#a lot of like. custom designs in there… i was experimenting with shadow
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Alright I wanted to post my opinion about dislyte’s new story mode and what I think they could’ve done different
SPOILERS FOR DISLYTE’S NEW STORY
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So to start; having the player be a character. It very much caught be off guard and I very much disliked how the first few chapters were hinting at Dislyte becoming an isekai. While I’m glad I was proven wrong, the player character still felt very jarring. What also felt jarring was the immediate assumption that the player used he/him, which separated that connection between the character and I. I feel like if Dislyte added the ability to change and customize your pronouns that would already improve the story mode experience. Similarly, I feel like the player character could’ve been designed a bit differently. Maybe give the character gloves or utilize that rocky material that hints at the player’s origins. We’ll told that throughout the story the reason why the player needs to wear that stupid helmet is to hide the fact that he’s half-miramon, but we as the actual player don’t see that until the very end for a few seconds. Finally, I wish we had a few dialogue options instead of pre-written dialogue for the player character. For most of the story, the player character felt kind of static and robotic, but having a few different reaction dialogue could’ve fixed those problems immediately while also having the player interact with the story rather than view the story. And it’s not like they couldn’t do that, because we see Dislyte use the multi-choice feature during the introduction and Tevor’s draw and guess sections.
Now for the story itself, I actually didn’t mind it at all. I appreciated that it was a wide range of character rather than the same ten in the original story mode. While the past few event stories have been a bit lacking, I honestly feel like it was because the better half of the writers were tasked with the new story mode. There’s a significant improvement in the narrative and characters, which was refreshing especially after cellblock tango. The world-building was also done well, allowing the world of Dislyte to feel more like a whole world rather than separated locations. Things tied it pretty decently in my opinion. It was also really nice being able to interact with other characters like Triki, Xuan Pin, Raven, etc. While the shadow decree felt a bit sidelined, it was also nice to see character development and interactions from them. In the normal story, we mostly see Leon and Freddy, with a bit of Anesidora in the later chapters. The new story, however, fleshes out Freddy and Anesidora a lot more (they fucked Leon though like bro had NOTHING). Especially during that cave scene, which I can do a whole character analysis on if this post does decently or I just wanna talk about it. Having those quirky character moments also felt very nice, once again referring to the golden city chapters. While I wasn’t crazy about Sachiko’s writing, and especially her character dump before the ending, but I did grow to appreciate her.
Now compared to the original story mode? Ehhhhhhhhhh hard to say. Truth be told, I wasn’t super crazy about the original story mode, mainly for the character writing. While every character had their moments, everyone felt one-dimentional and bland. Felt like if you took a shot everytime Brynn asked where Sieg was you’d be passed out before chapter 7. The original story was much more closed-off compared to the new story, almost like an event story. While the original story showcased the effects of the miracle and the displacement it caused thanks so Bernice’s character, there really wasn’t much else that the main story affected. I think that was one of the main critiques the main story faced as event stories fleshed out the world of Dislyte but not the main plot, so having a story mode that ties most events together is a lot more fulfilling. However, I can’t imagine how new players would react to the story not knowing the world-building stories from previous events. While it’s alright on its own, there are a few moments that new players would probably be very confused by, such as the use of the withered miracle and the lion’s heart. I’ll be honest, I skip stories that I don’t care as much for, so I never read Abigale’s event stories, Javid’s story, or Mateo’s story. While that didn’t effect my experience, I still had to adjust to Yamato being a prominent character for the first half, the use of the lion’s heart gem, and other small event easter eggs that I missed out on. This is probably Dislyte’s was to get newer players to buy the older stories in order to understand these details, but it still doesn’t feel new-player friendly unlike the original story mode. If I could change anything about this, I would made the easy story mode be Brynn’s story and the harder difficulty be the player’s story.
Finally, the elephant in the room; Gaius. Don’t get me wrong, I hate Gaius being the twist villain and shadow councillor. However, I feel like there should’ve been more than “Gaius is the bad guy now.” Similarly to Freddy and Anesidora, I could go into a whole character deep-dive about Gaius’ character, but to put it simply: I think Gaius is trying to be the balance rather mastermind. While it still feels like a character assassination, I feel like Gaius is trying to keep the esper union and the shadow decree at bay to prevent either side from taking over. I’d like to believe Gaius is playing the devil’s advocate as we see him constantly making sure the shadow decree doesn’t directly involve themselves with the union. A lot of people suggested that Hyde should’ve been the shadow councillor and while I do believe Hyde is another councillor, Hyde didn’t create the shadow decree to be the union’s evil counterpart. While he follows an antagonistic role, Hyde isn’t a villain, much like a good portion of the shadow decree. In the end, I hope they fix Gaius and tie in his original writing for future events and make overall improvements with the direction of the story.
On a completely separate note might write a what if dislyte fic with the shadow decree
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System Recommendations Based On What I Like About D&D
Sometimes you want to play a different system because you are looking for a brand-new experience. Sometimes you want to play a different system because you have an ethical objection to the one you're playing now. If you're the latter, you probably don't want to hear about how awesome games like Orbital Blues and Stillfleet are. They are awesome, but right now you're looking for a system to move to that can capture the magic you feel playing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. This post is for you.
Here are the parts of D&D 5e that I really enjoy:
Involved Character Customization ("Build Creating")
Tactical Combat
Ability to use Magic
Appealing World
High Fantasy With Heroic, Upbeat, or even Comedic Undertones
Getting to be Gay with my Friends
Each of my recommendations has at least two of these factors and is intended to be played in a group setting over multiple sessions. So let's jump in!
Blue Rose (or The AGE System)
Features: Tactical Combat, Build Creating, Magic, Appealing World, High Fantasy, Gay
Blue Rose uses the AGE System, which might be some of my favorite tactical combat design. In particular, I love stunts. When you roll good in combat or other scenarios, you get stunt points, which you can spend to create additional effects, like setting up a teammate or taunting your opponent. There's a lot of options to choose from when building a character, and you can make some of that stuff synergize real well. This is all true of most AGE system games, so I'd also recommend checking out Fantasy AGE and the Dragon Age TTRPG.
Blue Rose in particular is all about Romantic Fantasy: humans going on fantastical adventures with magic talking animals, protecting the land and those who would harm it, that kind of stuff. The setting is also explicitly queer, and "relationships" are an emphasized part of character creation and development. Found Family all over the place.
If you liked The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, or the Uncaged anthologies, you might enjoy Blue Rose!
7th Sea
Features: Tactical "Combat," Magic, Appealing World
7th Sea is all about swashbuckling adventure, court intrigue, and intense action. There technically isn't a "combat" system in 7th Sea, so much as there is an "action" system. Swordfights, escaping a burning ship, high-stakes chases: all that stuff uses the same system, where you have to think about how to set up good opportunities. The combat is meant to be fast-paced. GMs are encouraged to not give players too much time to think.
The world is full of secret societies and shadow organizations, as one would expect for a game about gentlefolk and intrigue. One of my favorite parts in particular is the "Story," which is what 7th Sea calls a PC's backstory. There are guidelines for creating one, with expectations and progression hard-coded in, from the First Step to the ultimate resolution.
There's a lot here to do with Ship Combat. If you liked Ghosts of Saltmarsh or 3rd Party products like the Seas of Vodari, give this a look.
Thirsty Sword Lesbians
Features: Upbeat Fantasy, GAY
Let me start by saying that you can play this game in any genre. In the Advanced Lovers and Lesbians expansion there's even rules for playing a session as a pack of hyenas. But if your table is the type to really lean hard into developing your characters' relationships, between PC and NPC and PC and PC, then this is the game for you. Mechanics allow you to place strings on other characters, giving you "pull" with them to influence a later decision. Status conditions are extreme emotions, and the only way to deal with them is to lean on another teammate for emotional support or indulge them in a cathartic and destructive manner (you can relieve being angry by breaking something that has value to another person, for example).
If you are gay and you play D&D you are legally obligated to try TSL. I DO make the rules.
Court of Blades
Features: Magic, Appealing World
When folks say they like Eberron and want to do crimes, I tell them to play Blades in the Dark. When folks say they like fey magic and high society and doing dirty work for wealthy patrons, I tell them to play its sexy cousin Court of Blades. CoB is a Forged in the Dark game, meaning it uses the Blades system. Instead of a heist crew, you're a coterie, and you perform errands for your patron that run the gamut from assaulting a rival to publicly embarrassing them.
One of my favorite parts about FitD systems is how it handles the aftermath of your adventures. Different groups across the city might react differently to the news, and that propels future adventures. The City of Ilrien is full of hooks and briars for your characters and GMs to get stuck on.
Court of Blades might seem like the outlier on this list, but my favorite official 5e adventure was Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. If you liked that one too, and you're looking to lean into that WAY more, you should give CoB a look.
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Baldur's Gate 3 - Amazing and Sometimes Awful [Quick Review]
Baldur's Gate 3 is a herculean feat of game development with amazing voice acting work spread across it's many many hours, fantastic character designs, interesting gameplay and more. It also suffers from D&Ds character progression systems, the way the games worlds are set up, and the system of true RNG that it is emulating. Beyond that the game despite it's own beauty is extremally buggy and faces significant late game performance issues. However, the game does some stand out things for queerness that a lot of other RPGs fail at. This game is a mixed bag that might also be game of the year.
With over 122 hours logged into the game I feel fairly confident in my ability to access what I experienced but given how big of an undertaking it is I genuinely think someone else's experience may be different. I chose to not side with either the grove or the goblins and moved onto act 2 without doing that and that may have added to the count of bugs but the fact that was an option means that it isn't "My fault" that I experienced so many bugs on my playthrough. I had party members despawning, quests saying I could do something that I couldn't do because the NPCs were not in the area they were supposed to be, getting ques for things that should have went into act 3 that were missing, in the end of act 3 characters missing from the end bits and at the very end textures just all vanishing for my last few hours.
I didn't really get to experience the romance the game had to offer. I started a fling with Lae'zel which apparently locked me out of most other romances but randomly gave me a Wyll Romance scene, a man I never deployed not once the whole game. I realized playing the game I didn't long rest enough and missed out on my chance to romance Shadow Heart whom I really wanted to romance and even though I broke things off with Lae'zel I could never progress a romance with Shadowheart, Karlache or Minthara. I want to feel this romances and see everything they have to offer but sadly the game denied me this.
