– I've got Kim. – Just make sure you don't lose him. You'll not find another like him... – It's true in more ways than you know.

"To kill for yourself is murder. To kill for your government is heroic. To kill for entertainment is harmless."

-Loading screen in Spec Ops: The Line

Tik Tok Masterpost: Arlo

did anyone order a metric fuckton of ghost holow nite

obsessed with the skin for rw actually, feat. @lightosoul

ghost deserves to have swag wings

DO YOU KNOW THIS CHARACTER?

Rouge takes one day trip with Team Sonic

I think one of my favorite things about Yugioh is how unafraid it is to go all in on a card game being the driving force of this series.

The world is ending and you know what we're going to use to save it? Card games.

What is the villain's method of taking over the world? Card games but evil.

How do characters choose to resolve literally any conflict? Through a card game.

We need a way to resurrect people. Good thing there's a card that can do that.

I think what particularly annoys me with the "zelda was always gameplay before story" is that... it's not true? At least I don't think it's true in the way people mean it.

Zelda games were always kind of integrating story based on the standards of the time. When game stories were in game pamphlets, Zelda's stories was in the pamphlets. ALTTP tried to tell a pretty complicated stories with the limitations of the time. OoT was actively trying to tell an epic, cinematic tale packed with ambiance and expand what 3D could offer that 2D games struggled with. Majora's Mask is deeply character-driven in many, many ways. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are both pretty concerned about their stories, down to the point that some people were bored by TP's cutscenes in particular. Skyward Sword, from what little I have played it, is very very invested in its characters and their journey (and 2D Zeldas have Link's Awakening, Minish Cap... None of them are visual novels, but they are concerned with emotional journeys, character arcs, mysteries about their own world...)

What is true is that the narrative wraps around the mechanics, and not the other way around. The mechanics drive themes, aesthetics, emotional beats and character journeys; and that's great. The world is a puzzle, and the world is delightfully absurd when it needs to be, full of heart when it calls for it, dark and oppressive when it suits the player experience.

That does not mean the games aren't invested in their stories. Even BotW has a pretty complicated story to tell about an entire world rather than one specific tale or legend --all of it at the service of the gameplay, which is exploration and mastery of your environment.

So. Yes, none of the Zelda games are million-words long visual novels that care deeply about consistency and nuance; but stories don't need consistency or deep lore to be meaningful and serve an emotional journey. Again: gameplay is story. The two cannot be so easily parsed from each other.

And Zelda as a franchise obviously care deeply about story, characters and setting (and still does right now --otherwise there wouldn't be a movie), even if it doesn't try to imitate prestige narrative-driven games, which is great and part of why I love this series so much. Doesn't mean it couldn't have done better in the past, it obviously could have, but I feel like pretending that nobody ever cared about story or character is just... false? It's a huge disservice to the devs too. Some of them obviously cared immensely.

The "gameplay above story", at least in the extent to which it is paraded today to defend TotK, mostly, is a really recent development. And I think it's one that deserves to receive some pushback.

Bocci the paper and bocci the scissors

Day 68: And thus, the holy trinity is complete

Been playing a lot of generations lately, i like using the slugger sonic mod when i do XD

thank you sonic modders you are everything to me <3

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

I mean, geez, it just makes sense. Power should be redistributed amongst all of us, not just the few. Communism would actually work for Kindred, where it fails with humans. It's just common sense, you know?

sit next to me right now.

now listen to me young man, i am talking directly into your ear now. i need you to do me a favor. you will do this for me. i need you to go to thegameawards.com, and i need you to vote in this bastard of a contest for pizza tower as best debut indie game. if it does not win youll be in big trouble mister. you will never see the light of day.

"Facing the future is the way of love. Facing the past is the way of love. But the two are incompatible, and it broke my heart."

-Isidor, Pathologic

WAIT THIS IS ACTUALLY SO FUNNY. WHY WOULD THEY DO PARTNER LIKE THIS.

Baldur’s Gate 3 (and Neil) have been nominated for seven categories at the Game Awards this year!

If you want to vote you can do so here