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hikari-ni-naritai · 9 months

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We'll do Violet for the new pfp. 1-5, 13-15, 18, 19, 21, 37-40, ABEF

VIOLET CELEBRATION

What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?

Not Very Long. she would sit there for like 30 seconds kicking her legs and then immediately dump everything out of her bag and start sorting it.

2. How easy is it for your character to laugh?

pretty easy! she might not get a lot of jokes but the ones she does understand are almost always going to make her laugh

3. How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?)

she cant go to bed if she feels disorganized or out of sorts so she resets herself by organizing her surroundings. the room shes staying in, her own things, maybe remaking her bed. once she feels more in line she'll fall asleep right away.

4. How easy is it to earn their trust?

VERY easy. violet is a trusting dumbass. she doesn't really understand the concept of lies.

5. How easy is it to earn their mistrust?

probably not very easy! you'd just have to be like 'oops! didnt mean to do that' and shed be like oh thats okay! and give you a hug

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?

hmm. she has it in her head that she looks best in red! she has never seen the colour red in her life, since shes colourblind. but i emily thinks she looks VERY cute in red<3

14. What animal do they fear most?

hmmmmmm. i think she has a latent fear of dogs that she doesn't really understand. probably not small dogs, but larger ones she would not be comfortable around

15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

definitely on the spot. she has a cheerful manner of speaking and she's quick to offer compliments.

18. What embarrasses them?

i dont think she is the type to get embarrassed easily. maybe if she was really proud of something she did and then someone told her she fucked up the colours bc she cant see them very well, that would probably embarrass her.

19. What is their favorite number?

8! its got vertical symmetry and its like if you had two twos and then had that twice. very satisfying

21. Why do they get up in the morning?

eyes open brain turn on. but as for her actual quest, she is compelled to bring order to the world. she doesnt know how to do that so she's invested in finding out

37. Do they have a system for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that need to go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies, etc)?

she's actually really good at this naturally! as far as lists or ordered things go, i mean. information gets stored in her brain in such a way that the order it belongs in is tied to the information itself. this is actually similar to the way i store certain information, so i dont think its unrealistic for her to be able to do this. names though, she has no such system whatsoever.

38. What memory do they revisit the most often?

i think there was a certain moment while she was organizing the library when she felt the sight of her god leave her for the first time in her life. i think she thinks of that often, trying to figure out what she did wrong and how she could reclaim their favor.

39. How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people?

depends on the flaw! if theyre rude, she probably doesnt mind that. if they are disordery, she might have more trouble with that.

40. How sensitive are they to their own flaws?

what flaws? anyway probably not very. it depends on the flaw, again.

A. Why are you excited about this character?

shes fucking adorable and has clockwork motifs in her design. i love her with my whole heart.

B. What inspired you to create them?

i mean aside from 'ou fuck clock gears' she's an offshoot inspired by bel/s the fire elemental antivirus program from Open Sorcery. ill be honest its hard to follow how she became what she is from that. but thats her inspiration.

E. Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

i think i would get along with violet so so easily. shes a good girl and very friendly. and i dont think she would have any problems with me.

F. What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

deep deep love and aesthetic appreciation. i see her and my mind is overwhelmed with 'oh god shes so cute'

#violetposting

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ganymedesclock · 4 years

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Kept meaning to draw more Dead Cells headcanons but w/e so I’m writing them instead.

Prisoner

Does not have clean pretty Hollywood amnesia nearly as much as he remembers everything pre-losing his head technically but in practice, unreliably and wandering too far into memories he can’t ground with more recently observed evidence is just going through a fever dream of what he’s pretty sure maybe probably actually happened at some point.

Related to above he has a breathtaking command of information he has no idea how he learned or from whom.

One time he spent an entire fairly prolonged loop with a particularly bawdy sea shanty stuck in his head and to this day he is not sure if he completely made it up but probably not because he didn’t even know half of those terms were used euphemistically.

Amenable to most pronouns, but mostly he’d just really like it if someone actually asked.

Overall is just in rough shape. Some of the alterations to his clothing are that he lost a concerning amount of weight prior to his ‘loop reset state’ and used scraps of cloth to tie his shirt and pants on.

If he could talk and had anybody besides Mushroom Boi to hang out with, would absolutely be the kind of guy where you’re lying in bed half-awake and he says some shit like “do we know factually that swans aren’t just an elaborate hoax” and then you spend the next hour wide awake and angry furiously wracking your brain for the last time you personally saw a swan.

Can pull his fire head close enough to press at his neck stub which basically looks like he turtles inside his scarf

Trying really hard to be cool and unaffected by the dying repeatedly thing and mostly succeeds unless it’s been happening a lot lately.

At any given moment is about three good shoves from an emotional breakdown but the other people in the loop virtually never catch him at it. Basically his psychological state is like looking at a precariously but very strategically balanced bookshelf where the longer you look at it the more upsetting it is that it’s still standing and yet somehow.

Mushroom Boi helps

Mushroom Boi

Has the approximate level of sapience of an abnormally smart dog. Could carry simple conversations if given some kind of proxy to communicate through and the training to use it.

Really unusual compared to the Jerkshrooms whose instinct to kneecap people is hampered by a general fear of anything larger than them that isn’t a Yeeter. Mushroom Boi inexplicably fears nothing. They will headbutt the Hand of the King. They will headbutt the Giant. If given a clear path to their target they would headbutt the gods.

In fact has less fear than Prisoner “haha YOLO” McHeadless which can lead to some interesting results.

Part of the weirdness is them being a lab-grown and human-socialized specimen but also they actually had a surprisingly decent relationship with the researcher responsible for synthesizing them, though the Alchemist took ownership of the project because said researcher went the way of, well, almost everyone else on the island.

They’re coherent enough to wonder what happened to him sometimes.