The game lacks body diversity and the limited pallet of faces feels too limited in character customization. There is sadly no time in which despite being able to have a trans body I am able to talk to someone about being trans that I found not am I ever able to reject a romantic advance by stating my sexuality or disinterest in a gender. Instead it is taken as read that I am bisexual and that I am rejecting them for them and not because like from the onset they weren't on the table for my desires. I am however, not a bisexual but a lesbian and I would love to be able to say that.
That said this game does make strives to doing something I've not really seen other games do with playsexual characters which is to make them have queer history. I didn't get every characters backstories but I did get backstories for Astrian and for Shadowheart which both imply that previous to our adventures they had mostly been with their own gender. Astrian has a litany of male lovers which he courted and gave to his master, he seems to prefer men and he describes his attraction to them. Meanwhile, Shadowheart seems to have had a girlfriend before her memories were removed, perhaps an ex that was a Transgender Woman who turned to Sharr although this is more subtextual than Astrian's due to her memory loss.
These little bits of queer history make them feel much more lived and their sexualities not feel like it was because I am super special but because they are earnestly queer and I happened to have the kind of personality and body their attracted to. There is also some amount of queer NPCs not tied to our PCs although they are in the minority in a majority heteronormative cast.
The game does make some strives to fix some of the things that are terrible about D&D removing the alignment system allowing for characters to simply exist in a much more complex moral web than a box of 9 check marks for morality lets you do and a toning down of racial abilities which helps lessen D&Ds inherent eugenics. However, it does not escape D&D's racism problem with the game mostly having a lot of the characters be racist good and bad and not having counter examples of races like Goblins being good or like an important good drow or something. The companions "Racial" make up are very classic fantasy squad. 2 Elves, 2 half elves, 3 humans, 1 Drow, 1 Gith. In terms of race as we see it in the real world we got one black character and everyone else is pretty white or are a fantasy skin color and white coded maybe baring Lae'zel but idk what Lae'zel's culture is supposed to represent if there is a real world equivalent. Of course also everyone in the world able bodied and skinny or maybe if they are the right race buff. I haven't seen everyone fuck but it appears to me that everyone is cisgender. The game can't do everything but I certainty wish the game did more. The probably most offensive to me being the promoted and marketed Polyamory simply not existing and came from their own misunderstanding of the word, you can fuck around you at least in my experience can't be in multiple committed romantic relationships. That should be fixed given they marketed the game and I don't even need them to address each other just allow it to happen since it was sold to me on the idea I could kiss multiple girls romantically.
There is a total sense of wonder in doing the game thing in new ways and seeing all the ways you can handle situations and all the different outcomes. From multiple files to save scum stuff to hearing people talk about their runs I've seen tons of different ways even my highly buggy end game which did not run well I could see where if it wasn't having all the running issues I had I would have been blown away by all the options they gave me for the last 3 battles of the game. I still thought it was really cool even when it was bugging out. The game constantly threw fun new things at you, little challenges, great moments of roleplaying where it feels like your choices mattered and you could do something cool to get out of a situation. This game might be the game that has most successfully captured the magic of roleplaying in a video game.
The characters being a stand out factor in this in that I found several of the characters to be highly compelling even one man which if you know me is a massive accomplishment. I found Astrian's plot to be really captivating, I really loved Shadowheart's story, I thought some of the NPC stories were really well done too, as a character focused story teller I loved the character work that went into even characters I wasn't particularly in love with. Everyone feels like they can grow and grow in different ways too for bad or for good and often even pretending a pretty objectively bad choice can be flavored with enough deniability to understand why someone might make that choice as a character and not just like because video game let me choice bad choice. I think the characters stories make up a coherent theme I really wanna dive more into but will be restrained on here. They all deal with control. Everyone is dealing with different levels of someone's strings on them and a different relationship to those strings. How those relationships change and evolve over time is really compelling and how they compare to each other is really great.
Overall, I love BG3, I think it might be my favorite game I played so far this year [but I do have a backlog, Stray Gods, En Garde!, Super Lesbian Animal RPG] and one of my favorite games in general. IF not for it's massive file size I think it's a game I'd keep installed all year round and just randomly jump into all the time. For now I am still playing, still enjoying but more than anything I am hoping by the time I beat the game a second time it is a lot smoother. If you enjoyed this kind of One Take review let me know, I wanted to try my Yuri manga format for a video game review because nobody reads my game reviews but I felt like I wanted to talk about the game. So instead of putting the huge amounts of work into the review like I normally do I wanted to just try this. If you did enjoy it one way to let me know is by supporting me on Patreon or Ko-fi or you can just reblog or comment. I might revisit the game with a more in depth review or looks more in depth at how it handles queerness or about the story and other stuff like that.
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"Sonic 06: gameplay is shit, story is shit."
Okay, I somewhat disagree but don't see the need to expend energy toward-
*comparison between 06 and Forces is drawn*
My brain: heyguesswhatyou'rehyperfocusednow
I was going to do things today. . . but here we are.
Okay, up top and up front: 06 and Forces are both flawed, yes.
But they are flawed in fundamentally different ways, and Forces flaws are, quite frankly, far more glaring and demeritorious for a franchise like Sonic than 06. Anyone who, years from now, goes on to claim that "Uh, actually, Forces was peak." the way that some people are saying about 06 now will be just as, if not more, wrong. And I'll attribute such claims to declining media literacy.
BEFORE the youngsters in the fandom start throwing things at me, note that I said just as wrong. 06 wasn't ever as good as some of the mainline games prior or even spinoff titles after.
The difference is, most of 06's issues stem from the fact that it reads as pitiably unfinished.
The problems with Forces begin and end with the fact that it reads like self-insert fan fiction that had either zero beta readers or too many beta readers that were all given editing privileges. There's definitely a place in the world for that sort of creativity, but said place is not within a licensed game that people have to pay for; one that drastically affects the canon of the franchise and how the fans old and new perceive it and the characters within.
All right? Okay, let's get into details.
Let's address gameplay first, since I have less to say about that.
On this count, if nothing else, Forces barely edges out by being functional; granted, that's the end of it. I wouldn't go back to play it again, and the 'highlights' I can recall mostly felt like reskins of stages in the style of Colors but shortened, with boss fights reminiscent of daytime Unleashed. I imagine the primary draw for people is watching their customized 'sona jump and fly around whilst listening to dialogue from the main cast.
And this isn't really a substantive point, but the fact that receiving stuff like outfits like loot crates at the end of virtually every stage feels kind of manipulative and annoys me. If there's unlockable features, put some actual challenge between the player and the prize, like how you perform within the stage. Otherwise it's just another example of "shiny, novelty, tickle brain often, get player to play longer."
Setting that brief tangent aside since that's just a trend in games in general and not Sonic specific, moving on to 06's gameplay. And uh, yeah. The USP was, like the adventure games, supposed to be that you got three interconnected stories and three main characters each with unique play styles.
I suppose 06 showed us before anything else that Shadow really isn't as fast as Sonic, and as an idea, Silver's psychokinesis was cool. If the tracking in the Speed Up stages and the hit boxes in a handful of other areas had been ironed out, there's foundation for a fairly solid experience. Project 06 is basically proof that the base of the game had potential that wasn't realized, whether due to time constraints or other reasons.
As far as environs, the concept for Kingdom Valley showed off the most soul, I'd say, with Silver's future coming in close second. Character design for the Iblis fragments (not sure if that's the official name but I'm doing stream-of-consciousness here) and Mephiles I actually like a lot. I don't think there's anything objectively wrong with them and however you rate them will come down to preference.
Also, the model for Sonic is like. . . ridiculously good. He just looks like an older teenager; it fits with the widely accepted idea that he was 15 as of Adventure 2. Polish it a bit and that's just how he appears in my head when I write about him.
That said, there are only about six different environs that serve as stages, discounting the hub areas, and compared to Heroes' twelve stages, it just adds to that incomplete/rushed feeling.
That's about all I can say on the gameplay aspect. Functional yet non-stimulating technically wins out over some creativity yet patchy. They are games, after all.
Now then, the "story is shit" business.
Look, if you're going to criticize Sonic's story—which, yeah, his should be subjected to more scrutiny, being the titular character—then much of what you can say against it also applies to the first Adventure. Eggman wants to collect a thing (emeralds/Princess), Sonic wants him to not collect the thing (emeralds/Princess) because he's obviously planning to do evil stuff with the thing, Sonic manages to get the thing only for Eggman to snatch it out of his hands.
Multiple times.
Meaning Sonic spends most of the games on fetch quests that Eggman keeps one-upping him on until the penultimate fight.
And those are the beats. Of both stories. (For Sonic.)
And then at the end of both games, a monster you've fought in various forms (Chaos/Iblis) reappears to threaten the world on a scale that requires the seven chaos emeralds to combat.
Super Sonic. Rad soundtrack. Credits.
Granted, much like how Gamma's story was the strongest in Adventure, the quality of the three main story lines in 06 also vary in strength, with Shadow's taking first place.
My point is, in a franchise that is about characters, you don't grade every aspect of the story on the same scale. You weigh the grade of various aspects differently; and the point that gets graded most heavily is:
Character moments; which can encapsulate literal moments, arcs, development etc.
And for all its flaws, 06 has character moments, almost immediately, even. Sonic's first spoken line is "My, that's a pretty snazzy performance there!"
Which, after the tension of Eggman interrupting the festival and threatening Elise, cuts through the moment right away and, paired with the next several seconds, shows who Sonic is. He sees Eggman's robots aiming and waits until the last second to jump before going to town bashing up bots. Even as he carts Elise off amidst homing missiles and explosions, he's grinning the whole time.
Sonic does what he does because it's fun.
And his third spoken line, answering Elise's question of why he's helping, is: "No special reason."
Again, that's Sonic. Doesn't matter who it is, he helps people because he Does what's Cool. And as well as being fun, fighting off Eggman and his bots is Cool.
