#and i know there's a good chance there will Never be dlc and the menu was just a placeholder
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ok i Will actually get onto the topic of how i think the narrative structure of aini works to show Ryuki’s mental health. but quick foreword i guess lmao this will probably be a bit disorganized because adhd brain go brrr. also i’ll be fair and bring up a way the narrative I think maybe could’ve changed a touch to strengthen this effect in the second half of the game, though hey if we get dlc maybe it wont be an issue-
so, the tl;dr of what I meant with my last post on the topic is essentially this: by playing the game both as Ryuki and Mizuki, we’re seeing both how Ryuki perceives the world around him, and how people perceive him as interacting with the world. and I think that what they do with this is good, both as a means of building tension, but also in terms of showing (especially on a second viewing) how his disability impacts his view of the world.
(also big spoiler warning for endgame characters and plot points.)
so despite this being a Ryuki post i’m actually gonna start with looking at things from Mizuki (Bibi)’s perspective, in specific the scene at the rooftop amusement park after the shooting incident. From Bibi’s side, we get to talk to boss- and while it’s very clear that she’s (rightfully!) angry at him over this, it’s also very clear that boss is concerned for him. When you wink psync with her, it’s pretty obvious that she does want to protect Ryuki as best she can. And while her somnium representation of events isn’t 1:1 with reality, i think it does a better job of showing how she feels.
Bibi seems pretty worried about Ryuki too- despite the obvious conflict that’s going to come up soon between the two of them, there’s no real indication that before that she ever hated him. She’s concerned whenever he’s dissociating around him, maybe a bit unsettled but doesn’t like him pushing himself too hard.
In comparison, we look at Ryuki’s scene where boss is chewing him out, and see none of that. Boss reads only as angry, and on a first viewing of the game, it feels fairly undeserved. (Yeah, he let the figure from the cathedral get away, but its because they dropped the bridge on him! Is that really his fault?) The consequences and potential demotion feel wildly unbalanced compared to what we as players just saw, and boss reads as almost overreacting angry.
Now, obviously with the context of the full game, you know that she’s angry for pretty understandable reasons. But all of that concern you’ll see on Mizuki’s side doesn’t seem to come through, and even her wink psync somnium in that scene reads as mostly just exhausted and frustrated.
So for how this ties into Ryuki’s mental health and storytelling- in my opinion Ryuki shows very strong signs of RSD, or ‘rejection sensitive dysphoria’. It’s a common symptom in people with ADHD (and it can also be a symptom of other disorders too! I’m just most familiar with ADHD personally), and sparing a big explanation, people with RSD are generally hyper-sensitive to most forms of criticism and rejection. It’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily even mean actual critique and rejection- even perceived “negative reactions” from people around you can set of RSD episodes when those people are actually perfectly happy with you. As a result people with adhd often tend to either procrastinate a lot or become intense people pleasers (or both), in order to delay potential judgement from peers out of fear of the feelings that comes with.
It’s also important to note that RSD responses usually aren’t just sadness or frustration with yourself- it’s a genuinely catastrophic and often times extremely distressing emotional response that can be very difficult to predict or control. You can see it in Ryuki in that scene- boss says he’s being demoted, and immediately he gets extremely upset and goes as far as to say he’d rather be a bum on the street than a disgraced cop. Tama has to calm him by reminding him its not the end of the world- which is very much how RSD episodes can often feel when you’re dealing with it.
So what I’m getting at here is this pair of scenes actually does an excellent job at demonstrating how Ryuki’s mental health impacts how he perceives the people around him. While with Bibi we see boss being concerned and pulling her weight trying to protect him, with Ryuki it can feel like she’s almost irrationally mad and practically ruining his life. By hiding the actual context of why he’s being reprimanded, it does an excellent job and portraying those feelings of catastrophizing and hurt that come along with episodes like that.
When it comes to Ryuki’s dissociative episodes and memory issues, the game starts off right from the very beginning making sure that the player is fully aware that Ryuki isn’t entirely okay. There’s trivia bits about it, characters will comment on him acting strange and suggest he get checked out at the hospital, and his file from the future section makes it very explicit that he already had problems, but they got worse due to the case. We go into things knowing that Ryuki is Not Okay, which I think is very important to how we experience him as a character.
While playing as Ryuki, we see how he experiences dissociative episodes in first person multiple times. We also get to see Tama’s repeated concern for him because of it, though- she can’t see exactly what he sees and she can’t just read his mind, so he’s alone (with the player) in this. People are often asking him if he’s okay, if he needs help, suggesting he should go see a doctor, but he brushes it off every time. To him, that’s a fair response on the subject. His expression after these moments is usually tired for a bit and then a smile to reassure Tama that he’s fine.
In comparison, when we see him as Mizuki and as Bibi, it becomes even more clear that he’s really... not. In the second half of the game we get to see Ryuki not how he sees himself, but how people are seeing him, and his issues start to feel a lot more obvious. He’s been denying help for a long time now, and he doesn’t want to stop the investigation for treatment- he literally walks out of the hospital after being told he has a serious memory disorder.
And the comparison between how he views himself and how the Mizukis view him is an intentional one- when they point out him acting strange due to TC-PERGE, he says “is that how I looked?” in response. It’s largely used to build tension and sow some distrust in Ryuki in the second half of the game, to wonder just what the hell is going on with him, but that’s also part of why that scene in the cathedral was very cathartic to me.
He’s been struggling due to his problems, the narrative has made sure to contrast what it felt like to be him vs how people are seeing him, but his problems do not mean he’s not worthy of compassion from the people around him. Date challenges him directly, reminding him (and the player) of something Ryuki himself said on his route- that no matter how many times he’s hit down, he just needs to keep rising back up. Telling him to climb above the debris is so important- other people can and will help, and they will cheer him on and support him, but he has to remember why he wanted this too. he has to fight for himself as well, and he does. For a character like Ryuki, who we know is very motivated by his past and the people he’s lost, being reminded that he can still have a future by someone he betrayed directly is very important.
(just adding this cap bc this dialogue makes me want to cry)
So honestly, the one thing I really wish we’d gotten out of the narrative after this moment is a scene where you play as Ryuki again. I understand why that didn’t happen from a development POV- it’d likely have made things additionally complicated, and the story very much was moving to be about Mizuki and Bibi’s situation. Which does make sense to me (even though i love Ryuki), Mizuki is the returning character, she’s the one I’d imagine the dev team would expect people to be a lot more attached to.
If anything, I truly wish we’d gotten to see Ryuki and Amame talking after her somnium, because I think those two can function as incredible foils to each other. They’ve been through similar things, and I think Ryuki could absolutely understand her pain. Ryuki says himself that he would kill the criminal who murdered his brother, if given the opportunity- and Amame is someone who was given that opportunity, and she took it. (I may make a separate post abt this sometime too, bc oh boy do i have thoughts about how the narrative could’ve explored these two more. Amame’s somnium on Ryuki’s side is absolutely loaded with painful questions for him. Uchikoshi i am begging you for a dlc-)
But back on topic, I think that having one more scene where you play as Ryuki on the true end route really could’ve further strengthened this effect. Finally getting to see things from his perspective at a point in time where he’s struggled and suffered but explicitly has the support of his friends and coworkers- I think that would’ve been a very good opportunity, and I truly do hope that may be something that could be explored further later. It would’ve put a nice bow on things to get to see his feelings on things from his perspective, knowing that it doesn’t have to be just him and Tama anymore.
Anyways if you read all of this: thank you for reading, don’t feel like you need to take any of this too seriously lol, but I’d be curious to know what other people think on the subject! I really really liked looking at how the game presents both sides of its story, and I think narratives presented out of order like AI:NI was often give potential for extremely fun storytelling.
The compassion the game ultimately has for Ryuki made me very happy, he suffers and struggles but he continues to fight to move forwards because he is so very human. It all ties back to that core theme of love- to have compassion for himself, and for him to accept the love of the people who want to see him succeed and get better. He has problems, they aren’t going to just go away, but he deserves the support and the friendship of people around him. He can climb above it when he finally accepts that he is not alone.
#kuruto ryuki#ryuki kuruto#aini#aini spoilers#nirvana initiative#nirvana initiative spoilers#aitsf#aitsf spoilers#this got. a lot longer than i intended#but i guess i did indeed have a lot to say on the subject lol#its something i care abt a lot!! its important to me#i hope it is at least easy to follow my thoughts slkdfjgsdfg#i just think they did something Really neat with the story structure#that you wouldn't be able to pull off if things had been set up differently#i Do still wish we saw more of him on mizuki's route yes#but like... look at my blog name of course i feel that way lmao#and i know there's a good chance there will Never be dlc and the menu was just a placeholder#but i will hold onto hope. i think this story deserves it#mizuki's stuff wrapped up v well imo#but i think there's a lot you Could still explore with ryuki#his relationships to certain characters and things you learn in endgame#the game itself is v satisfying to me but i love these characters so much?#it'd be like getting a nice dessert after a full course meal#but anyways thank u for reading again lol#adhd brain truly go brrrr#i love seeing disabled characters in fiction. makes me happy.
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I think one of the big reasons I love Outer Wilds so much is that it's one of the few games I've played where you just need to be willing to put your trust into it, genuinely.
What I mean is that about 90% of the time when someone picks up Outer Wilds the first thing they tell me is often a very similar complaint that can be summarized as "how was I supposed to know?!" This is either in response to figuring something out by chance, or by dying in some random way.
Now yes the game has a museum on your home planet that you have to visit before you can set off, and it has plenty of exhibits about what you might encounter. That being said there's a LOT that isn't covered there, and for good reason.
The problem I think people run into is simple, ask yourself honestly; when has a game ever rewarded you for trusting it; when has it ever delivered something meaningful from the confusion and hostility?
There are a few games that can do it, and they do it well; Outer Wilds is a stand out among them. This is because it never warns you, it never asks you to trust it. It simply exists as a game that at first glance might seem extremely hostile, daunting, confusing, or even frightening.
I will say the DLC is a little weaker in this regard but I understand why they had to do it. The DLC will directly tell you that you can turn down the spookiness of the content in the settings menu; but it also tells you that the scares are intended for the experience. Again I stand by the fact that this is a matter of trust, because I understand that yes again when has a game ever really rewarded you for putting up with being scared?
I'm not talking about a horror game, I'm talking about when a game has taken it's fear and dread and turned this into something you as the player have thoughts and emotions towards. I'm not talking about how Silent Hill does more with it's horror as symbolism; I'm asking when your own personal fear and unknowing has turned into a memorable experience as a result of learning from it.
See that's the thing about Outer Wilds, so many people will tell you that it's an extremely memorable, extremely unique, and generally special game. The unfortunate thing is that understanding exactly why, and by proxy explaining exactly why would detract from the entire experience.
Outer Wilds is at it's core an exploration puzzle game in the style of those old point and click adventure games. The overall mystery of what exactly is happening, how everything fits together; and what part you play in it all is what keeps the player engaged.
The realization you may uncover some more information that may allow you to interact with the game from a new perspective is exactly the dopamine hit you get from Outer Wilds. The thing about this is that it makes a really strong connection between you as the player and the game world you're interacting with. It's not your character looking at something and suddenly saying "this all suddenly makes sense to me, we need to go here and do this!" It's you, the player; the one who sat down to unravel the mysteries of the Outer Wilds universe. You are the one who gets to have that a-ha moment and say "hey wait a second this all suddenly makes sense, I need to go to this planet; and do this thing!"
Outer Wilds effectively makes you feel a sort of realistic and organic connection to the game world as a reflection of the real world, and I believe it does this really well by letting you as the player deduce it's mysteries for yourself.
When I say it makes a connection between the real world and the game world or that the game world becomes a sort of reflection; what I'm saying is that most if not all of the philosophy of Outer Wilds as a game, applies to real life. It's all things you may not think about, and it's not always going to be spelled out so simply.
However I've found that more often than not the game isn't just posing a question to you so that it can answer it and give you the next clue. Rather the game is asking you as the player a genuine question, it's not always directly asked in the form of a question but it's always asking something of you.
Whether it's "what would you have done in this situation" as you explore ruins and hear about how the people adapted to survive there or more directly literally asking "do these two things mean the same thing, or are they unique situations of their own merit" as it's written on the wall. You're constantly asking and answering questions in this sort of back and forth with the game.
You ask the game a question regarding the game world, perhaps as simple as "how do I get to this place safely?" The game then answers that question before asking you a question that is still absolutely about the game world, but not exclusively.
To give you an example that doesn't spoil anything, one of my favorite pieces of dialogue in the entire game is the response of a character named Gabbro when asked what they're doing out on the planet you find them on. Their response?
"Well, what are any of us doing here, really?
…Nah, I’m just kidding. I’m out here exploring our solar system, same as you."
This always stood out to me because nothing about it is meant to, this is a throwaway line of dialogue; it's almost meant as a joke. Gabbro is this really laid back character and here they're literally giving you a non-answer because as far as I can tell they don't really have one for you. However they go about it in such a way that seems to pose an answer to you.
At first they joke around saying "what are any of us doing here really?" Only to then mention "I'm out here exploring our solar system, same as you." Yet you find them relaxing in a hammock. Why does this all matter to me? Because it's the little details that really add up, the answer Gabbro is giving you here seems straight forward; they're exploring the solar system, same as you. However the reality of that is the answer "exploring the solar system" is a rather passive action. That doesn't tell us what Gabbro is really doing, it tells us that they're just sort of vibing, going through the motions same as anyone else. It doesn't however actually answer the question.
This is the way the game often asks you to think about these sorts of things. You as the player know something is up, and you have a ton of information to work with; you're jumping from planet to planet desperate for whatever next piece of the puzzle you might be able to get your hands on within your 22 minute loop.
Yet Gabbro? Well, they don't mind. They're just relaxing, you find them laying back in their hammock vibing the day away. Yet from how they see it they're "the same as you" which is hardly true, look at how hectic you are, think about how little time you're willing to "waste" look at just how quickly you want to give from point A to point B. Gabbro isn't exploring in the same way you are, far from it; Gabbro is taking their time, enjoying the journey; seeing the sights. You however, are blasting through the solar system at mach 12 trying not to crash and die while solving a mystery that's much bigger than you know.
