays sony

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littlepanduh-writes-365 · 4 years

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Day 8

Title: Sick

Pairing: SinJu (gfriend)

Word Count: 939

Tags: slice of life, lowkey pretty boring, a lil domestic

cw: slight ideas of seasonal depression

Motivation: you got it. I’m sick. Not sure if I’m sick-sick or if I have the “winter blues”. I’m seriously feeling lackluster so I’m sorry if this is boring. I do actually think I might develop this though since it is pretty plain.

“What are you doing here?” Eunbi crosses her arms. “I’m not feeling too well. I’m sorry but you can’t stay for long.”

Yuna just smiles. “I know.” She then proceeds to take her shoes off.

Eunbi takes note of the plastic bag in her hand. “What’s in there?” She's hoping it’s not—

“Soup,” Yuna says. “You said you were cold and had a headache. The best solution for that is soup!” The girl with bangs makes her way to the kitchen.

The ice princess is flustered. She knows she’s been sending some despondent snaps to all her friends she has a streak with. She didn’t expect her best friend to come in with food.

“You didn’t have to do this.”

“Nonsense! Once you start feeling better, you can stop sending those sad snaps.”

So that was the cause. Eunbi feels guilty of burdening her friends. She just couldn’t help it because... she was alone.

“Stop standing in the middle of your own apartment. You look like a loser.”

Eunbi then looks at herself. She doesn’t acknowledge that she does look pitiful in her sweats and large blanket. “How long are you going to take? I might go take a shower.”

Yuna just shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t have anything to do today, but I don’t want to get contaminated with whatever you have.”

Eunbi just rolls her eyes. “I’m not that sick.”

“Whatever you say~!”

Eunbi takes a longer shower than usual. She feels bad that Yuna came over. She admits feeling warmer than usual and having a scratchy throat, she doesn’t feel bedridden though (even though she has been sleeping a lot these last few days).

She says that to herself and ignores how strangely sore her body feels.

When she’s finished, she changes into more decent house clothes. As she exits the bathroom, her nose is hit by a soothing smell. It wasn’t very spicy or exquisite. It smelt simple for her picky stomachs yet made with a lot of thought out into it.

Eunbi waddles to the kitchen, drying her hair. She’s a bit embarrassed by the piling dishes. After she cooks, she feels exhausted so she’s left them. It’s only been 3 days, but it was enough to fill her sink. “Sorry about the mess.” She’s trying to figure out an excuse.

“It’s fine. You’re sick. I’ll wash them before I leave.”

Eunbi wonders if she’s teasing her for being dramatic. She’s deciding to never post streak snaps with captions anymore.

She just wanted to complain. She didn’t expect Yuna to come with food and wash her dishes.

“The food has already heated up. It’s just beef broth with some vegetables.” Yuna noticed the look of distaste from Eunbi. “It’s good for people who are sick.”

Eunbi is about to protest again, but she admits that she hasn’t been able to stomach solid food and everything she’s been making herself has been really bland.

“Do you want to eat here or at your bed?”

Eunbi cringes because she admittedly has been sleeping on her couch because her room was too cold.

“Here is fine.”

The two sat across each other at Eunbi’s dinette. Eunbi gratefully takes the soup in front of her while Yuna eats an omelette she prepared for herself earlier. They talk about trivial things like going back to work and plans for the new year. Yuna expresses her sadness that the ice rink is about to close and Eunbi suggests they go there today, resulting in a glare from Yuna.

In the back of her head, Eunbi does feel bad that Yuna felt obligated to take care of her…

… but she’s slowly realizing that maybe she needed it.

She misses seeing her friends. She missed talking to them in person instead of through snaps or texts.

She misses not having to cook for herself. She misses… someone taking care of her.

She thinks about how she’s been feeling so lackluster for the past five days, droning in about not wanting to go to work and how stuffy she’s feeling. She doesn’t want to do anything because it’s so cold, yet she never leaves her apartment, even to go to work. She hates sleeping, but she thinks it will make her feel better if she gets rest.

It amazes her that spending 30 minutes with Yuna magically healed her, seriously questioning if she was sick or not.

Eunbi has been alone in this apartment for only three months, but she’s thinking this isolation is what’s making her sick instead of the cold weather outside.

Yuna wipes her hands on a towel. “Do you need anything else? Like medicine or something?”

Eunbi actually lists some things she needs, but doesn’t want to bother her best friend anymore. She genuinely feels better already. “I think I’ll be good.”

Yuna just smiles. “Okay. Let me know if you need anything.

The two walk towards the door. Eunbi wants to hug her goodbye, especially because she really doesn’t feel sick, but she knows Yuna wouldn’t allow it.

“Hey. Thanks… for taking care of me.”

Yuna just smiles. “Anytime buddy.”

Eunbi opens the door, already feeling emptiness creeping in. “Hey,” she tries to prolong their moments even longer. “Do you wanna go ice skating next week? I think the rink will be open until the end of the month. We can invite Yerim and them.”

Yuna just smiles. “Okay. Only if you feel better.” She gives a last smile and wave. “Feel better Hwang Eunbi.”

Eunbi watches her friend leave. There’s a mixture of emotions she’s not quite sure of. There’s sadness. There’s hope. There’s… warmth.

#littlepandub #365 challenge #sinju #i wrote this for one of my writer friends since she like sinjh #i dont really know gfried thag well so sorry its ooc #gfriend #sinb #yuju

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