06, as Silver's introduction to the series, also does a decent job establishing his character of Temporal Bulldozer. He can be aimed, but his solution to problems first and foremost is usually smashing, and it's really tricky to change his mind once he's focused. He suffers from myopia arguably as bad or worse than Metal Sonic. Amy's the only one who momentarily gets him to pause and wonder if really does want to kill Sonic.
Which is a character moment for her. As in Adventure 2, Amy will happily break laws and go against who and whatever to help her friends; and as she did with Shadow, she's rather skilled at getting very hurt people to listen.
She's not unlike Silver in her willingness to do whatever it takes, really; since Temporal Bulldozer can and does traverse time on several occasions to make things right. And up until the last moment, it never occurs to him that anyone but he should bear the burden of saving the world. Blaze has to physically shove him aside so she can absorb Iblis herself.
Silver sees himself as a Hero with a responsibility toward the future just as much Sonic sees himself as just Some Guy.
Finally, Shadow. And man, there's a reason a lot of people say 06 was the last time a game featured Shadow written correctly.
It's me. I'm one of a lot of people.
Team Dark in general gets a fair bit of spotlight in 06. Rouge, an anti-heroine with perhaps the greatest self-interest after Eggman, promises Shadow that she'd stand with him even if the very world turned against him. Omega, who loathes taking orders and prioritizes his own freedom nearly as much as Sonic, takes on Rouge's assignment for him without question or complaint to wait out 200 years to help rescue Shadow.
And Shadow, in an in-game line during his first fight with Mephiles, reaffirms all the progress he made in his titular game that was wholly about discovering his identity: "Don't bother trying to deceive me. I know who I am!"
And, in contrast to the Shadow the franchise first introduced us to, the Shadow of Adventure 2 who was thoroughly convinced that his only remaining worth was his ability to keep his promise to Maria, the Shadow who was so resigned that he chose to plummet through the planet's atmosphere to his presumed death. . .
That Shadow is faced squarely with his fate of persecution, asked why he would bother fighting to protect. That Shadow declares that it the world turns on him, "I will fight as I always have."
He's grown such that he's now willing to fight against fate.
And that's pretty fucking cool.
On the other side, applying the same grading method to Forces, we find what I call (as of just now) character fauxments.
Remember how I talked about 06's introduction for Sonic? How he cuts through tensions, finds joy and fun in fighting bullies and bad guys?
The thing about that, which Forces doesn't seem to understand, is that if you lean too hard on the wisecracks and nonchalance, you end up with a character who reads as either obnoxious or totally tone-deaf. Sonic knows when to take things seriously, yet in Forces he's purportedly been tortured as well as locked up for half a year, Infinite's destroyed countless homes and killed who knows how many people, and yet when Sonic interrupts his fight with Silver. . .
I mean, if Sonic was written correct, you'd cut out a bunch of faff and change his line delivery. Show that he's frustrated by his time confined and absolutely raring to throw hands and get to business; because Sonic does understand when things have gotten real, and while rare, he does get angry. Something like:
"Since you like talking so much, mind sharing the source of your power? I can ask the easy way or the hard way. I've been cooped up a long time, so I'm hoping you pick the hard way."
It doesn't need to be the most original lines in the world, but Sonic's banter in the middle of a war shouldn't be long-winded, no matter how pretentious his opponent is (and damn, is Infinite pretentious. Like to the point that it's the most memorable part of the game.) If there's banter, it should be punchy and succinct; quick, like he is.
Instead, Forces Sonic's attitude is just kind of. . . incongruous with the stakes the game claims to have established. But then, since we don't get a truly convincing scene showing the rest of the cast being sad that he reportedly died, that's not too surprising.
Speaking of setting up stakes, here's an idea. Rather than cutting from Sonic laying battered in the middle of the city for a lazy six-month time skip established by text on the screen, make it clear that "Oh shit, things are different" via gameplay.
After Sonic falls, immediately transition into a level. Where you run from right to left to escape Eggman's fleet. Turns everything on its head, you can witness and navigate the destruction as it's happening and if you string together enough environs, you can even have the city burning in the distance or the skyline as you near the end of the stage and escape to relative safety.
Anyway.
And of course, the notorious character fauxment: Tails cowering in front of an offline Omega.
There's nothing I can say about this fauxment that hasn't been said already. It's not the first time in the series that Tails was portrayed as having regressed to a scared child, but it is the most egregious.
And. . . actually, that's about it, at least off the top of my head. Which might speak to how short the game is and how little screen time and action the main cast get aside from Sonic and the player character.
But it's enough to determine that Forces' story, or what stands in for it, is weaker than what 06 offered.
Again, I'm not here to rally a feral defense of 06 as a masterpiece, but its flaws are not on the level of Forces. The reason they're lumped together is the amount of disdain both games got on their release; though in the case of 06, the 2000's were just a weird time when hating things was somehow cooler than liking them, and since 06 wasn't up to par with Adventure 2 or Heroes, people picked an aspect of the game-most often how much the almost final fantasy style model for Elise didn't match up with the Mobian models (and yes, the final cutscene, but there's nothing new I can say about that either, and talking about it here is just an open invitation for someone to blow it out of proportion again) and dogpiled the hate on the game.
Sonic 06 feels unfinished owing to a lot of little and larger details. Knuckles' portrayal and having little to do in the story, poor optimization leading to nearly twenty second loading times, BLAZE BEING A GLOWING NEON MISSED OPPORTUNITY! (SEGA, I know I was literally twelve when the game was released, but my Phoenix headcanon works so well and makes her appearance in both Rush and 06 work! A retroactive fix would be so easy and we could get more adventures in her dimension!)
Even acknowledging all that, though, there were still attempts at creativity that just, for one reason or another, didn't pan out. There's significant potential here.
Forces is just. . . a mess. In every sense. And I understand how a mess can be attractive to a fandom, because a mess means you can take whatever you want from it and organize things however you choose.
But a mess that's sold as a finished game is not the same as a rushed title with visible untapped potential.
#Sonic the Hedgehog#Sonic#Sonic 06#Sonic Forces#analysis#This is a reminder: I'm not interested in telling people how to enjoy Sonic#Just. . .#I have thoughts#clearly#Sonic 2006
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hehe addison hcs time :3 proobably not a good time 4 posting but oh well
i wanted them to be inspired by the ones we see in game, but not meant to Be them yknow? like vc is based on the orange that sells you the spamnequin but isnt that specific orange addison. also i decided too late that these ones are related somehow
i have a few general species hcs coming soon And eyes open portraits with that one template! anyway transcriptions under the cut:
1st pic: Bee (Breakfast) - He/they
6'0/183 cm
Real name Breakfast, goes by Bee
Hair is dyed
Freakishly tall for an Addison
Oldest & most successful
Runs a fashion company & models occasionally
Tends to baby others, likes to feel needed/useful
Drama queen, up to date on all the latest rumors and gossip
Snoops in everyone's love lives & personal relationships
"NTA divorce"
Tends to make assumptions abt others, is wrong all the time
Sucks at targeted ads
Pushy and stubborn both in sales & in life
Secretly insecure, easily jealous
Unhealthy coping mechanisms, bottles it all up, says they're ok
Uses Customer Service Mode to pretend he's fine
Was the inciting incident that pushed Spam away, consumed with regret over it
Can't bring himself to talk about Spamton
2nd pic: VC - He/they
5'5/170 cm
Second oldest, quite successful
Seamster and tailor as a legit job
Scams ppl on the side for fun, talks his way out of being at fault
Actively trying to look as shady as possible
Fast talker, often refuses to repeat themself
Swears uncensored at & in front of clients
Thrives on ppl impulse buying & has no return policy whatsoever
Deceptive marketing
Casual in everything he does, can come off as uncaring at times
Only still in business thanks to intervention from Breakfast
Generally pretty close with Bee, banters with him a lot
Teased Spam the most in his Addison days but offered him a job as a model for their designs
Cut Spam off right after Bee at his insistence. Feels guilty abt abandoning him so fast
Pretends they're not worried
Used to not talking abt Spamton, but will crack easily out of guilt
3rd pic: Spamton - He/him
3'5/108 cm
Middle child, not at all successful
Trying to do a bit of everything until he finds something that works
Markets to Lightners through emails
Dyes his hair white to fit in more
Unusually short for an Addison
Nearsighted & needs his glasses to read at a distance
Vocal glitch present to a lesser extent, sometimes helpful but mostly a nuisance
Quiet at work, can't project his voice very well due to lack of confidence
Has big dreams and lots of hope anyway
Shadowed under each of the others to get some experience and learn what works for them
Tried to copy their methods to no avail
Rejects jobs from siblings out of worry of being a nepotism hire
VC taught him how to con ppl, but Spam refuses to even try it bc he has Morals
Really looks up to Bee, seeks advice from them often
Interested in Taz's artistic endeavors! Loves watching him make things & helps pack orders sometimes
Adores the Lightner concept of cars, wishes they existed in Cyber City
4th pic: Cookie (Clicker) - They/them
5'5/170 cm
Real name Clicker, goes by Cookie
Hair gradient is a natural variation
Second youngest, surprisingly successful
Head of marketing for a fairly popular shoe store
Their absurd ideas end up working really well for some reason
Tends to space out & go on autopilot
Sweetheart with no backbone, falls to pressure easily
Often overcorrects for their mistakes in the worst ways
Bites, chews, and eats clothes
Trying to piece together what "sex" is without anyone knowing they don't know
Everyone knows but plays along
Bottles up their feelings like Bee, feels guilty abt being too late to the mansion
Toxic positivity mindset for themself, doesn't use Customer Service Mode though
Didn't tell anyone abt the garbage noise til post-NEO
Among the last to lose contact with Spamton, on decent terms
5th pic: Taz - He/him
5'5/170 cm
Youngest, actually not that successful
Very polite and doesn't push hard for sales at all
Makes fan merch for various media, usually his own favorites but caters to what's popular for the sake of actually making sales
Favors stickers and keychains
Generally calm and laid back but easily excitable
Gets loud without meaning to & apologizes for it frequently
Can be surprisingly snarky if he wants to but only directs it at Bee since they dish it out the most
His politeness has limits! May get passive-aggressive with clients if he feels the need to
The only one trying to process everything in a healthy way
Drifted from Breakfast after an argument where he held them accountable for pushing Spam away & told him he can't pretend Spam doesn't exist
Didn't want to apologize at first but did after seeing how much it hurt Bee
#spamton#deltarune fanart#deltarune#addispam#addisons#pink addison#orange addison#blue addison#yellow addison#spamton headcanon#fanart#torchs art#nov 2022
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Digital Witchcraft 101
When you’re researching witchcraft and Paganism, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that there’s One Right Way to do it. When I was a baby witch, I thought adhering to Wiccan traditions and principles was the “correct” way. My first few months of research were filled with fantasies of elaborate altars carefully arranged with God and Goddess symbols and elemental objects, high-energy rituals for the sabbats, and an emphasis on incorporating various herbs, oils, and incenses into my practice. I looked online trying to find a wand that was both beautiful and inexpensive. I wondered where in my tiny cluttered room I could set up an altar. I tried my hand at keeping a Book of Shadows and planned to fill it with all the spells and correspondences I could find.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with these practices, and if they work for you, that’s fantastic! But it’s also important to acknowledge that magick isn’t one-size-fits-all and some methods aren’t accessible or feasible for everyone, for a variety of reasons.