However, stopping and asking yourself; what exactly is it you're doing? You've not been given direction; the game really did just send you off into space. It just said, go explore; be curious. Yet you likely find yourself suffering from goblin gamer brain, which is when there's a small goblin gamer in your brain that's trying to make sense of everything as a game.
Sometimes things just are, because they are; and it's really that simple. I feel like I am often quick to jump to conclusions and sometimes that includes the idea of saying something is bad game design if it doesn't reward the player immediately. Outer Wilds taught me there is more than one kind of use case for non-rewarding environmental elements however. This is the last I will say of specifics because again I think any information is technically enough to spoil your experience with this game.
But I do enjoy how you can find a poem on one of the planets, written on some signs. At first it seems as though it must be a clue, something connected to the larger story; you likely go over the poem several times trying to make sense of it. It's a lot of "what could this mean?" Or "does this line hint at this thing?!" Before you go back and talk to Gabbro who tells you that yea it was their art, they just sorta made that poem; because they enjoyed it.
The poem itself doesn't mean anything, there's nothing really to be gained from thinking about it, making sense of it; it just is. There's nothing about the poem that matters, nothing about the poem that would help you progress the game, and yet I cannot tell you how well it fleshes out the world. The idea that Gabbro would leave it there just makes sense, it's believable, and in a weird way it's really immersive as to why such a thing exists. Someone creative wanted to make art, nothing more; nothing less.
I'm getting a little side-tracked, my core take away from all of this is that Outer Wilds has so much more to it than mechanics or simply put; an emotional and deep ending. Outer Wilds won't click you with you 100% if you don't experience it yourself, if you don't encounter the confusion and albeit sometimes frustration that comes from having those moments of "how was I supposed to know?!" Because the truth is, you weren't supposed to know; you were supposed to learn, and you have.
You learn how to survive a little more with every death, you learn how to navigate technology and puzzles every time you fumble through getting something to work; you learn from engaging with your curiosity. The game doesn't want to bog you down with tutorials, everything you need to get started is learned in the museum, everything after that is up to you.
Outer Wilds asks you to stay curious, to ask questions, to seek answers; but almost most importantly it asks you to care. Often giving you the answers in the little notes, or in the throwaway dialogue. Outer Wilds isn't afraid to simply tell you some answers sure, but a lot of it's more interesting knowledge is hidden in the most mundane places. It can't deliver that knowledge to you in a way that is meaningful and memorable unless you trust it.
Trust the game to make good on your confusion and frustration; trust the game to make good on your fear and dread of the unknown. If you don't engage with these aspects of the game, the impact they're meant to leave with you won't be there.
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and while I'm procrastinating...
I finally, finally cleared my sim's inventory of all fish. I never did it before because the fish was useful for gardening. He had 92 salmon which make excellent fertilizer x'D lmao. I garden a lot so I couldn't bring myself to sell them. Then I had the brilliant idea to just move them to a different sim's inventory temporarily. Yay for ingenious solutions that took me embarrassingly long to figure out.
Once he was fish-free, I had him go fishing and catch a tilapia. The tilapia was excellent quality. Got out the campire and picked Roast Fish. He roasted the fish and for the first time EVER, he enjoyed the meal. It was "excellent" quality when I've only ever gotten "poor" before. Clearly the fish quality matters. Even when he caught fresh fish, because there were 92 foul, stinking salmon in his inventory, he'd end up cooking one of those instead of the good one and then have an upset stomach xP
You may think that should have been obvious BUT in my defense, no other food works like this in sims 4 - Although that's a lie, I don't actually know for sure what happens if you let meat spoil and then try to cook a meat dish. Probably THEN it's poor quality and you get sick. But I don't know because I've never had this issue. Reason being, when I get meat I put it in the fridge right away. You can't roast meat over the campfire, so there's no reason to keep it in your inventory. Plus, if you're not doing the Simple Living challenge, you probably don't even shop for meat.
So your chances of eating bad food because the ingredients were spoiled to begin with are really, really slim most of the time - EXCEPT with campfire-roasted fish. Because you need the fish to be in your inventory (unless you're camping on your home lot for some reason). The campfire dates back to Outdoor Retreat, the very first Sims 4 DLC, so it's no wonder it's so simplistic.
But it is a problem. It's not reasonable to assume sims will sell all the fish they catch except what they plan to eat right away. Even when there was only Outdoor Retreat and base game, this made no sense - because fish were fertilizer for gardens. As far as I know, they've always had that ability (but there have been lots of changes so maybe I'm wrong). Now sure, most sims don't need 92 salmon in their inventory. But salmon are such GREAT fertilizer even when they're completely rank that to sell them if you don't need money makes no sense. You can use them any time to fertilize the plants - there's no time limit.
You COULD put the fish in the fridge instead of your inventory. But two problems - one, in my play style, I have my sim with 92 salmon hop around fertilizing public gardens as well as his friends' gardens, and I want to be sure of using salmon for that - not fishing somewhere nearby and only catching a guppy. Second, and more relevant to players besides myself, is the fridge these days is SOOOO laggy. Idk but every time I click it, it takes several long seconds to bring up the first menu. And then if there's a lot inside, you have to scroll around to what you want... I avoid opening the fridge. Yes, these are just a few extra steps, not really an inconvenience... but it is SO convenient to just keep the fish in my inventory...
Well, if that's how it is, then I have no other choice. But what I would LIKE is for the campfire to be programmed to either let us choose which fish we want to roast, so we can pick good quality ones, OR default to the freshest fish in the inventory. Then you'd still have to be careful not to accidentally eat a fish you want to keep, but at least you won't get an upset stomach every time you don't eat a fish right away. Because they seem to spoil pretty fast.
Also I want more campfire food options. Tired of veggie dogs and marshmallows. What about campfire-roasted sweet potatoes?? Mmm. Or how about just being able to roast any edible in your inventory? I know, it's pointless, you can just eat it raw... I just love camping in the sims x'D though I'm probably the only one
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The Brothers Playing Dead By Daylight
I know this is a very strange crossover to have but it was fun!
Lucifer
As Killer:
Doesn’t really know what he’s doing but will find it immensely amusing watching all the survivors flee from him.
Will definitely without a doubt get too into character. “Ah there you are~ Oh you thought you could get away from me?” Sadistic af.
Will seemingly let the survivor away just to toy with them. He knows where you are, he’ll be back later.
As Survivor:
Will let his fellow survivors die if he feels like they’re not worth his time. He has generators to complete and better things to do with his time. Maybe work hard on not getting caught in the first place.
Prefers to works on generators alone since he likes to trust in himself more than others, but if they seem worth his time he will help them out since cooperation tends to benefit everyone in this game.
Mammon
As Killer:
Absolutely in it for the blood points.
Would also spend all his money on every DLC and outfit he can get, even if he never uses them, just because he needs everything.
Unfortunately he’d probably be a camper if he’s desperate, which is almost all the time. “What it’s not against the rules! I need the points!”
As Survivor:
This poor baby will be screaming constantly, usually somewhere halfway in between fear and rage. Either way expect some cussing.
Will lead the killer to other survivors while being chased, sometimes on purpose but mostly by accident.
Is typically the bait in most matches.
Levi
As Killer:
You know he has the most intense build in order to know where you are almost constantly.
Is honestly not fun to play against because he’s a try-hard.
Good luck getting any sort of work done, your party will probably already be dead before you’ve even had a chance to get a generator done.
He will try his best to not be toxic but can’t really help it if his envy gets in the way.
As Survivor:
Also has OP high level skills on survivor, but this time he’s on your team, so it works out in your favor.
He’ll know where you are whenever you’re hurt and heal you up right away.
He will never miss a skill check. Ever. He’s too good for that. His gamer rep is on the line.
Every character is maxed in level, rank, and prestige.
Satan
As Killer:
He will be an extremely aggressive killer. In every way that Lucifer is sneaky, Satan will be in your face. He wants you dead and there’s no way around it.
Will absolutely tunnel one person at a time, once he sets his sights on you, there’s no way he’s letting you go until you’re on a hook.
Will take you to the basement. Period. He’s ruthless.
As Survivor:
Sticks with his aggressive play style.
Will work on all the generators out in the open first, to get them out of the way.
If he gets chased by the killer he happens to know where all the pallets are, and WILL use them all if he has to.
He will be one of those survivors that tries to body block the killer or blind them using the flashlight.
Asmo
As Killer:
He hates how ugly most of them look, so will choose the one that looks the prettiest despite skills or perks.
Will buy the cutest skin for them he can find, although there’s not many that don’t make them all look just as grotesque.
Doesn’t really care about kills as long as he has fun, he prefers just to chase anyway.
As Survivor:
Finally here are some cuties!
Even if the skin he chose is blinding and easy to see he will wear it despite that.
If you’re hurt he will come over just so he can give you “a good rub down~”
Is fairly good as getting generators done, but he’s easily distracted so he will miss a few skills checks.
Beel
As Killer:
Really doesn’t like to play killer but if he has to he’ll make the match as balanced as possible.
If he’s already hooked you twice he’ll leave you alone to go find another player.
Will be that killer that cooperatively works will all the survivors to give everyone the most possible points.
Is just overall wholesome.
As Survivor:
Will be the support role that will save the team. Hurt? No problem, he’ll heal you. Being chased? He’ll come take a hit for you. He’ll even sacrifice himself it it means the other players get to live.
Will often be the one getting people off of hooks as opposed to actually getting stuff done.
Won’t escape until he’s sure that everyone still in the match got out safely.
Belphie
As Killer:
Will end up being that afk killer you came across. He fell asleep in the menu.
When he does manage to play, he’s a pretty good killer, cutting the survivors off when they try to confuse him, even remembering to destroy the generators to destroy progress.
If he ends up chasing for someone for too long he’ll give up to go find someone else since it’s annoying and not worth his time.
As Survivor:
Will always try to stick with someone to make progress go as fast as possible, also in case he needs someone to act as bait.
Probably won’t end up struggling because it’s too much effort when he knows he’s probably going to die anyways.
If you both get downed, he’ll crawl over to your body so you can lie down together.
#obey me#obey me headcanons#obey me imagines#obey me shall we date#obey me lucifer#obey me mammon#obey me levi#obey me satan#obey me asmo#obey me beelzebub#obey me belphegor
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My thoughts on: The Last of Us Part II SPOILER WARNING!
I just wanna start off by saying that in my opinion, The Last of Us II is an absolute masterpiece of a game. It's incredibly well made and just amazing in so many ways. But even tho I love so many things about this game, there sure are some things I’m not happy about. I never did something like this before for anything but with this game I just felt like sharing my thoughts on it.
Info: English is not my first language!
Mainly:
I first watched the first game on YouTube and I absolutely loved it. I went on to play it myself on the PS3 and of course again a few times later on the PS4. It became one of my favourite games and the story was just amazing. And seeing Ellie and Joel getting closer through all of it was absolutely adorable and I loved it. I was excited for Part II since the first reveal. And I was hella disappointed and kinda pissed when the release date was changed so many times. But still I was getting more and more excited the closer we got to the final release date of Part II.
Looking though Twitter and other websites and seeing all of the thoughts about this game, I also saw people saying how they didn’t portray the LGBT+ community right. Now I honestly don’t want to say if they did or not because I pretty much can’t. I absolutely support each and everyone in that community so I don’t want to speak for them, because only they know how they would’ve wanted it to be portrayed and how it would’ve been done right.
The Story:
Seeing everyone living happily in a city was a great start. Sure they still have some problems and also take care of the infected outside. But still it seems so peaceful and I’m glad Ellie and Joel got to settle down there.
I’ve been wondering what will make Ellie so deeply upset going after some people and wanting to kill them ever since I saw the reveal trailer. The closer we got and even before the leaks online, I always had the thought that it will include Joel’s death. Even tho I always thought that, I still wasn’t prepared. And I absolutely wasn’t prepared that it would happen so fast and so quick. It still hurts when I think about it and it’s just unbelievable losing one of the main characters whose story you went through for hours had to die in such a horrible way.
It was absolutely understandable that Ellie wanted to get revenge for it. Even tho she didn’t know the reason why Joel was killed. Joel was everything for both her and of course Tommy. I’m glad she had Dina with her who helped and supported her through a part of it. I also love that Jesse went after them - probably mostly for Dina - but he was risking a lot as well to help through it all.
Seeing other surviving groups besides those in the first game was really interesting. Especially because they all are so different. It was giving a different look on how people change and survive during this apocalypse. And it was definitely something different and more intense than the Fireflies.
Seeing Abby’s story wasn’t my favourite part of playing but of course it belongs to the whole story and was really important to understand everything that has happened.
I was curious to see what changed about the infected and they did it amazingly in this game! They did a really good job on the stalkers even tho I had a hard time on managing them. But the ‘merging’ of the first infected in the hospital was … interesting? It was sure hard to battle. The shamblers also gave me a hard time but were a cool new infected to fight against!
After so many fights and disappointments I was glad to see Dina and Ellie happy with the baby. I’m sure Jesse would’ve been a great dad and they all would’ve gotten along. They all would’ve been so great.
I understand that it hurt and disappointed Dina when Ellie decided to go search for Abby again. They were living peacefully now and they definitely deserved it. Which is why I was kinda angry at what Tommy said when visiting them. But sure he wanted revenge. And he himself couldn’t do it anymore.
Even though through all of the game it seemed like Ellie was gonna get back at her for what she did, I wasn’t surprised when she let Abby escape at the end. We may not fully understand what made her do it and why she didn’t finish it, but I’m sure she had a reason. I’m kinda disappointed that she didn’t kill Abby because after everything she went through to find her, she didn’t give her what she deserved - or did she?
Also the fact they never got to talk about everything again really hurts me. They said "See you." and they actually didn't until he died the next day. It really broke me. I just would’ve loved to know that they were on good terms before his life ended. But I’m sure that Joel knows how much Ellie loves him.
After all I absolutely loved the story still. Even after the loss of Joel. It was a well done game and an amazing story.