Magickal tools like wands, athames, crystals, and tarot decks can be expensive, making them out of reach for witches who are unemployed or living in poverty. Ritual work tends to require a lot of focused physical and mental energy that witches with chronic illnesses and fatigue simply don’t have, as well as being time-consuming to perform. And, like myself, many witches are living in homes where it might be unsafe to reveal their craft to family members, which means that magickal tools and fancy altars aren’t an option.
Fortunately, non-traditional witchcraft is just as powerful and effective as the “traditional” stuff. (Sometimes even more so, because it allows you so much freedom to customize and figure out what works for you!) One of the most accessible and versatile tools available is digital technology. If you’ve got a computer and/or phone, there are tons of ways you can use them for your practice. Here are just a few ideas that could be useful to witches at any level of experience.
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1. Digital Book of Shadows
I think most of us enjoy the images we see online of super-detailed grimoires and journals. The fancy leather covers, scrawling handwriting, stunning artwork, and beautiful border designs. The tables of correspondences and hand-drawn moon phase calendars. Beauty and detail like that makes people excited about witchcraft! It’s basically the bullet journal inspiration of the witchy world.
But if you’re like me, looking at those gorgeous flip-throughs on Tumblr and Instagram can also feel overwhelming. Not all of us feel great about our art skills. Not all of us have the time it takes to handwrite pages and pages of spells and lists. (My arm starts hurting after a few paragraphs of handwriting anything, to be honest.) If you have nosy or controlling housemates, a physical book might not be safe to keep. And physical grimoires can also be tougher to organize. I always worry that I’ll have something to add after a designated section is entirely full. I may be a witch, but I can’t just magickally make another blank page appear where I need it.
A digital grimoire or Book of Shadows, though? Easy to maintain.
Using a word processing program like Microsoft Word or Google Docs can make organization a breeze. As an example, I use Google Docs for storing a lot of my witchy information, split into their own sections: Correspondences, Deities, Holidays, Ideas/reminders, Journal prompts, Spells/rituals, and Tarot/divination. If you do a lot of research online, you can copy and paste relevant information into a document within seconds instead of copying it down by hand. You don’t have to worry about running out of space, either.
You can still personalize a digital version by using colorful fonts, copying and pasting pictures, and taking advantage of the templates offered by your word processor.
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2. Digital Spellwork
One advantage of using your device in your magick is that the electricity powering it adds an extra boost of energy to your spells. I like to visualize the cord keeping my laptop charged also charging up my magick. This can be helpful for us witches who have issues with energy regulation and fatigue.
There are also countless ways you can cast spells with a computer as your tool. Some witches use social media likes and sharing to charge and cast their spells. Others use emojis to symbolize their intent. I’ve personally used my desktop background as a symbol with the intention that the spell will charge whenever I look at it. If you’re into writing magick, you can type up a quick incantation and activate it either by saving or deleting the document. If you’ve got witchy friends, you can cast and charge by messaging each other.
There are even more ideas out there that I haven’t listed. Get creative. Take a look at the built-in abilities of your device and figure out how you can harness them to focus your magick.
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3. Digital Divination
I am, above all else, a tarot witch. I was unintentionally doing digital witchcraft long before calling myself a witch when my teenage self started using a website that gave free computer-generated tarot and rune readings. It was how I first started learning the meanings of the cards and where I first connected to tarot as a divination system.
Years later, I still take advantage of free online readings from time to time. This is especially true for moon phase readings — I can never guarantee that I’ll have the focus and motivation needed to clear off my desk, get out a deck and tarot journal, and do a full spread. Using computer-generated readings and typing my interpretations is a lot easier sometimes, particularly on days where my depression is strong.
There are plenty of other ways to use technology as a divination tool. You can use random word or writing generators for insight. Your digital music library is all you need for shufflemancy (the practice of using shuffled songs for divination). Word processors are ideal for quick-paced automatic writing sessions. Get creative and see what you can come up with.
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4. Digital Worship
For those witchcraft practitioners who work with deities, there are plenty of ways to honor and interact with them using technology. The number one method I’ve found is the use of e-shrines. If you don’t have the space or you’re unable to be open with your practice, e-shrines are a great alternative to physical altars. All you need is a digital space where you can leave prayers and offerings.
Any social media site can house an e-shrine, but my personal favorite is Pinterest. I have an entire board dedicated to the deities I work with where each deity is given their own section. You can put anything you want on your shrine — I personally save any quotes, photos, and artwork that remind me of them. Your deities will appreciate the time you put into collecting such posts. An e-shrine also serves as a space where you can go to connect with your deities by reading or viewing things that remind you of their energy.
I know that looking at others’ elaborate methods of practice can lead to frustration and self-comparison. Even though I’ve gotten better at embracing my own unique way of making magick, I still often feel a pang of envy or inadequacy when I see those gorgeous Instagram altars packed with massive crystals, expensive tarot decks, and bundles of herbs and flowers. I sometimes worry that my magick won’t be as effective without all the traditional tools.
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But the most important lesson I’ve seen and learned since beginning my practice is this: there is only one absolute essential you will ever need in witchcraft and that is you. Your magick comes from within. Any tools that you use in the process are simply there to help you focus your intention. That means that there’s no shame in using whatever options are available to you. If you want that added focus and your computer or your phone is all that you can or want to use, go for it. I promise your magick will be just as powerful and beautiful.
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tumblr might be about to do horrible things to the quality of this, i'm not sure, but the preview does not fill me with confidence. ANYWAY
these were made for the Elysium intro so technically this is out of chronological order of. everything. but also before i start posting comics i want to give a good visual on who these guys are! also hey these are all the guys that were relevant to the askblog (besides Shadow), nice
(oh my god i just realized i didn't actually put Sik in Elysium. i mean he's in the bit in the second half where it's flashing through everybody but i didn't put him in the actual intro with everybody else.. sorry buddy, Double's the more important custom hero i guess lmao)
Sonic the Hedgehog: you know her, you love her, she's transgender now! 19-ish as of Forces, aroace, personality and vibe same as always, nothing gets her down. the big plot twist with her is that she's an artificial life form like Shadow and was engineered with an aptitude for chaos energy, but she does her best to shrug off the implications.
Miles "Tails" Prower: sonic's adopted little brother, 17-ish as of Forces, transgender (this will be a theme), low self-confidence despite his intelligence and his ability to hold his own. a LOT of things happen to him, uh- Colors, Chronicles, and Lost World kinda got slammed together into one story arc, so he got halfway roboticized AND blasted with negative color until he was able to break out of the brainwashing. he hasn't found a way to undo the roboticization yet.
Amy Rose: i love amy so much but i don't know how to accurately capture her vibe. 18-ish as of Forces, she had a crush on sonic but has eased off on it and now they are comfortably friends (even if she can still be a bit much at times), she does tarot, i think the most that got changed is her design tbh
Knuckles the Echidna: straightforward-thinking treasure hunter, dealing with responsibility of guarding the master emerald vs him finally having an opportunity to explore the outside world, 20-ish as of Forces, got tormented a bit in the askblog
Shadow the Hedgehog: nonbinary alien hedgehog clusterfuck my beloved. they/them, actually somewhat chill underneath all the edge, technically Sonic is a knockoff of them, still has a pretty shaky sense of identity, at one point jorb helped me figure out what ShTH story path would be most canon for them but i don't want to find it rn
Daedalus "Double" Perrow: first of many OCs! maned wolf, 17-ish (?) as of Forces, more on him later because a lot of the comics so far involve him lmao. fills in 1/2 of the custom hero role in Forces (did the prison break, teams up directly with modern sonic, has past history with Infinite) and gets nicknamed "Gadget" by sonic. trans of gender
Wayne "Infinite" Bay: whoops i took an oc and accidentally spliced him into being infinite. double's friend, 19-ish as of Forces, got kidnapped and experimented on by eggman. the askblog plotline was building up to double trying to find and save him because they were friends before wayne got corrupted by the phantom ruby, but my energy fizzled out before that could get anywhere
i can't believe sik didn't get a cool image like everybody else. get wrecked lmao
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I Am (not so) Atomic
Last year, i was blessed with a brand new anime obsession: The Eminence in Shadow. It’s a wildly derivative take on the Isekai genre but i can’t help but love this show, man. It slides right into the same vein as Tensura and Overlord, specifically the latter, and considering those two shows have climbed into the upper echelons of my all-time list, Shadow was basically tailored made for me. Truthfully, i had been on the Cid Kageno bandwagon for some time. I remember picking up this manga years ago and falling in love with it by the fourth chapter bu i was the anime that sealed my adoration. This thing was fantastic. The action was kinetic, the animation fluid, and the character work executed perfectly. I was a bit bummed when the show ended. I wanted more Shadow content and i wanted it now! So color me surprised when i found out that there is a gacha game based on the franchise. A gacha game that is canon to the narrative which covered the seven year time skip and reveals the origins of Shadow Garden, itself. Shut up and take my money!
The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden is a gacha game akin to something like Bleach: Brave Souls. Or, rather, it feels a lot like that. It’s kind of an autoplay scenario. You set your party before each match and just press play. Battles are on kind of an ATB system where your characters act according to a set algorithm. They periodically perform special moves, combos that buff your party, and executed cinematic super moves once a bar fills up. In that respect, it’s not so much a game than it is a form of tower defense. I mean, i have vague memories of Valkyrie Profile and Resonance of Fate playing similar to this but it’s been years since I've touched one of those games so i might just be imagining it. Still, the actual gamely leaves a lot to be desired, because of course it would, it’s a gacha game, bu Master of Garden makes up for that with slick, 3D, animations and pretty solid models. I was surprised by how polished the varying designs of the main characters. More than that, it’s the customization which really gets you.
he actual gameplay is forgettable to say he leas but the prep for those auto-battles? That is where he fun lies. There is some real depth in terms of building your team here and i am here for all of that. First, there is an elemental system in place. Red, blue, green, etc. Red beats green, blue beats red, if you’ve played an RPG,ever, you get it. Each character gets assigned a color so here’s that. They also have certain jobs or classes, Tank and Healer being the most prominent. If you don’t have a tank or healer in your party, you’re gonna f*cking lose. Beyond that, you can level up each pf your characters through battles where you gain experience, or items you collect after battles. You can also equip your characters with generic weapons and armor which is tied to a ranking system that further increases your strength. You can also equip Magic Gear, which further enhancing your strength, each of which, themselves, can be modify and leveled up. It’s pretty deep for what effectively is a money pit, waifu simulator, which brings me to the biggest bummer about his entire game: he gacha.
Master of Garden has one of the most unforgiving gacha systems i have ever experienced in a mobile game to date. It is rough out here, yo! Obviously, the goal is to roll as many SSR level characters as possible and that seems impossible. I’ve hit these banners several times with the ten times roll and i popped one SSR. One. And it was a f*cking tank. Those cats attack for sh*t. Both of SSRs are tanks, one of which is just a progress reward. But you can get a guaranteed SSR if you pay for it and they make that abundantly clear. They literally have special rolls for paid Gems, only. This is an every day thing. It took Fate/Grand Order, the most predatory f*cking gacha out there, years before they installed something like that. Master of Garden? Day one. Seriously, i can roll a guaranteed SSR for twenty-eight hundred paid Gems, which is basically fifty dollars because the thirty dollar option gives you twenty-four hundred. It’s f*cking insane. And the Pity System is pathetic. You have to collect, like, shards or something until you get enough to buy the character instead of just, you know, giving it to you after so many rolls. In doing so, you need o spend more of your Gems, which leads to a higher chance of you buying more gems, just to pop he Pity. It’s disgusting.
Overall, i can’t recommend this “game”. It appeals to the Virgo in me with all of he customization but i can’t, in good conscious, tell you to play knowing how unforgiving that gacha is. That sh*t sucks because the narrative during the time skip is pretty f*cking solid. It’s well acted and you get a ton of proper character moments that were missing in the show. I’m sure a Wikia somewhere has compiled all f those beats but experiencing it as it should be, on your [hone or PC, with the detailed graphics and proper voice acting, is an entirely different experience. If you’re a fan, give it a shot, i guess? I mean, i did, but it’ wildly disappointing, especially when you get that progress wall because it’ll come fast. I’ve been playing this thing for three days and I'm already at an impasse, mostly because anything under an S rank is bunk once you progress to the third chapter of the main campaign. Guess where I'm at now? Fun times, that. At least i got a Delta. She’s my favorite and just as adorable in this game as she is in the show.
#The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden#The Eminence in Shadow#Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!
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READ BEFORE INTERACTING
THIS IS A BLOG THAT CONTAINS MATURE CONTENT.
IT IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK, AND PARTICULARLY NOT SAFE FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18.
I completely understand if you are underage and want to ignore that, believe me, I've been there, but you could get us both in a lot of trouble by hanging around here. To cover my ass, I DO NOT CONDONE MINORS VIEWING THIS PAGE.
With that out of the way, hi. Welcome to my personal garbage bin. You know me as Void as your OP/mun/host/mod or whatever for the Voidhog AU or Rocket anywhere else, but on this page you may call me Ghost.
I'm here to provide supplementary material for anyone interested in a saucier side to Voidhog; an extension of the main trio's character arcs in the five years between the Origins fic and the main Voidhog blog.
I'm primarily interested in providing content around Silver, and from the poll I hosted it seems many people are with me, but let's break down exactly what I will and won't be showing here.
What to Expect from this Blog
Belly/Feedism/Weight Gain Kink: Primarily surrounding Silver, but sometimes including Sonic and Shadow as well. Usually accompanied by a healthy helping of Spoiling and Hurt/Comfort.
Bondage and Dom/Sub Sexplay: Primarily surrounding Shadow, with him occupying both positions. For general reference; Sonic doms everyone, Shadow doms Silver, and Silver generally subs. But they like to mix it up.
Actual NSFW Scenes: I'm going to be desperately dancing around tumblr's censors here, but I do plan on writing and illustrating explicit sex scenes. I need to make clear that two of these characters are not cis, and the sexual content will directly depict that. I WILL NOT TOLLERATE COMMENTS ABOUT THIS THAT I DEEM TRANSPHOBIC. ANYONE FOUND MAKING TRANSPHOBIC COMMENTS OR HARASSING PEOPLE WHO INTERACT WITH THE RELEVANT POSTS WILL BE BLOCKED, AND POSSIBLY REPORTED. If you find an instance of this that I have not seen, DM me with screenshots and let me handle the situation, don't interact with the perpetrator yourself.
What I will NOT be Posting
Mpreg
Non-con
Vore
Excessive abuse in relation to BDSM
Emetto (y'know, vomit and stuff)
Weight gain beyond the canon designs shown on the main blog
Content surrounding characters outside of the poly trio
This list was last updated on: 6/18/2022
This list is subject to change and updates. I will not tolerate requests or asks around this list of content I'm uncomfortable making and sharing, and anyone found repeatedly asking for anything on this list will be blocked.
How to Avoid Content you Don't Want to See
If you are looking to customize your experience with this blog, here is the comprehensive list of tags you should block:
The Unsafe Wisp Speaks | Any post that contains commentary or clarification from me, Ghost. I'd prefer you didn't block this one to stay informed about what's going on here or get clarification about this aspect of the AU, but I'll list it here anyway.
The Void Expands | Weight gain content
NSFV![Character] (age) | A sorting system for characters, with their current age specified in parentheses. For example, NSFV!Shadow (21), or NSFV!Silver (18).
Additionally, there are tags for the Void!Swap and Void!Shift counterparts. NSFVS for Void!Swap and NSFVSH for Void!Shift. In use, they'll look like this: NSFVS!Sonic (19), or NSFVSH!Shadow (23).
The Void Consumes | Feedism content and food porn
The Void Hungers | Hungry or borderline starving characters (setup for hurt/comfort down the line)
The Void Constricts | Bondage
The Void Dominates | Dom/Sub Sexplay
NSFV![Character] [Doms/Subs] | A sorting system for particular characters being in the dom/sub role. For example, NSFV!Sonic Subs, or NSFV!Silver Doms.
Unsafe Void | Explicit sex scenes
This list was updated on: 6/28/22
I am completely willing to add more tags and go back to change tags as needed to ensure y'all are only seeing what you want to. Just shoot me a DM or submit an ask with what specifications you want me to add. This list will be updated every time I add or change a tag.
I plan on adding all of this information to an easily accessible page on this blog's header as well, along with further clarification. I will gladly answer anyone's questions about any content shown (or not shown) on this blog.
How to Appropriately Interact with this Blog
If you want to interact with this page further than quietly observing and occasionally liking posts, here are my terms:
Sending Asks and Requests: You can send prompts and requests for me to draw or write short drabbles of. Alternatively, you can send asks to Sonic, Silver, and Shadow directly, and even choose to specify what age you want the characters to be when responding (the options range from 18-23).
Reblogging: I ask that you tag anything you reblog from here as mature, even if the particular post doesn't portray a sex scene. Also, please don't repost my work. If you want to share an artwork with someone, provide a link to the relevant post.
I believe that's everything. Thank you for spending the time to read through this TOS of sorts, and I hope you enjoy feasting on this garbage with me!
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1 Pound Challenge - Finalists Announced!
The finalists have been announced for the 1 Pound Challenge! Here's what the judge, Gabe Barrett, wanted to share with everyone:
"Thank you so much for entering this contest! I really enjoyed learning about each and every game that was entered, and it’s so cool to see so many excellent ideas in the entries. However, I could only select a few to move on to the final round, and those games are:
Finalists:
Sap Run
Lords of Uranus
Harmony Hills
CRYSTALLIZE - Shadows of the Northern Lights
Why the finalists were chosen:
Gameplay - On the most basic level, these are the games that seem the most fun to play. Obviously, that’s completely subjective and based on limited information, but they each appear to be offering enjoyable experiences with themes that integrate well with their mechanisms.
Creativity - Each of these games has an interesting theme and a unique gameplay loop. They also look like fully fleshed out ideas that have been playtested and polished to create an experience that isn’t just a derivative of other games.
Product Viability - I can see all of these games finding a home in the marketplace - not necessarily as blockbuster, evergreen hits - but I think there’s an audience for each game that would really enjoy it (and pay for it).
Rules Clarity - Each game’s rulebook and overall explanation is well written and easy to understand.
Shop Page - The shop pages are clear and aesthetically pleasing while also having all the required and relevant information.
Congratulations to the finalists, and even if your game wasn’t selected, please know how much I appreciate you taking the time and putting forth the effort to submit a game for this contest. It’s no small task to get a game to this point, and I hope you’ll continue to push forward in bringing games to life.
After looking through all the entries, I have a few general pieces of advice:
Be aware of how fiddly your game is. Several games had a lot of moving parts which can become burdensome over the course of a game, especially if it’s not a short game. Having to move a lot of pieces around can also lead to players making mistakes which could lead to a less than enjoyable overall experience. So, if your game has some fiddly parts, see if you can find a way to cut or change things so that players aren’t having to move things around as much.
Clarity is king. If someone has a hard time understanding what your game is about, they’re going to move on to something else. There’s no shortage of ways a person can spend their time, so if they take a minute to learn about your game, make sure you’re as clear as can be about how the game works, how to win, and who the player is in the context of the game.