The Characters:
Ellie: Ellie has been my favourite since the second we met her. When she was young she was already funny and such a great person and I loved her relationship with Joel and the way it grew to be a family. She has lost so many people already and I absolutely understand the way she felt when she lost Joel like that right in front of her. Not being able to do anything. I understand her anger and was supporting her to get her revenge during the game. Even tho in the end she didn’t finish it.
Dina: She went with Ellie and was by her side. She made Ellie really happy and I loved seeing them together. I hope if we get something like a DLC or something that we might see her get back with Ellie or something. They are a cute little family and they deserve happiness.
Abby: I for my part hated her since the second she killed Joel. Just the way it happened … She didn’t give him a chance at all. I do understand her part of the story and that she’s hurting. But what she did to joel just angers me and I hate her so much for it.
Jesse: I actually started to really like him. He seemed to be a great guy and he even went after the girls and helped them. Since I started to like him I was really sad when Abby just killed him. I’m sure he would’ve been such an amazing dad and supportive character.
Joel: I loved him since the first game. He had such a great character development. He would’ve done anything for Ellie to protect her. Even until his last breath. I’m still heartbroken that we lost him in such a way. But I’m trying to see a good side as well - he’s with Sarah and Tess now. And Sam and Henry. Absolutely amazing character. You’ll be missed.
Tommy: Really love him as well. He even went after Abby to protect Ellie and that she doesn’t have to. Would’ve actually loved to play him a bit in the game since we were always pretty much right behind him. Also got hella scared and was gonna fight people because I thought he got killed. But luckily he survived.
Maria: I love that she supported Ellie on going after Abby and her people. Even tho it probably mainly was for her to bring back Tommy. Maria is a great person and I already loved her since we met her in the first game. She’s an absolute badass.
Gameplay:
Even tho I only played on a normal PS4 and not on a Pro, the experience while playing was amazing. The graphics and details are just so well done and absolutely incredible!
For my part I was mostly annoyed while playing Abby. Sure her story was a big part of the game and it’s story but since she’s a character I absolutely hate I was just happy when I was finally done playing as her. And it felt like you played her way more than Ellie which also is something that really wasn’t my favourite thing about playing the game.
It is a big open world game which of course is why I definitely didn’t collect everything. I spent lots of time looking around everywhere I could but I’m still missing some safes, papers, coins and other things. Luckily I got all weapons and upgrade books tho which was most important to me.
I myself finished the game after a total of 22 hours. I started Friday and finished on Monday. It was a great experience and I wanted to take my time to look around and see as much as possible.
I love that the weapon menu was the same. It made things very easy especially since I replayed Part I before the release of Part II. The crafting and upgrading menu for both weapons and abilities was new and I complained a lot on how I had to spent the pills for stuff I didn’t want or need because I wanted some other things. But since you find a lot of them during the game I was able to upgrade most of it. I look forward to playing again on New Game+ so I can upgrade fully!
Overall I absolutely love this game and it’s incredible! It’s definitely worth watching or even playing yourself!
#the last of us#the last of us part ii#the last of us part 2#naughty dog#joel miller#tommy miller#ellie#dina#jesse#joel#tommy#troy baker#ashley johnson#abby anderson#abby
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Control review
I have been looking forward to Control for a while now, it was a very mysterious game before the non-existent marketing campaign. So going in blind was a great experience that is pretty rare these days in gaming. I’m gonna break Control down into its essential parts and talk about my view of them. Spoilers lie ahead.
The Good
The voice acting is pretty well done across the cast, the main character Jesse is especially well-acted (though not well written, more on that later). The setting of the Oldest House drips with atmosphere and a sense of eerie familiarity that comes with being in an office building. Only this office, though appearing to be a skyscraper in Manhattan, has layers and moving hallways as well as much more lurking in its depths. The Metroidvania style of learning abilities to access new areas really does a great job of shining in this context.
Some of these side-missions are some of the best I’ve played this year. I thought the fridge was just a “Weeping Angel” kind of thing where you died if you didn’t look at it (there’s a cool touch in that room that I like). Upon taking the side mission though it’s short and simple it did a great job of subverting my expectation and throwing an unexpected boss fight at you. The Mold Monster, The Anchor, all interesting side quests that do a great job of supplementing the experience.
When things do smooth out, combat is hot shit like it’s Chronicle the game. The debris and destruction effects are everything you’ve heard and really give that feel of next-gen that some games really could use. Ever play Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (2004)? It’s that turned up to fucking twenty.
The lore is some of the best I’ve come across, I actually sat down and read as much as I possibly could. Yes, some people don’t like how it can break up gameplay but I saw it as a chance to dive deeper and actually understand what little I can before continuing. The redacted information is a great touch and I do get the sense that the reader is meant to fill in the blanks. That said, it can be a real middle finger at times when all you want is answers.
The mod system on the surface is a good idea, I have to give them points for at least trying. Some mods are so good you get them and it is instantly slotted. One that drops from a secret objective grants you 100% ammo reduction on hit. Excuse me while I boot up the game to go get that real quick yeahthanks.
Little cute cosmetic things like outfits come from...wait for it...playing the game!! WAAAAT
The Bad
The mod system, though having its gems, is mostly dirty lumps of Black Rock. So many, and I mean so many mods are going to be deleted for scrap to help upgrade your gun or the mods you can get a chance to randomly drop.
What the hell is The City, it’s capitalized in the subtitles and many lore entries and there was not so much as a reference or explanation or anything. In addition, a lot of the redacted documents still draw me in but it is frustrating when so much is left out in a world that already begs so many questions. Would it have killed the writers for a little clarity?
As satisfying as the side missions can be, there are a number of them that boil down to straight-up bitch missions. Kill x amount of enemies here, destroy x things there, all this in a game where I can fly and shoot a sentient gun and throw shit with my mind. Ya couldn’t come up with anything else?
The Metroidvania element is a great idea, but it isn’t implemented quite as well as I would’ve liked. It’s just a little grating when more often than not it’s not a lack of an ability but the number on your access card not being high enough. Lame.
The ending is a little insulting, the fake-out got me so mad I actually said out loud “Oh well at least the real ending won’t upset me like that.” Wrong, wow holy fuck was I wrong. The final fight is another gauntlet, shocker, and it’s not even really all that difficult because The Board supposedly...buffs your strength? That is never really explained either. Cool. You beat the same enemies you’ve been kicking around for hours now only to find Dylan suspended in air, you purify him or whatever. Roll credits. Go fuck yourself. Regardless of whether or not DLC is coming and there is, that ending is pathetic on so many levels after a game I spent around 15 hours being pretty impressed by.
The Ugly
What’s ugly about Control nears unforgivable. I mean it, if you’re sensitive to performance issues to the point where things can chug to a near halt: then just wait and keep your ear to the ground for patch notes and updates for when things get fixed. For the record, I distinctly remember playing New Vegas on my 360 and the absolute shit show that was. So I do believe that experience gave me the strength to persevere through it. Beefy PCs will be fine as well as Xbox One X, but base systems and even in some cases with the PS4 Pro really need some attention when it comes to hotfixes**. Combat will kick off and get heated, only for frames to drop as low as the tens and single digits according to Digital Foundry. On top of it all, it would be one thing if it was momentary and fleeting but essentially from the first moment of gameplay; it’s guaranteed to get worse as your powers grow and destruction becomes more and more prevalent.
No new game plus, and level selecting after completion overwrites your save file and did I mention there’s only one save file? Remedy... you know its 2019 right? I feel like that was a no brainer.
As fun as the combat loop is, how did we not get the full selection of gun forms or at least more than two? Too often am I pausing to switch out a form when I should be able to hold three forms to at least mitigate how many times I’m going into the menu. On top of that, combat scenarios are just gauntlets and there aren’t much varying in situations outside of taking advantage of the different architecture The Oldest House has. It’s just wave after wave with nothing really different between them.
In summation...
Control is fun, intriguing and (most of the time) absolutely gorgeous. It’s very clear that Control is the culmination of both Alan Wake and Quantum Break. To me, it is the best parts of both with Alan Wake’s aesthetic and tone with the high octane Quantum Break action. If that sounds like your kind of thing, I say its worth it, maybe wait until a sale comes around or when they do whatever they need to ease the performance issues. This is a single-player game that offers an interesting experience that may not be backed up by story but is held up by lore and environments that really shine in modern gaming. Yes, it's SCP the game but in a lot of ways, it isn’t.
I give Control a 7.5/10 with performance issues on launch being one of the biggest detractors. I’d rate it a little higher now that a lot of the issues have been patched but I believe games need to be reviewed on the state they shipped in.
**On September 4th it was reported that the team is focussed on performance issues for consoles in addition to the two expansions titles “Foundation” and “AWE” as well as non-narrative content.
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Hand of Fate 2
Developer: Defiant Development
Publisher: Defiant Development
Rrp: £23.79 (Steam) and £24.99 (Gog.com)
Released: 7th November 2017
Available on: Steam and Gog.com
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Approximate game length: Over 30 Hours
For years I have worked on the game, this game of chance and choice. It is but a pale imitation of the real world, but it allows the player to hone their skills for the times ahead. So traveller, why don't you sit for a spell and play with me?
Hand of Fate 2 is a digital board game and honestly I can see why is has to be digital, there are just too many components and variables to keep track of. I should mention that, yes, I know that there is a real world Hand of Fate board game, I own a copy of it and I can vouch for how good it is, but there are just some things the board game cannot capture that this game does.
In this game you work your way across twenty two challenges (in the adventure mode) unlocking new cards as you go. Along the way you'll be testing your skills with arkham style combat, pushing your luck in dice rolls and four card monty, and lastly testing your timing with swinging pendulums and spinning wheels of cards.
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At its core this game is near identical to its predecessor, however though the core the may be the same everything surrounding it has been greatly improved, especially the combat.
One major difference in this game is a running narrative. Each of the challenges you face (of which there are twenty two) will link onto the others, even if its just tangentially.
When you enter a challenge the Dealer will lay out the cards face down before you, these cards will act as encounters and will activate as you move your player piece onto them. Just like with the previous instalment of Hand of Fate you construct the deck that the Dealer plays from with encounters, equipment, supplies and companions that you should find in each challenge (with exception of companions who will usually start with you). Of course, the Dealer adds some cards of his own to the deck, you can't have it all your own way after all. Within the deck that you construct you will find that there are three tiers of card, normal, platinum and brimstone and each challenge will only allow a specific allocation of each.
The challenges you will face can usually be completed to two levels; Silver and Gold. Silver means that you did all that was required of you to complete the challenge whereas gold involves you completing every optional part of the challenge. However I said 'usually' for a reason, in some cases there is no Silver completion in which case its an all or nothing challenge.
Within each challenge your piece will move from one encounter to the next and with each new card that is revealed your piece will consume one food. If at any point you run out of food each new card revealed will take ten points of health instead.
There are several mini games (known as gambits) that you will end up facing as part of your playthrough. Some of these gambits were a pain in the butt for me, but my fiancé found them easy so mileage may vary on them, thankfully certain pieces of equipment you can find will make these gambits easier.
A completely new feature to the game is that you can have a companion. Companions provide assistance such as casting spells, and attacking opponents in battle. Most also have a benefit that can be performed outside of combat, such as Malacylpse allowing you to redraw a card during the card wheel mini game. If you accept the offer to use this benefit your companion will be unavailable to you until you reveal three new encounters. In combat your companions are unkillable, however they can be stunned. In the event of that you'll need to get into close quarters with them to get them to stand back up and rejoin the fight. Thankfully this is a rather quick affair that can be performed in between attacks.
The combat feels a lot less like a arkham clone and is far more responsive, yes the game still has indicators that appear above your enemies heads allowing you to anticipate their moves somewhat but the enemies won't always come at you one at a time. While you're facing off with the Northman Berserker one of the trappers can be winding up a long range attack while a shaman buffs them both.
As you may have gleaned from the last sentence the range of enemies you face has greatly increased from the last game, each of which having their own strengths, weaknesses and unit types that will require a different approach. For example the Empire have soldiers that will use their shields to block incoming attacks while protecting their riflemen who will attempt to hurt you at range. Meanwhile the Northmen never block, but will attack with great ferocity hitting hard and often. It should also be mentioned that not every enemy will be human, most will, but definitely not all of them.
There is an optional mode called 'apprentice mode' that makes the game easier by increasing your damage and making the prompted riposte and finishers automatic, everything else is left as is. The offer of this mode will appear if you die a few times, like I did.
Personally I think this is a great addition to the game and even though I won't use the feature myself, it will allow less skilled (or stubborn) players to play more easily and is easily deactivated in the options menu.
There is now an 'Endless' mode to play which changes a few rules, such as making all your equipment degrade overtime with exception of your base weapons and shield. Another thing that is different are the Trail cards, these make your game more difficult but will give you a reward for achieving it. You do all of this to attain 'Endless' points, which is just for score attack, however this mode is also a great way to unlock new cards.
I've got to say I have loved my time with game, so much so I fully intend on keeping it installed and getting all the DLC's. It should be mentioned that the game has lots of free content as well as three pieces of DLC that you can purchase. On top of all of that there is also mod support included.
All that being said I can't claim that this game is perfect, there are plenty of minor issues such as the camera during combat and trap sections being a bit awkward and positioning itself in such a way that you can end up fighting blind.
On the whole though this game is a vast improvement over the original, I really hope they make a third just to see what they do next.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Guild of Dungeoneering
Slay the Spire
Children of Zodiarcs
#defiant development#hack and slash#roguelite#indie#indie games#independent#independant#indie game#game review#game reviews#games review#games reviews#video games#video game#video gaming
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Last week, in a tiny hidden bar typical of Melbourne’s inner east, Nintendo gave us hands-on time with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Nintendo Australia had hoped to get us in front of a newer build of the game (we would have loved to try King K. Rool and Simon Belmont!); however, the build was identical to the one we played at E3 some two and a bit months ago. However, where our time with the game at E3 was rushed and hectic, this time we had a solid two hours in a laid back environment which allowed us to get comfortable and explore more of what it had to offer.
And what a difference that makes to perspective.
To sum things up, we had a smashing good time, and we’re now more excited than ever to add Smash Ultimate into our gaming libraries. Our Publications Director David Johnson and Special Projects Director Shona Johnson were at the event. Here are a few of our thoughts on the game:
Shona Johnson, Special Projects Director
As a long-time Smash player — I’ve been with the series since the Nintendo 64 — playing Ultimate with a big group over food and drink was instantly familiar, taking me back to happy times when I played Melee for hours on end with friends or, more recently, Smash Wii U parties. Although it’s been a while since I last fired up a game of Smash, and I haven’t played since the demo at E3, my Smash instincts and muscle memory kicked in, throwing me into that wonderfully chaotic place where some of my favorite characters are beating each other up.
At E3 there were a limited number of play slots available (strictly one per person), and I signed up to play it competitively, which meant that part of my attention was given to attempting to win, meaning I played it safe with characters I knew well, in addition to checking out what was new and different. Fortunately, towards the end of the second day of E3, the lines died down to the point where the wait wasn’t hideous, so I was able to get in a few rounds of fun play where I could at least try out some of the new characters. I had fun and walked away from E3 feeling incredibly impressed by the game’s polish, but spending two hours with the demo gave me a chance to try out a lot more and really get a feel for the gameplay.
The demo for Smash Ultimate had 23 out of the game’s 103 stages to select from.
Also 30 characters of the roster were present, but a few classic fighters were held back.
Matches were limited to two-minute free-for-alls with up to four players playing solo or in teams. Items were on, and we couldn’t change any of the settings. A roster of 30 characters was available, and we could choose from 23 stages. I was able to play most of the characters and stages available. The event had multiple stations, most of which had Pro controllers, but a couple had GameCube controllers. It’s nice to see the GameCube controllers being carried through, as many Smash veterans are familiar with these, and, at the end of the day, each player will be able to set up their preferred controller configuration.
Existing characters feel familiar, and most of the changes to their moves are subtle if any have been made at all. Most of them appeared to be fairly well balanced, although it’s hard to say given that I was swapping characters a lot and playing against people of varying skill levels. Ridley and the Inkling were the new characters in the demo, and both had their own unique movesets that took some time to get used to (and honestly, I didn’t play them enough to get used to them). Ridley is slow and heavy, and I struggled with him a bit because I struggle with that sort of character more in general, and I found that the pace of the gameplay made it hard to spend time effectively splattering paint over everyone as the Inkling. That said, in one match while playing a different character I kept getting trapped in paint by another Inkling which was somewhat annoying for me but great for them I imagine!
The list of stages we had to choose from included both new and returning ones. A big difference in Ultimate is that players choose the stage before choosing characters, with the idea that players can choose a character to suit a stage, although that never really crossed my mind because it’s something I’ve never considered before; for me, it’s more the stages in general that I love or hate rather than playing on them with specific characters. And at this event, I was much more in the mindset of wanting to see everything and try it all out, so I never even thought about the stage while I was selecting my character.
All of the stages look amazing. Of the new ones, the Great Plateau Tower from Breath of the Wild is a fairly small one where the roof collapses in occasionally, and surprisingly this isn’t a hazard; it just looks cool. Moray Towers is the new Splatoon stage, and it’s a series of sloping levels stacked vertically above each other. I found this one hard to fight on because players were more spread out and on different levels which made it hard to land hits. I imagine this will be better suited to people who like slightly slower gameplay and having more chances to recover, or it might be more fun with eight players. Conversely, I cannot imagine how chaotic eight-player Smash is going to be on the Great Plateau Tower!
In Ultimate, having items turned on didn’t feel quite as chaotic as they have in past games, and I think they’ve been nerfed a fair bit. The once-almighty hammer — I got one and the guy next to me said “uh oh” as soon as he heard the music — didn’t produce the KOs or near-KOs I would have expected in the past. Likewise, Smash Balls didn’t always guarantee KOs like that did in Smash Wii U/3DS. They’re also harder to grab, although they also sometimes just land on the ground and stay still; the first time this happened we were all wary of the Fake Smash Balls and ran away from it until someone hesitantly kicked it and realized it was a real one!
I felt that I had to be very accurate when landing blows and dodging. It should lend to a technical playstyle that will suit competitive players and those who play for fun.
Overall, the gameplay feels faster and more precise. Thankfully there’s no Brawl-style random slipping and tripping, and I felt that I had to be very accurate when landing blows and dodging. Fast characters like Fox and Sonic covered ground incredibly quickly, and some of the heavier characters like Donkey Kong felt more agile. If you’re not paying attention, you can be sent flying off screen and not realize where you are at first! It should lend to a technical playstyle that will suit both competitive players as well as those who play for fun (because the core concept of Super Smash Bros. is fun).
Two hours of the one style of match flew by, so I can only imagine how many hours I’m going to get out of the game playing with different modes and rules. And that’s before I even consider any possible single-player modes, which I hope there will be for the times when I take my Switch with me on the go by myself. I didn’t want my time with Ultimate to end, and now more than ever I eagerly await December when I can get the full version into my hands.
David Johnson, Publications Director
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has all the potential to be the best Smash Bros. game to date. Thus far, everything Nintendo has shown oozes with that careful attention to detail that Nintendo is simply known for. While we don’t know all of its secrets yet — there’s this maybe “Spirits” mode on the main menu that we know nothing about that may be a major single-player component to the game(?) — I can’t help but be extremely excited for the series to make its way to the Switch.
How can I describe Ultimate? Well, the short answer is that it feels very much like Smash Bros. More specifically, it feels a lot like Melee, though admittedly I haven’t pulled out my GameCube to play it in quite some time. While there is a good dose of beautiful chaos in the game caused by items, assist trophies, and Poké Balls, it’s all a manageable sort of chaos. It just feels good to dart into piles of characters, take some pot shots (or get hit trying!), and then escape to go at it again.
At the event, they had a couple of stations with GameCube controllers set up, but I figured I would give the Switch Pro Controllers one more fair go, even though the default control scheme of every controller since the GameCube has made me want to cry. And while I still wasn’t 100% in love with the Pro Controller’s default setup, I did find myself hating it a lot less. But I still will either be using a GameCube controller or resorting to making a custom controller configuration for me when the game comes out.
Because we had two solid hours with the game, I went and truly experimented with characters both familiar and unfamiliar as well as played practically every stage that was on display. For the characters I was familiar with, I found the differences between the Ultimate fighters and their earlier incarnations rather subtle, though Marth especially seemed incredibly floaty, much more so than he was in Melee. (That said, I chalk this up as a good thing!) For characters I was unfamiliar with — Ridley, Inkling, and the host of DLC characters from Smash 4, they all felt incredibly unique from the cast of old, and that’s hugely refreshing. That said, the fact that many of the characters are becoming Echo Fighters (thus with the official salute that they’re “the same character” as some other), makes me happy; finally, we can hope to see so many characters truly become unique entities rather than carbon copies of one another.
And the stages were mostly fantastic. They look utterly fantastic, and they set the stage for a visually impressive game. And none of them felt like they detracted too much from the overall premise of the game: dominating over all your friends. That said, I still utterly despise the Mega Man stage brought forward from Smash 4, though I’m extremely relieved that not only can we trigger each stage’s Ω (omega) form but also simply play with the stages as is sans their various stage hazards. Finally, we can play the Dr. Wily stage without the Yellow Devil ruining an otherwise fun game.
The Smash Balls’ effectiveness has been nerfed quite a bit. In order to counterbalance that, the Assist Trophies seem much more powerful.
As far as the items go, there were only two major differences I’ve noticed in playing the game. First and foremost, the Smash Balls’ effectiveness has been nerfed quite a bit. Since Brawl, while it’s always been possible to survive a Final Smash, it was exceedingly unlikely. However, now the survivability has been greatly upped as the Final Smashes aren’t really so “final” any longer. Perhaps this is done in order to keep it in line with how short many of the moves have been made or just to allow them to not disrupt gameplay as much, but it really makes it feel much more balanced as a whole. (That said, the Smash Balls seemed extremely difficult to even get to as they moved far quicker than before!)
In order to counterbalance that, the Assist Trophies seem much more powerful. In previous games, Assist Trophies generally remained on-screen for no more than a few seconds at most. Now, many Assist Trophies have been modified to become temporary allies on the stage, giving you a not insignificant advantage. While the Assist Trophies are able to be defeated and don’t dish out overwhelming damage in one go, they possibly will be one of the more contentious design decisions for Smash Ultimate.
The gravity well item popped up quite a bit in the game, and its effects can be felt everywhere.
Thematically, Ultimate is full of so many little subtle details that show just how much Sakurai and his team love Nintendo and its entire legacy. The subtle changes to Link to bring about his Breath of the Wild form are carefully balanced by pushing Princess Zelda and Ganondorf to other parts of the timeline to showcase the breadth of the Zelda series. The fact that the Echo Fighters now exist allow for a greater depth of exploration into the various franchises without providing an overwhelming feeling of sameness permeating everything, such as when Dark Pit was announced as a separate character in Smash 4.
Outside of my hands-on experience, what I think impresses me the most about Ultimate is just how much variety there can be inside the ordinary Smash experience. Sure, there are tournaments and oodles of other features and modes, but having well over 60 characters to choose from and over 100 stages to fight on will give so many permutations of fighting that it’ll be impossible to play them all. Whenever I’m smashing it up with friends, there always comes to that point in the evening when I stray away from the characters I’m familiar with and start playing the characters I’m either terrible with or simply don’t play as much, and Ultimate will ensure that I’m always wanting to experiment and try another character again and again beyond that.
December 7 cannot come fast enough. Smash Ultimate, I’m desperately waiting for you.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be released on December 7 for Nintendo Switch. Thank you to Nintendo Australia for inviting us to come and Smash!
Two hours with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this might just be the best Smash so far Last week, in a tiny hidden bar typical of Melbourne’s inner east, Nintendo gave us hands-on time with
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Fallout 76
Okay... I won’t talk a whole lot about it because it’s not even out yet. So, the hubs signed up for the BETA and he got to play a little the other day... if you don’t want to know anything about the game, this is where this post ends... but if you want my initial thoughts on it and are okay with MAJOR spoilers for what’s out there now? Well...
It’s boring. It’s like... okay... so, the graphics look... pretty much the same. The same facial structures, the same hairstyles. Nothing note-worthy at all about that. The controls are the same, which is to be expected in a franchised game. But... okay, let’s just make this easier on everyone.
1. The World
It’s... Fallout 4 with color and leaves. To be blunt, it looks like Fallout 4 with a mod on it, nothing new... like... at all. Okay, so maybe one thing is new. The pip-boy, but technically that’s “old” compared to FO4.
2. Caps and Loot
I’m hoping this is a BETA thing because wow... just... wow. Probably 80% of the containers/cabinets etc that I saw hubs open were empty. Nothing. There’s like... nothing there... caps are proving to be hard to come by which isn’t that big of a deal because there’s no one to buy anything from.
3. NPC;s
Don’t exist. There aren’t any. The only “other people” that you deal with are robots and voice recordings. You don’t see anyone else outside enemies. The other people you see, are just that, other people. It’s an MMO, we all knew this, but damn... that’s... all.
4. No Pause/Safe Place
Because it’s an MMO, you can’t pause the game. This, in itself, is nothing new. But... there’s no where ‘safe’. You have to hope you won’t be attacked when you’re changing your equipment, checking your stats, or agonizing over which Perk card you’re going to use.
5. Perk Cards
What the actual fuck. Okay, so... the idea is that instead of a perk chart, you get perk cards and these cards can be leveled up (so they say). But... you can only equip a set amount of these cards (I think it’s 8, but don’t quote me). Now, these cards do show their information in a more clear and concise way than the perk chart did, and the cards are nothing to balk at but... you only have so many slots and you have to choose which ones you want to equip. Which... can be challenging when there’s no safe place for you to do that.
6. C.A.M.P.
Your camp. It’s like a portable workshop... it gives you a little parcel of land that you can build on (provided you’ve found enough materials... took the hubs awhile just to find enough wood to build 4 floors and three walls). Now, you do have one safe storage option. Your stash. (Or, any container you build but don’t quote me there because that’s just what I’ve heard). Your stash is only accessible by you, if you look in someone else’s stash box, you’ll see your stash. So, that’s how that works. You only get one camp... and it costs you 5 caps to move it each time you want to. Oh, and, there were a few new things in the building menus, but a lot of them were locked because hubs wasn’t a high-enough level. But there were also a lot of the same stuff... was.. kind of expecting more new stuff... but whatever, they’ve only had three years.
7. Content
So far, and this is just BETA so I’m praying they’ll have more content come release day but I doubt it. There’s... no story... there’s... nothing. You wake up in the vault, you leave... you’re supposed to find the Overseer. That’s it, so far. Nothing backing anything up, no clear line of what the goal is... not even a hint. The only thing that’s been pushed a bit is the nuclear launch thing, which we’ve seen in trailers and other information put out by Bethesda. It kind of sounds like the goal is to get those nukes, launch those nukes, and... try to kill everyone? I don’t know. It’s very vague. In previous Fallout games, you started the game with a basic goal. How you got there was up to you but the goal itself was fairly clear once you left the vault.
8. Events
Like other MMO games (-cough-Destiny-cough-) they are trying to do live events. Now... there’s a petite problem with this idea from the get-go... they’ve already said that there will only be a limited number of people on the same server at any given time. That limited number is 24. Now... the map, the world? It’s pretty damned big. And these live events are designed to have multiple people participating. Hubs tried doing a few, but even with three people in one, it was impossible. There were specific locations that people needed to defend, and all were getting hit at once. The players were quickly overwhelmed and over-run. Hopefully this is something they’ll work on. Unlikely, but they might. On a side note, I saw the final boss for one even was that moth-creature thing... level 50... so have fun all low levels out there!
9. Destiny
Okay, this may seem like a duh but the game really does feel like a cheap knock-off of Destiny, as far as the MMO goes. They have “emotes” in there, your “team” is usually slotted for three people... the live events... there are just some similarities here. Now, that’s not a bad thing... except... it’s Fallout... not Destiny, not Fortnight, not WoW. This is just my personal pet peeve, but there it is. If you’re going to do things that another, successful, game is doing? At least do them better... or at the very least, on the same level.