It’s also a good idea to have multiple formats to convey this information. Graphics, overview video, text, GIFs, etc. People prefer to learn about games in different ways, so try to cover multiple bases.
Let your passion show. If your game’s description reads like a book report, you’re going to have a hard time getting a potential player/customer interested in playing/buying. I’m not saying be hyperbolic or outlandish, but let your excitement for the game’s design, theme, mechanisms, experience, etc. shine through. What makes the game special/interesting/unique? Focus on that.
Thanks again for entering this contest, and I wish you the best of luck in your game design journey!"
Gabe Barrett
Board Game Design Lab
& Best With 1 Games
#contest#contests#Game Design#Board Game Design#Board Game Designer#Tabletop Games#Indie Games#Board Games#Make a board game
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Bayonetta 3: Devil May Cry's Shadow Remains Cast
*Played in November 2022, Written in December 2022. Holy Shit, I was pissed off when I wrote this.
The first Bayonetta was pretty damn good. Combat was slick, the attack list seemed endless, the music was hot, you could hold ZR to simultaneously break dance and shoot people, and each level had this cinematic flavor to it. Bayonetta was a game with personality and despite its roots to the Devil May Cry Franchise, it was truly one of a kind. It had problems with egregious Quick Time Events and drawn out mini games, but coming back to it after a decade of character action releases, I'm still impressed with the enemy design quality and how brutal yet earned the ranking system is. The core gameplay is tight and the flourishes of personality are icing on the cake. Bayonetta was a fun character to watch and control, and really put the stylish in the stylish action genre.
Bayonetta 2 is pretty damn good as well. It looks far better than Bayonetta 1 and runs smoother to boot. While the first game was plagued with bad mini games and quick time events, this game irons that stuff out and is mostly just combat, the thing we primarily come to these games for. Everything is streamlined in Bayonetta 2. There's nothing stopping you from having fun. You can use your Umbran Climax to solve any situation, you can avoid Sega arcade homages (for the most part), you aren’t penalized for using items really, you can still hold ZR to break dance, and the game won't kill or punish you for unfair reasons. But I feel like it loses a lot by taking this approach. Achieving Platinum ranks is less satisfying and it feels less cinematic as well due to how homogenized the experience is. There’s no changes in pace, just consistent gameplay that never really reaches the heights of it’s predecessor. Bayonetta 2 is smoother, but is also far less memorable. Because of this, I could never decide which one was better.
Bayonetta 3 was the perfect chance to find a balance between the first two games and become the best of them all. And it... doesn't even attempt to do this. It goes in an entirely different trajectory, creating undeniable peaks, but also brand new problems. In terms of raw gameplay I think this is the best game of the trilogy with a few reservations. It doesn't run as well as them due to its eyes being bigger than the Nintendo Switch’s stomach. The aesthetic and mechanical design of the enemies pales in comparison to the ones in previous games. But the options you are given in combat are substantially varied and those mini games and set pieces are all fine at worst and a wonderful palette cleansers at best. Aside from that Big the Cat ditch digging mini game. That was pretty bad.
Bayonetta 3 is not just a sequel to Bayonetta 2. It's somewhat of a spiritual sequel to Astral Chain in its combat philosophy. I’d say the combat is the perfect blend between the two. Astral Chain had simpler and slower combat than most titles developed by Platinum Games, but had the widest variance of moves you could pull off within a single fight. There are 15 combinations of move sets you can freely switch between, each with their own advantages and draw backs, and you are encouraged to play that way. You technically play as two characters, so the move sets aren't as cohesive as most action games, but the moves themselves never blend together and always have a functional clarity to them.
The first two Bayonettas are no strangers to having move set combinations. You are able to equip two weapons at a time, one Bayonetta can use for her hands and one for her feet. You can mix and match the weapons to create a custom arsenal which you can equip up to two of at a time. It’s less than the 15 in Astral Chain, but those 2 move sets have a ton of depth on their own. And while you do need to pause the game to select them, you do have dozens of potential combinations at your disposal. You can set up around 36 unique move sets in the first game and 56 in the second. That's an insane tool box to hand players and I have to respect it.
Unfortunately I feel the provided depth isn't that accessible and feels unnecessary a lot of the time. You can build a ton of stuff with it and even switch between move sets mid combo, but I never felt the need to do any of that in the 60 hours I spent playing the first one. Each weapon you get in Bayonetta has a long list of button inputs you use to pull off a different attack, but many of those attacks feel functionally the same and not worth learning once you understand a few effective strings. It’s far more important to learn the universal moves you buy throughout the adventure.
Bayonetta 3 has abandoned the mixing and matching and has adopted the two character approach. Only this time, your core abilities are on par with as any individual Bayonetta move set. You still get to control your second character with its own abilities which are more complex than the ones in Astral Chain. Minor note: the second character is a Kaiju. Bayonetta 3 meets a compromise. 6 combinations you can access without pausing, but each combination is deeper than either game and within the menu, you can equip 156 move sets. There's not quite as much sauce for Bayonetta herself, but there's more variety than ever before. Because the summons and weapons are so disjointed, each one has more mechanical diversity because they don't have to fit into the same frame work. They use the same inputs for the universal moves, but those inputs have way more variance in their output. They all have spin attacks, stingers, launchers, and triple jumps, but you never quite know the additional elements of these moves. Before I could divide weapons into 3 categories: arm weapons, feet weapons, or weapons that can go on either limb. Now I'd say there are no weapon types aside from the gun and not gun. Each weapon is it’s own thing and because of that, they are more interesting to use.
Variety is what Bayonetta 3 is all about. It is loaded with gameplay flavors. Shifting in controls, visual styles, and goals is just the way it rolls. I've seen a lot of people say this is a bad thing, making it harder to replay if you just want combat. While I can sympathize, it doesn't bother me all that much really. You can just skip past them like you could in Astral Chain and once you get 1 platinum rank on it, you never have to play it ever again. It’s a bit annoying on your first playthrough if you aren’t a fan. While the grading isn't as harsh as I’d like it to be, I do appreciate this replay system due to how much time it saves. And I get that some people just don't want the alternate gameplay styles at all, but I feel like a big part of Bayonetta is weird variety and this game has that in spades.
If I wanted a solid game where I just fight, I’d play Devil May Cry 5 because it's the best at being that. In a lot of ways Bayo 3 ends up feeling like a lesser DMC5 and gets lost in it’s enormous shadow, but having weird set pieces around every bend really sets it apart. Bayonetta 3 is the best at giving you a buffet in which every dish is decent and the main entrees are delectable. The breadth this game has to offer cannot be understated. There's even multiple characters to play as and they're....fine. Jeanne's levels are fine at least. Harmless I'd say because they take like 20 minutes of the total play time. Viola's are good once you get used to controlling her and come to terms with how Bayonetta is simply a better character to play. I started really enjoying the interplay between her armed and unarmed gameplay...and then the game kinda ends. I like Viola. I love her attitude. I love her cringe. And her theme song fucking shreds. My issue with the variety in Bayonetta 3 isn’t that there's too much and that none of it is good, but that some of it should be more fleshed out.
And then there's the level design which I think clenches why I prefer 3 from a design perspective. The past games felt cramped and cheap. The first game reuses a lot of map assets and a lot of the middle levels feel the same as the beginning ones. The levels themselves were often plagued with rough platforming and cramped space. The cramped space isn't an issue at all when trying to just play the game like a normal human being. But when they try to hide secrets, they run out of places to logically put them. This means you need to back track in order for the secrets to appear. It is a gross display of truly unhinged level craft. 2 has less of it, but it's still there. This most recent take on level design solves all of this. Worlds change drastically in aesthetic every 3 chapters so you never get tired of the stage flavor and the maps are more open and vertical. This gives opportunities to hide secrets in spots that require exploring new areas. The placement of these bonuses also force you to learn the movement mechanics granted by each weapon, making reaching them feel earned. And during replays (or just the first playthrough really, no one is forcing you to explore honestly), you can just B-line to the critical path like the other games. While the levels are wider, they aren’t much longer. The rewards for the secrets are also far better now. Instead of unlocking bonus features when finding Umbran Animals, you get actual new side levels which give their own rewards that end up being substantial.
So as far as gameplay goes, it clears the other two for me. It’s not quite a vertical improvement, but it feels kinda marketed towards me. Bayonetta 1 still has the most solid combat due to enemies attacking you from off screen the least. Bayonetta 2 takes it on an aesthetic and performance level easily. But 3 just tries so many things that I end up liking. I’m a fan of Astral Chain because it made it very easy to do a plethora of actions that required your brain to be in two separate places at once. Pulling off a tag team attack with your stand was satisfying in a way that doing a fat combo wasn't. And in Bayonetta 3, you can do both. There was no way I wouldn't be a huge fan of it. I ultimately had an absolute blast playing this….But good lord does it get dragged down in terms of character, narrative, and general vibes.
Much like how this game handles its tone, this review is about to take a drastic shift, Spoilers ahead, not that you should care about that.
This story is really bad. Nothing is explained clearly, no motivations are stated, people don't communicate like real humans, crucial details are presented as optional. It's nonsense. Bayonetta 3 refuses to linger on any details and denies the player any semblance of certainty. Everything in this narrative is fluid. Things just sort of happen and it doesn't matter how little sense it makes or stupid it feels, you just have to accept it. You can argue that the previous games were pretty bad too and only existed to drive the next set piece, but they still drove them. They got you to where you needed to go. I still understood the general plot points of those stories. Bayonetta 3 envelops the essence of 9 year old me, slamming my toys and stuffed animals together, imagining a story around it on the fly. Only it's less excusable here because this game has 4 writers and I am certain not a single one of them were in elementary school. Why are there no meaningful exchanges or reactions between characters? Why did the villain do anything he did? What the fuck is a fairy in this context? Who the hell is Dark Eve? Why did Bayonetta fail every single perception check she was tasked with? So many questions, most of them probably answered in the in-game data books I refuse to read through. This isn't Dark Souls and even Dark Souls is structured so that you can understand it without external reading. Because its plot is simple and makes sense. While this plot is neither of those things.