10. Skyrim
It’s very Skyrim-esq. Remember playing Skyrim? You could play for a few hours and be utterly alone, run into no one, nothing but a few animals and maybe a dragon or two out in the wild. Unless you went to a town, you were pretty much only going to run into enemies out there. It was a massive map, a huge world, and you were just... kinda out there... like at night... alone... kind of wasn’t that fun when it was like that.
11. Weapons/Armor
Okay, so, obviously we haven’t seen the big ticket items. But... I will say this, your weapons break, you have to fix them... your armor? You don’t find it, you make it. In fact, looting seems to just be skimpy all around. A few things that the hubs found weren’t really armor, just clothes. The armor itself? Up to you... and the materials you’ve managed to gather.
12. The Food/Water thing
So, they’ve leaned on almost a survival type setting here. Your character gets hungry/thirst... everything except prepackaged food/drink will give you some rads, some more than others. If you don’t drink/eat then you’re character will suffer. Also, a lot of items have a disease percentage attached to them. Hubs ate something that had a 7% chance of giving his character a disease and sure enough, bam. Now, this might be a BETA thing though. There are disease cures out there though, he found one.
13. V.A.T.S.
Ah, vats. The saving grace of so many Fallout players. Now, this is probably a BETA thing but VATS are slow to activate... and because it’s MMO, it doesn’t slow time, just helps you aim. Or, it should. You need perk cards, see... to make it so your dude will actually hit that target. No perk card? Barely any damage done because they’re just firing willy-nilly, no more separate limb/body location selection.
14. Congrats on Level 5, now die!
At level 5, it becomes open season on your character. At level 5, you can now take damage from other players... and they can kill you... and take your junk. All those precious materials you’ve been collecting, they can get them. When you die, there’s a little bag that appears on the ground with all the junk you’ve been carrying, nothing else as far as I can see... but anyone can just come along and pick that up. It’s their’s now. Now, there is this whole murder thing they are going to do, supposedly, where if you kill another player there’ll be a bounty put out on you and you, in theory, will be hunted down and murdered back? I’m not sure how that’s going to work. But... at level 5, you take damage, from all sources, including team-mates - though the damage is supposed to be reduced from them. That’s... going to result in a lot of accidental kills.
Final Thoughts:
I’m nervous. I’m worried, for all the fans of the franchise. They’ve already come out and said “this isn’t a Fallout game” (could have fooled me with that name, though). It feels like they completely ignored the things that made Fallout 4 such a success... and instead, embraced the things that people didn’t like about Skyrim. I’m worried that what happened to Mass Effect, will happen to Fallout. People have been waiting for this game, super excited about it, couldn’t wait for it! And... the game they’re going to get is more... Fallout-esq. Not the next Fallout game. Like they wanted to cash in on the MMO thing but didn’t want to actually come up with anything new. Which leads to the next thought and worry... micro-transactions. Playing the game and seeing the lack of content... the skimpy supplies and loot... you can very easily see them adding micro-transactions and DLC’s that should have been a part of the main game. Which is just not a good idea right now, not ever really... when you pay $60 for this, which feels like it is, quite literally, a “base” game.
But, it’s not all bad...
There were a few things that I did like about it. The photo/selfy mode is cute, though wholly unoriginal... and they have instruments around the world that you and your friends can play together (like a band). You see your character performing some actions that you didn’t before (laying down)... though, there isn’t any “sleep” to speak of, your character just rests, but that’s because your character never leaves the public space of their MMO world. Even in their own home.
Now, I don’t know what they’re going to do come release day, it could be totally different (probably won’t be) but it might. It could suddenly drop a whole main quest line because they wanted to keep it all hush-hush from people like me (who will go and post about the BETA). Who’s to really tell... but as it stands... I’m glad we didn’t buy a second copy so the hubs and I can play together because... it just seems... like a huge waste. Such a shame.
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Taren’s Games of the Year!
Another year, another set of amazing games and holy shit did 2017 have some knockouts! Please keep in mind this is based only on games I was able to play and there were a few I missed!
Best Art Direction - Persona 5
Persona 5 is a game that bleeds A E S T H E T I C from every single piece of its body. The games use of a red and black color pallet for the menus as well as incredibly smooth animations and a jazzy, upbeat score make it an incredible sight to behold and a joy to hear. The gameplay is the best yet in the Persona series with the reintroduction to demon negotiation as well as a plethora of abilities unlocked through your confidants. It’s an incredible tight package with a good storyline (though I still prefer 3′s overall story). If you are a fan of RPG’s pick this game up. You will not regret it.
Best Soundtrack - Nier Automata
I need to put a lot more time into Nier Automata than I have. This game has 26 endings and I’ve only scratched the surface so far. What I’ve played has been pretty good and I can tell there’s far more to the story. Combat and visuals look and feel great thanks to Platinum Games compared to the original Nier albeit somewhat simplistic compared to something like a Devil May Cry game. Where Automata has truly stood out to me though is in the music. Every single track in this game has been incredible. One specific track that began to play after the conclusion of a side quest has stuck with me ever since and I’ve begun playing it regularly out of how incredibly beautiful it is. Nier Automata is well worth anyone’s time and is sure to touch your robotic heart.
Best Fighting Game - Tekken 7
Tekken 7 is a beautiful looking fighting game with plenty of content and more on the way. The story mode is silly but fun to go through, there’s an arcade mode, online is tight, and THERE’S BOWLING. Did I mention GEESE HOWARD IS IN THIS FUCKING GAME WHAT THE HELL. Pick this up if you have any sort of love for fighting games. Honorable mention goes to Injustice 2 which I did not get the chance to play but since launch is adding Hellboy AND the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the roster.
Best Shooty Game - Splatoon 2
Splatoon 2 is more Splatoon with more content. More maps, more weapons, more missions, more game modes, more character styles and customization. More EVERYTHING. Updates are free and the game is still as fun as the original with many different ways to play and a great twist on shooting games as a whole where your primary target is the map rather than the enemies. Honorable mention goes to Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus which I did not get the chance to play yet but I’ve heard many good things about. You get to shoot nazis so it gets an A in my book.
Best Racing Game - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
This is kinda cheating as it’s sorta a rerelease of MK8 but Deluxe adds a proper battle mode now as well as a few new characters and all dlc included so I’m counting it anyway. This game is excellent. I have had so much fun with this game and being able to take my Switch to a friend’s place and both of us use a Joycon to have a few rounds is a total blast. Every single course is beautiful and fun as hell and the music for some stages is incredible. If you enjoy playing racing games with friends, don’t pass up this one.
Best 2D Platformer - Sonic Mania
Holy fuck. Sonic Mania is so good. From the visuals, to the music, to the gameplay, everything about it is tight and a blast from start to finish. The game is an excellent return to form for Sonic and the team of fans behind this have shown the world that Sonic can still go fast.
Best 3D Platformer - Mario Odyssey
HERE WE GO. OFF THE RAILS. DON’T YOU KNOW IT’S TIME TO RAISE OUR SAILS. IT’S FREEDOM LIKE YOU NEVER KNEW. Mario Odyssey is my first 3D Mario game ever and I have to say, It’s p good guys. Platforming is incredibly tight, levels are super varied and interesting, exploration is greatly rewarded, and there are so many different abilities at your disposal. The base story of the game can be fairly short depending on how you play through it but the game has hundreds of challenges for you ranging from reaching areas, solving puzzles, racing RC cars, to so much more. It’s a game that screams fun and becomes an incredibly enjoyable challenge once you start searching for those harder moons. Honorable Mention goes to A Hat in Time, a game that looks so incredibly cute and I’ve heard nothing but good things about from friends.
Best Game I Played this Year that Came Out Last Year - VA-11 HALL-A
Va-11 Hall-a. If anyone ever asks me what my aesthetic is I just need to point to this game. The music, the art style, the characters, the setting, everything about this game clicks with me on a personal level that I adore. The premise is fairly simple: you live in a cyberpunk future under a shitty government. You aren’t here to cause a big change in this world but rather to serve drinks for the people who live in it. As you do you’ll learn more about your patrons, the world, and even your player character, Jill. The gameplay isn’t too involved but can have some interesting effects on the story which is the main star of this Visual Novel. The main story and sub stories of this game are some of the most relatable and enjoyable ones I’ve seen in a while from a game and I loved every single one. It requires you to pay attention and remember certain conversations to see how people connect to each other and understand each person’s motivations. There was never a dull point in this game and I can not recommend it enough. Please buy VA-11 HALL-A. It’s time to mix drinks and change lives.
Best Game of the Year - Gravity Rush/The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Okay I’ve been stuck with this decision for the entire year and I still can’t decide between these two. They are both masterpieces and deserve high praise, so let’s go over them both.
Gravity Rush 2 is the sequel to the original Gravity Rush and improves on it in every possible way. The world is beautiful with a cel shaded sort of art style and strong use of color to give each area a different feeling. Music throughout the game is absolutely incredible and the story gives an excellent conclusion to what began in the first game. Combat and maneuvering are greatly improved and the game is simply fun to explore and experiment different ways of using your powers. The characters in Gravity Rush 2 are top notch and found myself loving each one for their unique personalities. Kat is an excellent protagonist and the feeling of flying between buildings, hopping from place to place gracefully is incredible. I can not recommend Gravity Rush 2 enough and think it is a must have for any PS4 owner.
Breath of the Wild is my first ever Zelda game and holy shit am I hooked. This game feels so incredible to play and the world is incredibly beautiful and fleshed out. There’s insane amounts of detail to all the different ways you can approach problems and the feeling of experiencing a world that both you and your character know nothing about and have no requirement to go a specific direction at the start is an incredible feeling. The game rewards exploration and experimentation and tells a story through recovered memories that tie into the present day beautifully. The soundtrack is understated and usually small piano melodies but when things get intense turns into these wild mixtures of techno and classical music. I loved every moment of learning my way through the world and discovering new challenges and quests. If you own a switch or wii u buy this game. It is incredible.
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dark souls 2 on ps4 is garbage and nobody should play it.
so yesterday i was playing.i've beaten vanilla on ps3 countless times but never tried the dlc on either. trying the dlc first time on the ps4 version was prob a mistake? but i was doin a run anyhow so it seemed like a good time to do it. i already noticed how cheap the enemy placements/bosses were bc ps4 ver is awful, but the architecture kept me going beat the first two dlc areas besides final bosses (bc they're overpowered trash).
but then i started the third dlc. it's so cool! got far in until i reached the "challenge area" snowfield. it seemed neat at first like a big change from the first two dlc's challenge areas? but a bit into it and i realized it was actually super basic and boring. there's just nothing there. you can't see anything bc every 30 seconds a blizzard shows up and blinds you. and these overpowered giant electric horses appear (spawn?) constantly and you never see em coming because the blizzard.
i went through being really careful and exploring until i realized i had a crazy amount of souls built up. recognizing how bullshit it'd be to try and find my body in this shit snowstorm, i decided to try and port out. but i had npc summons and ds is SUCH A PERFECTLY DESIGNED GAME that it won't even let you quit if you're offline with cpu summons bc that makes sense. fucking shit devs.
i find a safe lookin area, and make sure no enemies are around. i got to hit the psn menu and quit (bc it's way better/faster than shitty black crystaling 3 people away). but a horse shows up. ok annoying but fine. i kill it. before i can heal i hear another coming. i kill it and get the heal in but it's trash guaranteed damage lightning aoe catches me so i have to heal again. a new horse shows up even faster. this repeats again and again until i'm dealing with 3 horses at once. then some offscreen attack hits me and they stunlock me to death bc shitty darksouls. awful.
but whatever like that's way too many souls to just ignore. so i go back in. even more careful. it takes forever but i painstakingly eventually find my souls in the storm, killing dipshit horses along the way. so i have way more souls now, cool let's try to leave again. but once again horse spam starts happening. keep in mind they NEVER do this until i'm in a risky situation almost like the game spawns them based on how much danger you're in?
tbh it's even worse now tho. i think 4 horses, all targeting me and ignoring my npc, and then some fake human enemy shows up with crazy damage and health too. i manage to kill off 3 horses and almost kill the fake human and horse. but it's real risky so i disengage and run off and find cover and heal completely. i know the autosave is like, especially geared to fuck you? esp in this version for some reason? so i wait a good minute and then i quit. this game is so quick w autosaves like you can almost NEVER avoid fall/trap death by insta-quitting. so i know i'll be fine.
i reload the game. i'm back at the horse spawn. two horses are there and so is the fake human. all have full health. they literally are hitting me even before i fully load. i have one chance to roll and i take it but the game ignores my iframes (it WAS a glitch and not a timing issue). so i die instantly. i've dealt with this shit once before and last time i threw the ds2 disc at the wall so hard it exploded. this time i just rage uninstalled. ds2 on ps3 was generally fine, but this version was created by absolute scumbags who shouldn't be allowed do develop anything ever. i decide i'm done with ds2 ps4 forever like it's just an objectively horrible game.
so fast forward to today. ds1 remastered got announced. i've been talking about souls all last night and all day today so like... fine whatever. i’ll try it one last time. i reinstall ds2 and see if i can get my souls back. i load it up. gonna be even more careful. same thing. same horse-spam situation no matter how i approach the issue. same complete lack of mistakes being hard-countered by absolute unwinnable situations. tho this time my npcs glitch out too. one just paces in place never moving. another just vanishes. i haven't even reached my souls yet but things are already seemingly guaranteed to make me lose. so i bail. run soooo far away. full heal. found an item to activate the save. wait a few minutes. i'm safe i'm good there's no way i can be fucked now. i got this.
reload. same thing. nowhere near any place i've been. surrounded by 4 horses. i'm murdered before the game can read my port out input. it literally happened again. idk hours of work lost forever bc the game is bad. i uninstalled for good. what a piece of shit. what a terrible awful excuse for a game. if you genuinely like this version of the game then there's something really wrong with you. like you need therapy. i'm done i'm out forever tho. nobody deserves shit escapism like this. i’m embarrassed that i played it. this might be my most hated game of all time.
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2, 14, 39, 58, and 69 for the video game asks?
2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.
Final Fantasy XV! Not only did that game really get me into wanting to draw human anatomy well (and pulled me out of my brief but chaotic furry phase ghgh) it also was the first really big fandom that I participated in. I created art for character weeks and zines and secret santas and so much more. I’m just super inspired by everything in the game! Even now as I’m revisiting it after like a year of not playing it, I can just scroll the camera around Noctis and think, “Oh, I wanna paint that,” and take screenshot after screenshot so that maybe later, I will!
14. Favorite game music?
I have so many, but here’s some Good Picks
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39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?
Metal Gear Rising!! It was a super solid game that was totally cool with not being deep and just having fun, and the only problem with it was how short it was. I’d die to have a sequel with the same gameplay and just more story and character interactions-- just more of what it’s already nailed. Plus, with it being at the end of the Metal Gear timeline, it’s totally opened up for whatever they’d want to do.
(And I want more dorky costumes for Raiden)
58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?
Answered this already, but I think my basic list would be FFXV, Spider-Man PS4, and Uncharted 4 (love me some 3rd person action adventure)-- HOWEVER, after thinking for a hot second, I’d also squish the Resident Evil 2 remake in there. I played it at a friend’s house over a few days and just adored the environment and characters. Plus, I only played Leon’s route, so if I could only play this game and two others, there’s still content for me to find and explore.
69. In your opinion, best game ever made?
Hmm.... is it wrong for me to say a game I’ve only played a little bit of? I just adore everything about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Every design choice, the tiny details (i saw someone on twitter talk about how they couldn’t figure out why the ice blocks they created were melting, and then they realized they had a fire sword equipped and on their back! The engine and design of the game recognized that, even if the player didn’t, and that’s just so fascinating to me). I love the graphics, as most 3rd person adventure games that I’ve seen have been more gritty, and yet BoTW keeps everything lighthearted and soft-- but not without stakes. The premise of an amnesiac character is pulled off well, to introduce the player to the world, but Link still has personality that you can see in the dialogue boxes (though I think that is a low point, that Link never really speaks). And like... idk the cooking system is just so fun to me. This is absolutely personal bias, but minute, mundane things are so fun to explore in fantastical games, and the fact that you cook, and it isnt just like a menu you select and then bam there’s food, you gotta actually explore with combinations and manually drop everything into a pot-- like thats SO fun to me. In my ceramics class my teacher talked about how no matter the culture or identity or ideas of a person, everyone has to eat, which is why every culture makes plates and bowls and vases and pots and like, even here in Hyrule we gotta eat. It’s just a human thing! And I will jump on any chance I get to see video game characters be as human as possible.
However, I don’t have a copy of BoTW (I played our mutual pals @burningbaconarts‘s copy ahaha) so if I had to choose out of the games I have played, I’d say Spider-Man PS4! I’ve said already that it’s my favorite game. It’s got it’s own twists and turns that change up your usual Spider-Man plot, and the gameplay is SO slick and smooth. How you are able to explore the world as Peter Parker is just as fun and fascinating as exploring the world as Spidey. The cinematic parts know how to turn up the tension, the writing is SO good (I especially adore the dialogue), the voice acting is incredible and I cried! I cried at the end of the game! I won’t spoil it because I want everyone to play it but it’s just a gorgeous, amazing game. Playing it, I had no complaints at all throughout. (This isn’t including the DLCs, the last two actually do bring the whole game down I think, sadly.) But the main game is just a gorgeous exploration of a modern superhero, and the world around the superhero (like how you can check your social media feed and see what people are saying about Spidey, or about the situations, or just about their daily life-- that’s really good world design!). I care about the characters and want to hear their thoughts and I get to do that. I love love love Spider-Man PS4, so much. 10/10 easy.
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Chaos and Adventure (ME Fic)
I was @qbert0‘s Holiday Harbinger gifter, and wanted to write something to go with the dice bag. You mentioned that you liked fShep/Liara and Garrus/Tali as a secondary pairing, that you enjoyed the whole gang’s adventures in the Citadel DLC, and requested no heavy emotional angst, so I tried to write a bit of fluff that captured some of those themes. It was a fun piece to write and I hope you enjoy it!
Post-game, ambiguous as to ending but Shepard is alive, pretty much pure fluff.
Judging from the length of the line outside, the rebuilt Ryuusei’s Sushi Bar was even popular than the old one. Even in civvies, Shepard was quickly recognized and waved to the front of the line. Liara had wondered if she would prove to be on some sort of restaurant blacklist, but if the maître d’ was aware of Shepard’s role in the demise of the sushi bar’s previous incarnation, she gave no sign. “Welcome, ma’am, Ryuusei’s is honored to have you,” she said smoothly. “This way, please, the rest of your party is waiting for you.”
Liara took a moment to look over the place. The renovation had been extensive (and doubtless expensive). Fish swam contentedly below her feet, unaware of the tragic fate of their predecessors. The wood paneling was carefully aged as if to suggest that the restaurant had been in continuous operation for decades, and certainly had not been invaded by mercenaries or swarming with Reapers at any point.
The maître d’s brow was furrowed in a look Liara had learned to interpret as impatience. She fell in beside Shepard as they made their way across the restaurant. Garrus Vakarian gave a quick wave from across the way – of course, he had spotted them first. Tali’Zorah’s attention appeared to be completely absorbed by the “NEW Dextro Menu!” in her hands, but she quickly glanced up as the maître d’ pulled out Shepard and Liara’s chairs.
“Shepard! Liara!” she said. “It’s so good to see you!” Liara didn’t need to be able to see Tali’s face to know that she was smiling. “It’s been too long.”
“Well, if some people could tear themselves away from their homeworlds more often…” Shepard said teasingly.
Garrus spread his hands. “You know how it is, Shepard,” he said ruefully. “One meeting after another, datapad after datapad filled with decisions to be made… It’s enough to make a turian think about resuming his vigilante career. I’d have thought the Reaper advisor would be, eh, off the hook with the Reapers gone…”
“Ah, ah!” Tali waved a finger in mock indignation. “No Reaper talk.”
Liara thought back to the vidcall she’d received from Tali. “We’re coming to the Citadel!” Tali had blurted excitedly as soon as Liara took the call. They’d brainstormed about plans, and Tali had proposed a double date. “Some casual time together,” she’d suggested. “No fate-of-the-galaxy stuff, no Reapers, no bringing each other up to date on every aspect of rebuilding this and that. Just friends spending time together. Do you think you can get Shepard to sign up for this?”
When Liara had mentioned the location Tali had in mind, Shepard had countered with a “no discussing past sushi-restaurant shenanigans” condition, which Tali had accepted. Joker would be so disappointed when he heard they’d passed up the chance to rib her.
“I wasn’t talking about the Reapers,” Garrus complained mildly. “I was talking about my job, the one I still have for some reason. The position seems more escape-proof than Purgatory. Do you think the Admiralty Board would accept my application for asylum?”
“I’d have to ask the Admirals,” Tali said primly.
Liara brought to mind the reports of the Shadow Broker’s agents in the no-longer-Migrant Fleet. “I hear a certain young Admiral is the deciding vote more often than not, these days.”
“Time to upgrade our security systems again,” Tali said. She sounded rather as if she was looking forward to it.
The waiter arrived to take their order, and the conversation paused. Liara ordered something called the “Asari Delight,” which the waiter assured her was carefully selected to please to asari palates. He seemed unamused when Shepard asked if it contained any actual asari.
“Really, Shepard?” Liara asked after the waiter stalked off.
“Just looking out for you,” Shepard said unapologetically. “For all you know, Javik could be the head chef.”
“I can’t imagine that he could find the time,” Liara said. She turned to Tali and Garrus. “He sends me a new book chapter every week or so. Usually with instructions to throw the previous draft of the chapter out of an airlock.”
“How are they to read?” Tali asked skeptically.
“Arrogant, but interesting,” Liara said, smiling. She definitely found Javik easier to deal with at a distance.
“I guess you must be keeping busy, between editing and your Super Secret Other Job.” The capital letters were audible, and Tali went so far as to make air quotes. “What have you been doing, Shepard?”
Shepard waved a hand in the air. “Oh, you know. Lots of rehab, consulting on that thing we’re not supposed to be talking about, following the research on those other things that are banned from this conversation…”
The table was silent for a bit. Liara wondered if she should bring up their news, or if Shepard would. She felt oddly nervous at the prospect.
“So, ah, biotiball?” Shepard ventured. Apparently it wasn’t just Liara. “How about those Seattle Sorcerers?”
Garrus shook his head. “I don’t really follow the sport, Shepard.” Tali and Liara shrugged their agreement. “Has Cortez made a fan out of you?”
“I’ve really just watched a game or two,” she admitted.
Silence fell again. Maybe now she should…
“The, eh, weather has been nice,” Garrus offered.
Tali elbowed him. “We’re on a space station.”
“That’s a fair point,” Garrus granted. If he’d been a stranger, Liara might have thought the comment a cranky grumble, but she knew his subharmonics well enough to hear the underlying affection. So did Tali, clearly, as she inclined her head toward him. Liara glanced at Shepard and found her smiling fondly at her friends.
“I’m so glad you two are doing well,” Shepard said.
Tali said a warm, “Thank you.”
The waiter returned with their drinks. Shepard raised a glass. “To friends who fell in love.”
Tali and Liara clinked their glasses against Shepard’s, but Garrus’s attention seemed to be drawn by something to his right.
“Ah, don’t all look at once, but that turian tending bar – isn’t that Rolan Quarn?”
Liara, Shepard, and Tali glanced toward the bartender, more or less surreptitiously. The bartender did look rather like the turian she remembered from the casino. Quarn appeared to be engaged in animated conversation with a few of the patrons, but Liara couldn’t catch any words.
“Sure looks like him,” Shepard confirmed.
“Hmm. Think that he’s gone straight and is now earning an honest living serving drinks in a sushi bar?” Garrus asked.
Shepard snorted. “Want to make that a bet, Garrus?”
“I should go check in with him. Let him know I’ve got an eye on him.”
“Or,” Tali countered, “you could enjoy our date, and not plunge us into chaos and adventure.”
“It’s not as if you’re in C-Sec anymore,” Liara said.
Shepard added innocently, “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for his being here.”
“Perfectly reasonable and highly illegal, at a guess,” Garrus said. He stirred restlessly in his chair.
Tali put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure he would never break the law. If it weren’t for a good cause, I mean.”
“How long are you two on the Citadel?” Shepard asked.
“Nice change of subject, very subtle,” Liara teased.
“Not very long, I’m afraid,” Tali said, keeping a firm hand on Garrus’s shoulder. “Just making some diplomatic contacts, attending some meetings, then heading back to the homeworld.” She sighed. “I think I preferred it when you were in charge and I could spend all my time in engineering.”
“Daniels and Donnelly got married last month, did you hear?” Shepard asked.
“I did,” Tali said. “I sent Gabby a card saying, ‘Good luck.’” Shepard barked a surprised laugh.
“What about you two?” Garrus asked, finally looking away from Quarn. “Are you here for long? I thought you were going to be on Earth a while longer.”
“We were,” Shepard said. “But the Extranet connections are still pretty unreliable, and that was making it too hard for Liara to get work done. And, uh” – she paused, smiled a bit nervously, and went for it – “there are much better asari physicians here.”
“Asari doctors? You aren’t ill, Liara?” Garrus asked. His visible eye narrowed. “Your vitals look all right…”
Liara shook her head quickly. Trust Garrus to wear his visor to a casual date. “No, no! Nothing like that, I’m fine.”
“Then why…” he trailed off.
Tali got it first. Liara could have sworn to the Goddess that she saw Tali’s smile radiating from under her helmet. “Oh, I’m so happy for you two!” She looked Liara up and down. “Is this something you’re planning, or are you already…”
Garrus looked back and forth between the women, still wearing a puzzled expression.
Liara nodded. “Yes.” She patted her belly. “Early days yet, but I can sense her in there.”
The light dawned for Garrus. “Oh!” He raised a glass. “Congratulations, you two.”
This time Shepard was the one who didn’t clink. Liara turned to see why and found her staring at the waiter taking a nearby table’s order, brow furrowed.
“I think he’s packing a sidearm,” she said with a frown. “At least, there’s a suspicious-looking bulge in his pocket. Liara, can you…”
“No,” Tali said, quietly but emphatically. “No chaos and adventure, remember? If he pulls a gun out, Garrus can overload it and Liara can dangle him from a singularity until he spills whatever he’s up to. Let’s talk about the important things. Do you have a name picked out? Have you told your father?”
“Not yet, and not yet,” Liara said. “It’s traditional to wait until there’s enough of an empathic connection to get her reaction to the name.” And as for Aethyta, or any asari for that matter, Liara was dreading the potential for aren’t-you-too-young-for-your-matron-phase conversations.
Garrus looked fascinated by that. “Your children get to vote on their names?” In the background, the suspicious waiter was conferring with a member of the kitchen staff.
“Mmm, it’s more of a vague empathic feeling, as I understand it…” Liara trailed off as she realized who the waiter was talking to. “Wait, what is Maya Brooks doing here?”
The words came out louder than she intended, and Brooks turned their way. As soon as she saw their table, she frowned and reached for something in her pocket, and the muffled thump of an explosion came from the direction of the kitchen.
“Chaos and adventure it is, then,” Tali said ruefully, as all four diners pushed back from the table and sprang to her feet.
“Someday I will actually get to eat here,” Shepard grumbled as they ran for the kitchen.
#mass effect#masseffectholidaycheer#qbert0#lost wrote a thing#shiara#talibrations#i hope you enjoy this!#and sorry to post it so close to the deadline#the muses have been a little cranky this month
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20 Games I Loved in 2016
The Switch delay. Several big AAA duds. Another year without an official Mother 3 U.S. release. 2016 could have been a disappointing year. (Outside of video games, it certainly took its toll.) But at least from my perspective, the good far outweighed the bad. Virtual reality finally made it out of the gates, and despite some hiccups, it shows real promise. Long-delayed games like Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian somehow made it to store shelves AND surpassed expectations. And love it or hate it, Pokémon Go inspired a genuine pop culture craze the likes of which we’ve never seen before, at least as far as games go. I think all of that is worth celebrating.