But I don't play Bayonetta for the story, I play Bayonetta for the personality. I play it to see cool characters do over the top things. I play it to see wacky dances in the middle of tense situations. I play it because I want to see a confident dominatrix make everyone around her look pathetic. The third entry kinda fumbles that last point. The character of Luka basically exist for Bayonetta to tease and belittle. Luka tries to act cool, and fails in the presence of a character who is actually cool, and then gets sent off to babysitter duty. That's what their dynamic was in past games. I'm not just upset they end up together at the end, and I’m not just upset the romance wasn't competently built up. I'm upset that their dynamic is that of equals, as Luka is presented as an extremely important figure here. Bayonetta... overtly respects Luka. It makes me sick. We don't need that shit. Bayonetta and Rodin are equals. Bayonetta and Jeanne are equals. If they are truly meant to be together throughout space and time, Luka should be the M to Bayonetta's S. But in 3, he's kinda just a cool confident guy who is a bit clumsy sometimes and also Faerie Jesus I guess. Why in the world does the story frame them as being soul mates across dimensions? He's just some dude. I can even get behind Viola being their love child. Them having sex eventually, in another universe, seems very plausible. But this "I don’t know what I would do without you" crap is a step too far.
Bayonetta is as representative of an independent woman as you can get. Yet she is assigned her corporate mandated male lover right at the end because someone needs to protect her. This run of the mill dorky guy getting the girl way out of his league shtick is something we've seen thousands of times and its deeply upsetting to see Bayonetta helplessly veer in that direction. It makes her so...ordinary. She's supposed to be one of a kind. Yet this game goes out of its way to make her relatively basic. In previous games she has sadistic fun with what she does. It's shown frequently in the cutscenes and the torture attacks. She feels in control at nearly all times. Here, it has dialed back those tendencies and makes torture attacks instant. She has a much weaker dominatrix aura now and that was a huge part in what made Bayonetta such a genius power fantasy. You get to play a hot woman exerting her twisted will on hideous beings. That's the dream! Bayonetta getting ousted to the Hetero-normative Malbolge is a fucking nightmare.
Mask off: If Luka was a girl I'd probably roll my eyes 50% less. I would still think it's bad, but at the very least it shows that queer people can have terribly developed romances as well and I think that's important for today's youth to understand.
It all feels a bit soulless at times. Exciting moments occur, but the context around them is meaningless. Things pop off and you want to indulge in the action movie schlock, but then it does whatever it can to undercut that moment. Everything in this game is punctuated by gritty deaths or intensely unfunny slapstick. When the game wants to be serious it chickens out and decides to be goofy. When the game wants to be fun, it dumps all over the party with the most downer shit possible. When tragedies are occurring, you're expected to cheer for over the top action. Bayonetta 3 is a playable Modern Action Movie. All Bayonetta Games are like this. But the Modern Action Movies of today are dissimilar to the Modern Action Movies of the 2000s.
It adopts the same bathos that has been plaguing the movie industry for years. It’s allergic to being sincere for too long despite the actual events being pretty dire. It undercuts it’s own plot constantly til the very end. Then presents itself as if it has any value. You DID have value Bayonetta 3. And then you grated at it, bit by bit, until all that was left were bitter shavings of quality sanded down by a coarse veneer of self apathy. Bayonetta 3 feels like it doesn't have pride in itself. It has self image issues. It wants to be DMC 5. It wants to be Astral Chain 2. It wants to be a billion dollar grossing Marvel movie. But it doesn't want to be Bayonetta. It almost gets away with these insecurities in terms of gameplay alone. But the narrative just whisper screams: “we don't actually like Bayonetta that much if we're gonna be real”. That's why you see every iteration of her die. That's she's as milquetoast as she's ever been. That's why they hand down the torch to Viola, a character they couldn't even bother making the dueteragonist. She had the potential to represent all the neurosis the game seems to have, yet she couldn’t even amount to that.
I didn't expect my feelings on the story to be so strong. I didn't really care for the first game's story, but I just kind of accepted it. It didn't have to be good to add to the game. It gave context and ample excuses for the cool stuff I wanted to see and gave the characters room to show who they were. Bayonetta 3 provided context which actively detracts from my enjoyment. I can still replay it and ignore it, but it’s tainted. I play Bayonetta 3 the same way I re-watch How I Met Your Mother, with a charitable lens that doesn't help when the bullshit piles up at the end of the story. The game is still good, but I don't like it as much because it pissed me off to this degree. Which is why I struggle to put this on the same pedigree as the other Bayonetta games. I will if pressed, but it gets by on a technicality just by being "mechanically interesting" to me. It feels like this was made into a Bayonetta game just so that the franchise could have another winner. It's a ringer. I beat it and got a strange feeling that I couldn't place at the time, but now I can. Bayo 3 hustled me. Bayonetta 3 dawn's the masquerade of a Bayonetta game and plays the role so well that we have no choice but to believe it. But you might be keen enough to spot the true difference between it and it's fore bearers. Because of all the story, character and major gameplay decisions this game makes, none of them disqualify it from being a true sequel other than this:
You can't hold ZR to break dance in this game.
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On-Set Production
Critical Reflection - Critique of Process
I learned a lot this semester in terms of sound recording, considering I had never taken on this role before the first on-set production class. I was the sound recordist for 2 films this semester which included shooting filmed rehearsals and the final 4-minute films (‘Calculated Affection’ and ‘Closing Night’).
I was unable to attend the recce for ‘Closing Night’ (CN) as at this point, I was not part of the crew to be working on the film, however, I was at the recce for ‘Calculated Affection’ (CA). I can definitely see the differences in on set experience as a result of this. For CN I was able to anticipate any background noise issues I may have when shooting, including, fridge noise and noise of customers and staff in the upstairs bar area. However, with CN I found more issues on set which could have been fixed prior to filming to save time, for example, buzzing noises coming from speakers which was getting picked up on all mics and could’ve had a solution established before arriving to set for filming.
Another aspect of sound recording I could focus on during pre-production included mic placement, primarily boom, but also lav mics. Although placement of the boom mic cannot be finalised until you are on set and ready to shoot, I found it helpful to look at blocking plans, shot lists and reflect on my experiences from the rehearsals. By understanding frame sizes, camera movements and shadows from these documents/ experiences, I was able to think on my feet better on-set and find places to boom from much faster and find better solutions which wouldn’t be a compromise to the recordings.
I believe the creative intentions of each of these films were supported by the sound recording. As much as there isn’t much sound recording can do in terms of altering the creative intention very noticeably, I believe I did well in supporting the creative vision to make these films as realistic in their worlds as possible, with clear, consistent dialogue and real, on-set atmos tracks.
I also believe my file management was successful. I took detailed sound reports on set and labelled my files with the respective project file name allocated by the post-production teams.
I communicated well with all departments on both sets, taking into consideration camera, narrative and performance at all times. I was able to effectively communicate any issues or alternative ideas when needed. One aspect which I would like to have put more effort into would be recording more wild tracks and location spot effects for the edit to add to the realism instead of the designer using sound libraries. Whilst wild tracks were discussed on both sets it was the directors and 1st ADs who decided against this in favour of saving time on-set.
I really enjoyed these projects and my first experiences of being a sound recordist, I got good feedback from my crews and intend to pursue this role in the future.
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Note: I am incorrectly credited in 'Calculated Affection' as Production Designer, where I was actually On-Set Sound Recordist.
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Links -
'Calculated Affection':
youtube
'Closing Night':
youtube
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Process Blog One
Reading Response:
Chapter One of the textbook reading (Becoming a Graphic and Digital Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design, by Steven Heller, pages 16-35) is about what starts a graphic designer on their graphic design journey. My graphic design journey was inherently linked to my art journey which started in 6th grade. I found a passion for art while watching content online from other artists, mostly on YouTube. I then pursued art relentlessly through classes and clubs wherever possible, which led to an intrigue in taking digital art and design classes in high school. It was there that I learned about what it would mean to be a graphic designer, and what that could look like as a career for myself. I ultimately decided that this is what I wanted to pursue, which led to taking this class.
Chapter Two of the textbook reading (pages 36-77) is about whether or not a graphic designer chooses to work for themself, or to start their own business. The reading also acknowledged that many designers who ultimately start their own businesses, will still work for a different design company to get used to the industry and the responsibilities that running their own business will take; though some designers may start their own business right out of whatever training they pursue. I can't yet tell where my design journey will take me, however I do know that I feel as though I would enjoy working at or running my own custom design print shop. I do feel as though I would prefer to prepare for running my own shop by working somewhere else to get used to the process and the requirements however. I could also see myself working at a shop long enough to take it over myself.
Reflection:
These past two weeks our class objective has been to complete our "Artificially Intelligent Six-Word Memoirs." This project aimed to AI generate two square images using a program called Craiyon to match two six word sentences (or groups of words). The two images were meant to go together in some fashion.
The two six word memoirs that I came up with were "Okay, can I go home now?" and "Please don't wake me up early."
I began with the "Okay, can I go home now?" memoir, and I began by typing in the memoir itself into the AI prompt. After finding that the AI did not produce the images I was looking for, I tried a couple other simple prompts, focusing mainly on long trails. I focused on long trails, because I felt that they invoked the thought of going home, but taking a long and treacherous journey to get there, which I felt fit the way that I wanted the memoir to be interpreted.
I had three images to work with, one of which was an image with lots of purple and cool colors, picturing a house which was not very detailed or focused even after enhancing the image size. I ended up removing this image from consideration, due to the lack of focus or detail in the image, and preferring the longer trail imagery that I achieved with my two other options. The two remaining images are ones that I experimented with the typography of. One was a green image of a forest with a long trail. I chose a serif font, and used a technique on Photoshop that copied the layer and shifted it down slightly. I repeated this multiple times to get an interesting 3-D effect. As much as I liked the typography in this image, I ended up choosing the third option, due to peer preference.
My third image was an orange image that resembled a wasteland, with forests on the side, a blue tinged river in the middle and a group of ominous floating figures in the sky. This is the image I ended up working with. The typography I chose was a serif font with thin strokes. I put an outline around the text with a darker tone of orange than the paler orange I eye dropped from the image itself. I added a bit of shadow and highlight on the text to create a nice soft gradient. I centered the text on the image, and it was finished.