Before we get to the list, some quick shout-outs and no-brainer caveats…
2016 was not kind to the Wii U, but the 3DS quietly had one of its best years ever. That’s partly reflected here, but I couldn’t make room for Dragon Quest VII, Fire Emblem Fates, BoxBoxBoy!, Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Gotta Protectors, to name a few. Sometimes it felt like Nintendo was just cleaning out its closet — how long ago was DQVII released in Japan? — but we benefited either way.
Overall, I played fewer games this year, but the ones I did play held my interest longer. Thanks to various microtransactions and DLC, 2016 probably hit my wallet just as hard.
What didn’t I play? Stardew Valley, SUPERHOT, Final Fantasy XV (at least past chapter 2), Frog Fractions 2, Hitman — oh, and I didn’t get to stuff from last year like Yakuza 5 or The Witcher 3, either. Yakuza 4 was pretty solid though.
I left off any new ports of games that came out last year or prior, unless there were substantial additions that changed the experience in a meaningful way. That meant The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and Mini Metro weren’t in the running, while Rez Infinite technically was.
Love making lists, hate ranking items in said lists, just because I’m incredibly fickle. There’s a good chance that I’ll want to shuffle everything around the moment I publish this. But my podcasting buddies are counting on me here, so it’s time to be decisive.
Keeping all that in mind, here are the games I really loved in 2016…
20. The Witness - I’m already cheating because if I’m being honest, I didn’t actually love this game. The Witness takes a couple dozen hours to finish, and I spent at least half of them staring at a notebook, drawing grids, connecting dots, and having no idea how to pave forward. But even if I didn’t love the game, I respect it immensely. I admire Jonathan Blow’s commitment to this singular idea, of taking the kind of puzzle you might see on a restaurant placemat and coming up with every possible permutation of it. And there is of course a “meta” layer on top of that, where solutions to each component change the environment around you — tree top bridges that unfold based on the paths your lines take, or colored glass panels that create new puzzles on top of old ones. It might be cold and off-putting at times, but The Witness is still commendable as the ultimate puzzle box.
19. SuperHyperCube - I bought into PlayStation VR for games like Rez Infinite and RIGs — big, flashy, “immersive” experiences. And they delivered! I’m a very happy PS VR owner, and I hope Sony builds on its momentum this year. (I’m skeptical, but then being a virtual reality early adopter was always a leap of faith.) However, while I got exactly what I expected from most of the launch titles, it's the simple puzzle game seemingly modeled off of “Brain Wall” that I keep coming back to. I turn on the headset to play Job Simulator or Battlezone, but I always play a couple rounds of SuperHyperCube before I’m done. A solid case for virtual reality not as a thrilling roller coaster, but a hypnotic, relaxing voyage.
18. Headlander - The best game Double Fine has put out since Iron Brigade. Free-roaming Metroid-style exploration, a perfect 70s-synth sci-fi score and a fun body swapping gimmick at the heart of it all. I wish there were more vessels for your noggin to control, but there’s a strong foundation here.
17. Kirby: Planet Robobot - It’s easy to take Kirby games for granted, and that’s especially true of Robobot, which uses the same engine and many of the same powers as the recent Triple Deluxe. What does the former bring to the table then? Smart level designs that take advantage of the new mechs without letting them dominate the action. A novel mechanical world that feels distinct from the typical pastel meadows. New amiibo support. OK, so maybe it doesn’t add that much to the series, but it’s right up there with Super Star anyway.
16. Pokkén Tournament - This game is a fresher, more enjoyable fighting game than Street Fighter V. It doesn’t even matter (too much) that the single player is pretty thin or that the roster is small. When’s the last time you played a one-on-one fighting game that felt truly new? Pokkén is a great 3D fighter and a great 2D fighter at the same time, which is no small feat. And it’s also a gorgeously animated recreation of those battles we all imagined happening in our Game Boys 20 years ago.
15. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - The popular sentiment seems to be that Madagascar is when this final Uncharted entry really takes off. Slow drama and frequent cut scenes give way to island exploration and memorable shootouts. My take? The back half is fun and the epilogue is lovely, but I could spend an entire game in Nathan and Elena’s living room, or hopping around the globe for the next story sequence. Wherever you stand, this is a fine way to close out a reliable series.
14. Picross 3D: Round 2 - Seven Picross games — eight if you count the Twilight Princess freebie — on the eShop. That’s a lot of a perfectly fine thing. But none of them are Picross 3D. Thankfully, the real deal finally arrived this year, with hundreds of puzzles and a few extra gameplay wrinkles. Worth the premium price tag.
13. Titanfall 2 - The campaign didn’t need to be good. Multiplayer FPS games live and die by their multiplayer, and many developers seemingly write off the single player experience as an afterthought. That’s why Titanfall 2 is such an unexpected treat. The factory, the time hopping, the airborne carrier — all cleverly designed, with platforming gimmicks that would feel just as suited for a Metroid Prime game. I think the reason the new Mirror’s Edge fell flat for me was that this game featured the same parkour moves in a much more exciting package.
12. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - This crossover game is Persona-lite, yes, but I think that sells the characters and world a bit short. While its inspiration focuses on the pressures of being a Japanese high schooler, #FE is all about the Tokyo show biz scene. Pop music, soap operas, microwave cooking shows — it’s all very goofy, but the game still takes its protagonists’ dreams and ambitions seriously. #FE also makes clever use of the Wii U GamePad, turning it into a tablet/social app that helps keeps the conversations going. Even if you’re not into this particular “scene,” #FE may still win you over.
11. Rhythm Heaven Megamix - I can’t get enough Rhythm Heaven. They could put 20 new musical minigames on a cart annually and it’d make my list every year. Sumo wrestlers, lumberjack bears, monkey slumber parties — all magic.
10. Severed - A Vita game! It’s great to see DrinkBox Studios stretch beyond sidescrollers with this first person dungeon crawler full of grotesque monsters and creepy, colorful mazes. Swiping and poking on the Vita’s touchscreen feels great. The controls are key to Severed’s success; if battles were menu-driven, the entire game would fall apart.
9. Pocket Card Jockey - I hope Nintendo keeps letting Game Freak be this weird. It’s not just that it’s horse racing plus solitaire. It’s your jockey biting the dust and being brought back from the dead to repay his debt to the angels. It’s the brassy, big band score that accompanies every race. It’s horses with luchador masks and cats hanging from their backsides. Pocket Card Jockey is a miracle of localization.
8. Pokémon Sun - Yes, another Pokémon game. The Alola region is the best thing to ever happen to this series. Previous games had regions based on cities like New York and Paris, but the results always felt half-hearted. In Sun (and Moon), the tropical island setting influences everything from the creatures you catch to the trials you complete. I’ve never demanded a believable world from this series, but that’s kind of what we get here, and it’s terrific.
7. Inside - This is the type of game where the less you know going in, the better. It’s Limbo — a previous Justin GotY — filtered through a twisted dream logic that I still can’t get out of my head months later.
6. Paper Mario: Color Splash - I know you don’t like Sticker Star. Rest assured: that 3DS oddity feels like a rough draft for Color Splash, which improves upon its predecessor in every way. A textured, vibrant world that rivals Tearaway in its papercraft. Thrilling scenarios like a train heist, an underwater game show and the throwback above. Hilarious dialogue that mostly makes up for the many, many identical toads. I miss the liberties Intelligent Systems used to take with the Mushroom Kingdom, but everything else about Color Splash restores this spin-off series to its former glory.
5. Overcooked - This year’s couch co-op champ. Cooking with a partner is all about communication, and that’s doubly true when the kitchen is split across two flatbed trucks or on an iceberg rocking back and forth. My friends and I love head-to-head games like Smash Bros. and Towerfall, but it’s nice to play a game that’s all about puzzle solving and careful planning together. And I love the wistful stage select music.
4. Dragon Quest Builders - Minecraft has always fascinated me, but I don’t do well without direction. That’s why I’m so grateful for Dragon Quest Builders, which breaks down the open world construction into small, manageable tasks. I started off just sticking to blueprints and keeping decorations to a minimum; now, I’m spending hours building up towns the way I want them to look, for no other reason than my own personal satisfaction. Even taking the crafting element out of the equation, Builders does a great job of capturing the adventuring spirit of its parent series.
3. Pokémon Go - I didn’t set out to put THREE Pokémon games on here, and in a vacuum, this is much less satisfying than Pokkén or Sun. But we don’t play video games in a vacuum, and certainly not this one. I played Pokémon Go in Central Park, talking to strangers to find out where the Ivysaur was hiding. Or I played on my lunch breaks, exploring parts of South Street Seaport with coworkers that I had ignored for years. Go’s peak came and went, but it remains one of my fondest experiences of the year.
2. The Last Guardian - Another game that’s more than the sum of its parts. The Last Guardian is finicky and sometimes frustrating. Trico is hard to climb. The camera doesn’t know what to do when you’re up against the wall. So what? How many games feature a creature this lifelike? He may be an illusion made up of A.I. routines, scripted animations and fur shaders, but all of those elements come together in a uniquely convincing way. His evolution from reluctant ally to friend has a subtlety I’ve never seen before. I’m glad Ueda spends as much time focusing on the inner struggles as he does the external ones. Hope it doesn’t take another decade for his next game.
1. Overwatch - I didn’t even know what Overwatch was until two weeks before its release, and even then, I didn’t expect much from it. I had played Team Fortress 2 and thought it was just fine. I knew what to expect. Medics, tanks, builders — that sounded familiar to me. But I was so wrong. Overwatch isn’t just a team-based shooter; it’s the superhero team-up game I’ve been longing for since “The Avengers” was in theaters.
All 23 (and counting!) heroes have their superpowers, and all of them have their jobs to do. What really sets Overwatch apart is when these heroes are bouncing off of each other. Any combination of six is going to have its own dynamics. Mei dropping ice walls to give Reinhardt time to recharge his shield. Junkrat dropping traps to help Bastion watch his back. Mercy gliding up to Pharah to give her rockets a little extra punch. Every battle brings new possibilities and strategies to the table. I’ve played over 100(!) hours and feel like there’s still so much to learn.
But it’s not all serious business either. The colorful personalities, animations, costume designs and more do so much to shape the world, even when I know next to nothing about the overall “lore.” Last year, Splatoon felt like the only shooter I’d ever need, but Overwatch has actually managed to supplant it in my heart. That’s something this Nintendo fanboy never thought he’d say. Can’t wait to see how Blizzard builds on their masterpiece in year two.
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Dungeon Siege III
I bought Dungeon Siege III with its DLC and the prior two DS games for $10 about five years ago. I gave it a little bit of a start back then but decided to just sit down and finish it this time. A little more than 24 hours later and I finished both the game and its DLC. I played as Anjali and maxed out Influence with Lucas and got halfway there with Katarina, and barely used Reinhart. I used an Xbox 360 controller for the whole game, playing in Fire Form and shooting people from afar and using her area-of-effect abilities when crowded. I'll explain that in a bit.
First, yes, Dungeon Siege III isn't really a good Dungeon Siege game. To me, DS games were about fielding a rather large array of characters and playing Diablo with them, as opposed to the "player and AI helper and summons" that's been the norm since at least Diablo II. Everyone had personality! And instead of hitting an arbitrary experience level and being given points to allocate, you had a 'gain by doing' system typical of some MMOs. If you swing a melee weapon a bunch, you'd gain ranks in the Melee class; if you used Combat Magic, you'd gain in Combat Magic. It did things kinda differently even though its goal of being a "Diablo killer" didn't quite take. So is Dungeon Siege III a bad game? No. It's just not really good as far as DS games of past, at least in terms of gameplay. It's pretty different.
Banter aside, you can call up these golden orbs to show you the way. You’ll be using them a lot.
Things are pretty bad for the 10th Legion in Ehb. Supposedly they murdered the king three decades ago and some fanatic from the church is hell-bent on killing every single Legionnaire, going as far as turning pretty much the entire country against them. How lucky that you're one of the last few descendants of the Legion. Join with your old friend Odo at the old Montbarron Estate and plot a counterattack! I'm sure nothing bad will happen before you get there...
This is your enemy. Have fun!
Dungeon Siege III is an action RPG like previous entries in the series, but combat is a bit different and there's an even bigger focus on story than even DS2. Instead of creating a character from scratch, you instead have your pick between the sword-and-board knight Lucas, the spear and fireballs archon Anjali, the handguns and rifle witch Katarina, and the magic and more magic Reinhart. The story changes slightly based on who you pick, and you're able to meet the other three characters as you play and have them join you. DS3's 'gimmick' with combat revolves around the two stances. One stance is designed to deal with multiple targets close-by, like when you get mob rushed. The other is meant to handle single targets and for everyone but Lucas, you're able to attack at a great range with this. The idea is to swap modes as combat progresses but I didn't really do that. I can't remember any situation where you explicitly needed a ranged attack, so it's largely down to the stance's attacks and how comfortable you are with using them.
When you level up, you slowly unlock additional attacks for your two offensive stances and enable options for your third defensive stance. Each stance has three attacks and there are three options for defense, so you have nine total moves for each character. Each move can then be enhanced five times each from a pool of two mods--for example, one of Anjali's Fire Form special attacks creates a burning field under her. Your choice of enhancements are to simply boost the damage output of the attack or have it slowly heal any allies standing in its area of effect. You are able to mix the effects, but you're limited to a max of five no matter what. And you're also given points to provide unique passive boosts to your character, such as a percent chance to start regenerating health when damaged, a greater chance to crit a target at full health, or to simply boost one stat. Though you cannot take control of your allies, you can still equip them and allocate skill points and so on as if you could, so there's still some customizing potential. The Treasures of the Sun DLC adds the ability to completely respec your characters for 20,000 gold each--a little pricey but it's the only way to undo mistakes you've made in your build during the game.
Respec in action.
Example of the enhancements for each power. They don’t change but you can make a ratio of the two however you wish.
And these are the passive bonuses you can buy.
DS3 has completely done away with potions. Small orbs drop from containers or enemies during combat--green ones restore health, blue ones restore Focus, and purple ones with yellow outlines restore Power. Focus takes the place of traditional MP in this game. You only ever have a max of 100 of it, and every special attack drains a set amount of it. It's restored by using your regular attack on enemies. Power is used to fuel your defensive stance's moves as well as the 'empowered' versions of every move, and that's restored by using your special attacks on enemies or taking damage. Empowered basic attacks generally deal more damage or hit a wider area, but empowered special attacks have effects like much more damage, a wider range, or being able to affect your ally as well as yourself. Empowered basic attacks are enabled as soon as you get the first Power orb, but getting it for special attacks requires you to use them quite a bit during your journey. The game at least lists the empowered benefit even before you purchase the special attack for use, so that's very handy.
There's still randomly-enchanted gear to find like in any ARPG. You have a pretty spacious inventory of I think a bit over 80 slots, but it can fill up especially if you forget to dump your trash at the local merchant. You can Transmute unwanted gear to get a fraction of its value in gold immediately and with the DLC, you can break down some gear to get reagents to apply to other gear with Enchantment, but I never really made use of it. Everyone has eight equipment slots and navigating it wasn't too bad with a controller. Each slot is a category and only the relevant gear shows up. You're given a window where what you have on is compared to what you have selected along with green and red arrows showing the changes in stats. Takes out some of the guesswork when you've figured out how to read it at least. This is the first game like this in a long time if ever where NPCs sold unique-class equipment. They still drop, but it didn't feel like it was at random. There's no player stash so holding onto them isn't really useful. They kept the "pick up everything nearby" button from the first two games though! So looting won't be tedious at all.
Appropriately enough, the final store in the game sells nothing but uniques.
There's a pretty heavy focus on story this time around. DS1 started with "help the Krugs are attacking blegh dead" and you wind up running across the kingdom eventually saving it from an ancient evil you were completely unaware of when you set out from your humble farmstead. DS2 started with "I wanna go home" and then "I want revenge" and still the story was kinda left in the background. Here, it's pretty front-and-center. Conversations were already voiced in prior games but there's just so much dialog this time. There are up to four dialog options and you're not pressed for time to select like with Alpha Protocol, and a lot of them are questions--who are you, why are you doing this, where are we, etc etc. You gain influence with your current ally based on some things you say, though the only bonus that provides is a stat boost. There are some decisions to make, like what to do with one of the early bosses or unruly workers in Stonebridge, but as opposed to a karma meter, your major choices instead get a "still images that move" cutscene and others are mentioned at the epilogue, Fallout-style. There are several Lore books and entries to find and I thought it was a nice touch that you're able to review anything you found from the menu at any time. There aren't quizzes or anything, but it's great for the lore buffs. There are likely slight differences in the story based on who you picked to play as, but I only went through with one character.
I have the feeling Anjali was meant to be a second-run kinda character given what she is and how her people factor into the story.
Music is orchestrated ambient stuff and there's a lot of professional voice acting here (not that I looked up who did the work in prior games I mean). Nothing about the audio got annoying or bothersome and I didn't run into the 'Bethesda syndrome' of having one actor voice several characters in close proximity. Controls weren't bad. The controller doesn't allow you to mouse-over who you want to attack, so using the sticks to select a target is a little tedious, but every button wound up having a use. Difficulty was pretty standard. I only game overed once...on a non-story boss. There aren't KO and Dead states in this game, just you or your ally needs to interact with the downed body for a couple of seconds without getting hurt and they're back up at 50% health. I wound up dropping probably close to 40-some times total due to me playing aggressively, so your mileage may vary. You can manually block in this game, so it would be smart to use it!
I think I know why there are no mules in this game. I wouldn’t be surprised if they went extinct by now!
One problem I had with the game was that it took me a good while to really get into it. I don't know how much of it was "ugh this isn't Dungeon Siege of old" wearing off, but it did finally endear itself to me. It's too bad that point was roughly past halfway, though. I didn't do multiplayer but it has a pretty weird setup. You join someone's game and you play as one of their characters...and you take nothing back with you. Anything that drops stays with the host. You don't even get experience points or progress through the story. One minor thing I didn't like was that in conversations, you never see your character or your ally's faces. There are very few sections where your faces are shown and they're actually animated for speaking, but it seems like a waste given how much you both actually speak and you just never see it. The conversations focus on the person you're speaking to almost the entire time otherwise. I didn't like the lack of fast-travel options. No Town Portal, no warping between save points, just you and having to hoof it at a plodding max speed. And...there's no way to save anywhere like the prior games. There are several save points, but I ran into "you cannot save until combat has ended" more than a few times, even if enemies weren't in the immediate area. Pretty annoying.
Would it have been too disorienting to have the camera switch back and forth?
Overall, Dungeon Siege III isn't a bad action RPG. It's likely not going to be fondly remembered and some would argue it was what killed the franchise, if it'll be remembered at all. To me, it didn't really do anything terribly unique, nothing that was memorable other than having a lot of polish, especially for an Obsidian game. I had maybe two bugs and zero crashes the entire game, and that's pretty notable. But yeah. You won't have to or need to pause the game and swap spells or get everyone to drink potions and you can't build a diverse team intending to play as them anytime you wish, but it's not bad otherwise. Just it's not a good Dungeon Siege.
As for Treasures of the Sun as a whole, it adds some things. The level cap is increased to 35, there are three ultimate abilities added that drain your Power orbs to fuel their effects (an instant heal, a wide damage blast, and a party-wide shield) you can find and only use one of at a time, you can break down equipment and Enchant it into other gear as I mentioned above, you can respec, and the story content isn't particularly long but it takes place in an entirely new area. It's not necessarily what I'd call essential, but it's the only DLC for the game and you may as well get it with the base game just because.
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GOTY 2020 - Runners Up
I feel I should start off with saying a bit about what this year was like for my gaming hobby, it was the first in many years that the PS4 was not the system where I took away the most games, for me it was the PC for a change which has slowly been becoming my number 1 place to play. Though this year also brought a new console generation and I have picked up a PS5, as well as an Oculus Quest 2 (so technically I can now play PC VR, which for a couple of years was always a platform that gates off a few key releases for me despite having a headset for my PS4. And yeah, working from home has allowed me to use the time that would have been taking up with commuting to play games, so I have had more time to play than usual.
Just a note, I’m only one person and despite what I said in the previous paragraph, I cannot play every single game that comes out in a year, I try to prioritise the games I want to play and I do pay attention to games that get good write ups from critics. At the time of writing, I have yet to give a good amount of time to the following titles which are likely to come up on many other GOTY lists: Half Life Alyx, The Pathless, Hades, Cyberpunk 2077. I’m sure these are great games, I have enjoyed many other titles that the developers of them have released before, but however much I enjoy them further down the line, they have missed their chance at being included in this particular list.
So in addition to my GOTY, Ghost of Tsushima, here are the other games I have enjoyed most of all in 2020, ordered by release date:
Journey to the Savage Planet
This was the traditional January game for me. I know a lot of people see the first month of the year being a bit slow for games but I feel there’s always at least one gem. It was great to see a Metroid style game that took a lot more from the Prime series rather than the 2D roots of that genre. The humour didn't quite connect with me but this was a fun distraction that I wasn’t expecting at the start of the year
DOOM Eternal
One of the earliest games I had added to my 2020 watchlist, the sequel to one of my top games of 2016 was always going to be something to be all over. I felt it was a little more arcadey and leaned on typical game mechanics (e.g. extra lives, traversal puzzle, arena based encounters) rather than the exploration aspects of the 1993 original that the 2016 reboot left intact. But you don’t get action as satisfying and as brutal as DOOM
Final Fantasy VII Remake
The earliest game I picked up that I put forward for this list and wasn’t on my original watch list. I didn't play the original FF7 all the way through, but I had played to the point where this remade 1st episode stops at, it essentially covers the first disc on the 1997 original. I’m more into action RPGs than the turn based menu cooldown mechanic that’s more typical of Japanese RPGs, so with that out of the way I was able to enjoy the world and the story. I got really engaged by this one and I can’t wait to carry on the story.
Gears Tactics
I always loved the idea of the turn based tactical strategy game when XCOM Enemy Unknown came along. But I was always more a fan of the combat side than the whole running of the base part of the game. XCOM was also one of those top games that I always sort of pretended to be into, to make myself seem more like a thinker than a button masher, y’know? I can name a large number of people who fall into that category too.
I reckon Gears is perfect for this genre and I’m glad to see that Tactics doesn’t make me collect resources and develop new technology while making sure my underground bunker has enough power. It’s pure action and I love it.
Streets of Rage 4
This game was on my watch list but even I was surprised at how good it turned out. SOR4 will appeal more to those who played the original games, and the second in the series is my favourite SEGA game ever as well as being quite high up my all time list in general. This 21st century continuation does not diminish the originals in any way and even makes you come around to the third in the series in a way by including references and it’s best elements. A hyper stylish tribute and great brawler in its own right.
The Last of Us Part 2
I assigned Ghost of Tsushima as my game of the year, but TLOUP2 would have come a close second. I just enjoyed being in the world of Tsushima more than I did in the zombie infested post-apocalyptic Seattle. I see this game as being the equivalent of a great box set, typical more of the second season of an excellent American TV series where they do add a few interesting ideas, a few “wow” moments, but more than its share of devisive moments too. I can get why people didn’t like the twist as we are used to playing heroes in our games, it can throw us when a bit of perspective is added. Personally, I felt it was an act too long, but still an intense action adventure.
Rocket Arena
I still played a lot of Destiny at the start of the year and both last year and this year's Call of Duty's were on my most played list. But Rocket Arena held my attention for most of the summer. Ultimately, I fell off the game because I was sick of teammates leaving matches, it’s the sort of game where leavers get penalised but are not replaced. But I found the game to be enormous fun and soon I hope to jump back into the game as I see a few changes have been made. The game has also taken all sorts of steps to be made available to as many people as possible thought giveaways on Twitch and PlayStation plus as well as being added to EA Play Pro, everything that stops short of just being made free to play which is something I actually hope it shouldn’t have to come to as I like the idea of the Overwatch model where new maps and characters are added for free every now and then.
Carrion
Carrion was a game I added to my watch list after it was shown in Devolver Digital’s over-the-top and sometimes sort of ‘trying too hard to be subversive’ E3 presentations (2019 and 2020). It looked like a take on the Metroidvania game that took, if you ask me, one of the most appealing aspects of the Metroid games, it’s atmosphere. Plus it sometimes feels great to be the menace, especially when you go out to total massacre your captors (see also Ape Out)
Fall Guys
I’m sure a lot of people have just totally fallen off of this game since about a month after it’s launch in August, I know I have. But when it was new and in the conversation, there was no doubt that this was a fun game. It also came out around the time where you could have guests round and it made for a great “pass the controller” type of game, despite having no split screen modes. It may be my lack of desire to play a new multiplayer game which stopped me from playing it, though it’s appeal to me is that it’s one of those first of games you can just leap into matchmaking by yourself with.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2
I don’t normally put ports or remakes into my year lists, but I will make an exception here (and one later on) as it has been so long since the games included in this collection first appeared and to compare old with new, it’s almost a whole new world. Yet it is still familiar, and there’s no bloat, even the item shop (where you can buy decks, wheels, profile pictures etc) doesn’t get in your face. It also, thankfully, takes influence from the right places of the follow up to both of these games, Pro Skater 3, in making the most finely tuned Hawk’s experience. I only wish they had included the 3rd game, at least as DLC, but there’s still time.
Star Wars Squadrons
Air or space combat has never appealed to me all that much over my many years of gaming. I’m not even all that big a Star Wars fan, but I got on board with Squadrons in a big way. Playing in VR and with a HOTAS really immerses you too, there’s nothing like playing past someone and turning your own head to see where they heck they have got to. And although I am not all that big into Star Wars, I can tell they have taken great care with the universe and turned out something that doesn’t interfere with cannon all too much. Put this alongside Gears Tactics in the “I like the idea of this sort of game but I never get on too well with it, but I really liked this one” bucket
Watch Dogs Legion
I know Legion got a hard time in reviews, and I did experience a less than optimal performance in the game, but it was great to run around modern London on foot for a change. I enjoyed Watch Dogs 2 before this and yes, I get why people think the game is just silly, but Legion finally shows that the game knows when to not take itself seriously and it's all the better for it. A great touch is when you recruit people for your organisation, they can all get into any car and drive it around, but every now and then you will find a recruit for whom one of their perks is “has their own car”, that is London in a nutshell!
Dirt 5
Dirt 5 wasn’t on my list, and I have had a sort of on-off relationship with the series. Dirt 5 represents a sort of middle point in the scale between the off-road racer and the serious rally simulation. I would actually say it's closer to the former actually, it’s definitely the most arcade like the franchise has been in years. It forgoes point to point rallys in favour of an “all racers” starting grid in most disciplines. The inclusion of a story is a bit weird, especially as you never actually see any of the characters, it made me wonder what the point was, but I loved the racing as well as all the weather and mud effects.
Assassins Creed Valhalla
I’ve literally just finished this game at the time of writing and what a monster this was at over 55 hours in my playthrough. I had my doubts that a game set in Viking/Saxon era England could rival the BC Egypt in AC Origins, and that game is still my fave, but there was a lot of beautiful scenery in Valhalla as well as crazy plot points when you got near the end. It was great to finally play one of these “new” AC games with a steady frame rate (I always had technical problems before) as I have enjoyed the new combat system since Origins and it was fun to visit settlements whose names I recognise from modern era England. Apart from one really annoying game breaking bug (saved by a previous save file) a number of freezes and it being maybe a bit too long, I’d recommend this heartily.
Replay corner:
Master Chief Collection (throughout the year)
As I said earlier when I talked about Pro Skater 1+2, I don’t normally put ports and remakes, but I wanted to give a shout out to the Halo Master Chief Collection, which I played on PC throughout the year. It’s in it’s own section here as part of it was released last year, but each couple of months in 2020, it was great to replay each of the games in this series, especially as I said goodbye to Xbox in 2013, Halo was one of the franchises that I knew I would miss and it’s great that I can finally get reacquainted with all the ones I have played before. It's a shame that Infinite did not come out this year, though I can tell why they wanted to put it back in the oven, plus I still haven’t really played Halo 5 yet as it’s one of the few games that are actually Xbox One only, I have my fingers crossed for a PC port of that though.
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