For my second memoir I decided to use the orange coloration to connect the visuals of the two images. I again started prompting the AI with the memoir itself, but didn't find any results I liked. I ended up looking for orange cozy bed images, and I found two that I liked.
The two images were very similar, and I ended up going with one that had a round, off-white orb on the bed that seemed to be serving as a light source. I added another serif font (which I'm sure you can tell by now that I have a preference towards) and I added some shadows and highlights onto the text in order to make it look like part of the image by following the glow of the orb light source. The text was separated into three lines, and centered within the image, and outlines much the same to the first one. I also added an interesting effect where there were translucent copies of the text slightly off from the text itself in order to mimic the feeling of waking up and having your vision be blurry before you've rubbed the sleep from your eyes.
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I Am (not so) Atomic
Last year, i was blessed with a brand new anime obsession: The Eminence in Shadow. It’s a wildly derivative take on the Isekai genre but i can’t help but love this show, man. It slides right into the same vein as Tensura and Overlord, specifically the latter, and considering those two shows have climbed into the upper echelons of my all-time list, Shadow was basically tailored made for me. Truthfully, i had been on the Cid Kageno bandwagon for some time. I remember picking up this manga years ago and falling in love with it by the fourth chapter bu i was the anime that sealed my adoration. This thing was fantastic. The action was kinetic, the animation fluid, and the character work executed perfectly. I was a bit bummed when the show ended. I wanted more Shadow content and i wanted it now! So color me surprised when i found out that there is a gacha game based on the franchise. A gacha game that is canon to the narrative which covered the seven year time skip and reveals the origins of Shadow Garden, itself. Shut up and take my money!
The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden is a gacha game akin to something like Bleach: Brave Souls. Or, rather, it feels a lot like that. It’s kind of an autoplay scenario. You set your party before each match and just press play. Battles are on kind of an ATB system where your characters act according to a set algorithm. They periodically perform special moves, combos that buff your party, and executed cinematic super moves once a bar fills up. In that respect, it’s not so much a game than it is a form of tower defense. I mean, i have vague memories of Valkyrie Profile and Resonance of Fate playing similar to this but it’s been years since I've touched one of those games so i might just be imagining it. Still, the actual gamely leaves a lot to be desired, because of course it would, it’s a gacha game, bu Master of Garden makes up for that with slick, 3D, animations and pretty solid models. I was surprised by how polished the varying designs of the main characters. More than that, it’s the customization which really gets you.
he actual gameplay is forgettable to say he leas but the prep for those auto-battles? That is where he fun lies. There is some real depth in terms of building your team here and i am here for all of that. First, there is an elemental system in place. Red, blue, green, etc. Red beats green, blue beats red, if you’ve played an RPG,ever, you get it. Each character gets assigned a color so here’s that. They also have certain jobs or classes, Tank and Healer being the most prominent. If you don’t have a tank or healer in your party, you’re gonna f*cking lose. Beyond that, you can level up each pf your characters through battles where you gain experience, or items you collect after battles. You can also equip your characters with generic weapons and armor which is tied to a ranking system that further increases your strength. You can also equip Magic Gear, which further enhancing your strength, each of which, themselves, can be modify and leveled up. It’s pretty deep for what effectively is a money pit, waifu simulator, which brings me to the biggest bummer about his entire game: he gacha.
Master of Garden has one of the most unforgiving gacha systems i have ever experienced in a mobile game to date. It is rough out here, yo! Obviously, the goal is to roll as many SSR level characters as possible and that seems impossible. I’ve hit these banners several times with the ten times roll and i popped one SSR. One. And it was a f*cking tank. Those cats attack for sh*t. Both of SSRs are tanks, one of which is just a progress reward. But you can get a guaranteed SSR if you pay for it and they make that abundantly clear. They literally have special rolls for paid Gems, only. This is an every day thing. It took Fate/Grand Order, the most predatory f*cking gacha out there, years before they installed something like that. Master of Garden? Day one. Seriously, i can roll a guaranteed SSR for twenty-eight hundred paid Gems, which is basically fifty dollars because the thirty dollar option gives you twenty-four hundred. It’s f*cking insane. And the Pity System is pathetic. You have to collect, like, shards or something until you get enough to buy the character instead of just, you know, giving it to you after so many rolls. In doing so, you need o spend more of your Gems, which leads to a higher chance of you buying more gems, just to pop he Pity. It’s disgusting.
Overall, i can’t recommend this “game”. It appeals to the Virgo in me with all of he customization but i can’t, in good conscious, tell you to play knowing how unforgiving that gacha is. That sh*t sucks because the narrative during the time skip is pretty f*cking solid. It’s well acted and you get a ton of proper character moments that were missing in the show. I’m sure a Wikia somewhere has compiled all f those beats but experiencing it as it should be, on your [hone or PC, with the detailed graphics and proper voice acting, is an entirely different experience. If you’re a fan, give it a shot, i guess? I mean, i did, but it’ wildly disappointing, especially when you get that progress wall because it’ll come fast. I’ve been playing this thing for three days and I'm already at an impasse, mostly because anything under an S rank is bunk once you progress to the third chapter of the main campaign. Guess where I'm at now? Fun times, that. At least i got a Delta. She’s my favorite and just as adorable in this game as she is in the show.
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How Christmas Is Better With Christmas Lights?
I grew up in a tiny house with no storage and no yard. For much of my life, I didn't really feel like Christmas was the right season for me. But then, I discovered Christmas lights. And now I can't imagine how anyone could celebrate the holidays without 'em!
Christmas lights make your house look festive.
Christmas lights are a great way to decorate your house. They can be used in many different ways, and you can use them for any holiday or event. If you want to decorate for Christmas, there are plenty of options for this as well.
If you want something simple but festive, try hanging lights from the ceiling and around the windows of your home. This will make it look like there are stars shining through onto your walls! You can also use string lights on top of bushes or trees outside; these will create shadows that look like reindeer flying across rooftops when cars drive by at night (or maybe even Santa Claus himself!).
Christmas lights are good for the planet.
A study conducted by the University of Cambridge found that Christmas trees use less energy than artificial trees, and they can be reused year after year. The same goes for lights: they're made from recycled materials, so there's no need to throw them away after use--you can just store them until next season!
You don't need a lot of space to hang Christmas lights.
You can hang them from trees, on the roof, from fences and even inside your house if you want! Christmas lights are great because they can be used in so many different ways. You can even use them outside your house in your yard by hanging them on trees or bushes.
Christmas lights are inexpensive and easy to find.
Christmas lights are inexpensive and easy to find. You can buy Christmas lights at places like Walmart, Target, and Amazon. You can also find them at hardware stores and home improvement stores. If you're looking for a deal on Christmas lights or just want something that's more convenient than going out into the cold weather to shop for them (and who isn't?), there are plenty of online options as well--like Amazon!
You can get creative with your Christmas lights display.
Use different colors of lights. Instead of going with a standard white or blue, try red and green for a more festive look.
Use different types of lights. If you're looking for something unique, consider some icicle lights or twinkle lights instead of the typical mini string lights that are used most often in Christmas light displays. You can also use multicolored bulbs in your traditional strings with white cord to add another element to your display!
Get creative with patterns! In addition to using different sizes and shapes (like stars), try experimenting with different patterns like stripes or polka dots--it's sure to be eye-catching! You could even try mixing up shapes like hearts or snowflakes into this already-festive design!
Christmas lights really make Christmas special.
If you're planning on putting up a tree this year and want to make sure that it looks as good as possible, there are several things that you can do. One of these is buying an artificial Christmas tree that comes with lights already attached. These are much easier than other types of trees because they don't require any assembly or wiring; all you have to do is plug them in and voila! Instant holiday spirit! Another option would be using real candles instead of electric ones--the flickering flicker effect will give off a warm glow while creating an ambiance similar to those found at candlelight services during Advent season (and probably making everyone feel very cozy).
TPG Lighting LLC is a family-owned and operated company that specializes in christmas lights orlando. We have been providing installation services for over many years, and we take pride in our ability to create beautiful displays for our customers. TPG Lighting LLC is a licensed and insured christmas lights kissimmee installation company in Orlando, FL. Our team of experts has been installing Christmas lights for over many years and we are ready to help you make your home look amazing!
TPG Lighting LLC
4150 Incubator Ct, Sanford, FL 32771, United States
407-917-7748
http://orlandochristmaslights.net/
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The Fact about Minecraft Servers that nobody is Suggesting
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We're not referring to the seed that grows food stuff, for those who don't know what a seeds is. Instead, we refer to the vastness of the sky, which determines the way your Minecraft entire world will look like, and everything else that happens when you spawn. Think about it like this The Minecraft Gods pretty much took...
Traveling isn't available on this server. The shopper made an effort to fly for more than five seconds in either Survival or Journey mode
You can even add a world that is already being developed to your server and then continue to play online. It is possible to play in multiple worlds. Minecraft servers from 4Netplayers meet the most demanding requirements.
Anyone who plays Minecraft make use of our Minecraft Server Look for element to find a server's IP for their particular device (no matter if that's a Computer or a smartphone, or maybe a console) or look through our server records.
You logged in from a different location - A different customer has logged in to your server that the user is participating in using the username of the player.
The server saves the extent while in the "globe" folder each individual 30 seconds if the chunks are altered by default. Kick messages
Servers use custom-made plugin builders to provide a unique working experience for. The modding community is proficient and running an effective Minecraft server requires setting up, technological ability and budget and of course active players.
Nicisoft.com
When participating in on servers of this game manner, the objective should be to receive in-sport money for a newbie and to increase your
Every few seconds the server table is regularly updated. It is possible to be certain that you won't uncover servers from MC that are more recent than this
One among Minecraft's biggest characteristics is its biomes. Minecraft has beautiful surroundings that are carefully designed and varied landscape. With the capability to alter lights and shadows, Minecraft may become a lot more gorgeous than it currently is.
What could be more exciting than utilizing the amazing world of Minecraft and turning it into a place of unique landscapes, vast biomes, and creating an unprecedented gaming working experience?
However, Minecraft is typically a recreation about rendering it what you want it being therefore why not give it a new story? This is the beauty of experience maps, you'll be able to expand any story you need to tell, therefore...
It has been praised by the public and critics since its inception. But is Ghost of Tsushima truly a great sport?
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