Keyed decently to Prisoner’s emotional states even when he hides it and has genuinely therapy-mushroomed him off a panic attack at least once.

Y’know that thing in the RE2 remake where Mr. X will kill you faster if you shoot his hat off? Mushroom Boi will do that about their bow. Which is impressive since this is not a superweapon but instead an approximately toddler-sized mushroom.

Sometimes it seems like they might be in the process of figuring out how to use knives and Prisoner is really not sure what emotion he’s supposed to feel but he sure feels it with great intensity.

Time Keeper

She keeps the winding key for the clocktower close to heart by which I mean it’s physically inside her chest. Good news is nobody can sneeze weirdly in the island’s time loop without her knowing about it. Bad news is her way of knowing is unpleasant. The worse news is the deterioration of the loop is partially because an essential and irreplaceable part of the clock has been playing a long losing game against crushing amounts of fatigue and said essential part is her.

Y’know every time she resets the loop or rewinds to avoid a boss fight? Yeah. That sensation sucks a lot and sorta feels like deliberately inducing arrhythmia in yourself.

Doesn’t get sleep she gets results except if she is dead honest god she yearns for eight uninterrupted hours but also that is a luxury she can’t afford. Too disciplined and perfectionist to be a shirker but if she ever gets an actual practical opportunity to be well-rested she might cry a little.

Not from the island originally; came from a very long ways away, for reasons she has not explained to anyone. At least, as far as anybody knows. the Crypt Keeper isn’t telling.

Three of the alt temporal outfits are places she lived (volcano, jungle, desert) or traveled through coming here. She’s originally from the desert.

Dead-on-her-feet exhausted most of the time. This can mean she comes off as an unstoppable and unnervingly calm terminator who might acknowledge belatedly that she’s just gotten stabbed after she’s tossed you across the room with one of her many, many giant heavy swords, and it can mean sometimes if she’s having a really bad loop she just walks into a closed door, stops, and stays there for a while.

This isn’t a headcanon I just want to point out that she’s canonically more jacked than HotK because Prisoner picks up and wields HotK’s symmetrical lance, but in the optional lore room where you find all of Time Keeper’s swords, Prisoner notes they’re too heavy for him to use.

Prisoner, signing, terrified “Do I weigh anything to you?” Time Keeper, “no it’s like holding a couple of grapes”

She used to have a rigorous workout routine but nowadays who needs that when you’re endlessly surrounded by the living dead, right.

#Dead Cells #readmore #body horror

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bearpillowmonster · 4 years

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Resident Evil Revelations Review

For this review I'm going to be referring to this game as "ReRe".

Let's get one thing out of the way, this was a game made for the 3DS then was ported over to other systems so it's obviously going to be smaller scale making a lot of the stuff not really something to blame it on, it's the core that I'll be judging as if I were playing it in its intended way.

I really only have Resident Evil 2 Remake and a little bit of Resident Evil 4 to go off of for reference but this was one of the ones that I was most interested in, which is kind of ironic but oh well. I finished RE2 and was craving more RE and I found the demo for ReRe on Steam. Imagine my surprise when I heard Michelle Ruff as Jill, I was already sold on the game, the question was "What platform?" Because I could get the ReRe 1 & 2 bundle on Switch, but I tried the RE5 demo on there and I didn't like the control scheme and I really don't like the control scheme for it on Steam, it was the same with RE4, I even tried plugging in my PS4 controller and it thought left was up and up was left, I couldn't change any of it in the settings either, just the keyboard and mouse ones, so here I am with a PS4 copy.

As you probably know, this game is split up into episodes, similar to that of Alan Wake. Each episode has its own levels, so you could start as Jill then go over as Chris for example in order to display different sides of the stories. I actually kind of like this because with RE2, I always felt like I NEEDED to do the next thing in order to save, it works for a game like this, better than Alan Wake especially considering that you only played as Alan and it was only one side of the story. But it's not so split up that it resets your inventory, you keep your herbs and your ammo (or lack thereof).

A lot of people complain about the scanner and how it gets repetitive and that it should've just stayed on the 3DS but let me say that I love when a game uses the controller, whenever you use it, the controller makes little robotic sounds, same with when Parker calls you on the com, I adore it. It makes me feel motivation to try and get that S rank at the end of each mission because it's basically the same as taking pictures. On top of that, it's night vision, so you can just use it to look around, sometimes you find hidden handprints, it's really neat. And the stuff that you scan, nets you percentage points so whenever you scan a specific type of enemy, it'll register it and once it reaches 100 then you geta herb! Which is a cool system, different from previous games with the mixing and such, here, there is just one type of herb and you can still pick it up on its own if need be.

(concept art)

Let's talk about the setting. The idea that this is "Resident Evil on a ship!" sounds intriguing but limited, given the background of the early games but I beg to differ. I really like the idea of a ship being your environment, there are chapters where you play in other places at different times too so it never feels too familiar. It isn't just aimlessly walking, trying to get in the next room either, there are set objectives and it shows you where to go (not that it's all that hard to find anyway) because it's split up into sections, normally you'll only explore one or a few sections per episode so yeah it is easier in that sense but I'm fine with that. It goes away from the formula but the elements are still there, just not as much, there are still keys to rooms that you have to unlock and then you have to backtrack. I really like the ship itself too, I was in awe when I got to the Clock room, I love it, I'm a bit of a nerd for pirates and stuff so it's right up my alley (apparently there are even pirate skins you can unlock!). Just look at the way the helm spins whenever the next door unlocks and takes you down that elevator.

They even have a solid level just dedicated to swimming, which sounds pretty bad but the swimming controls are actually good and I found myself immersed and tilting with the camera. Now those pirate skins are unlocked using Raid Mode. What is that? Well, you go around various stages of the game just shooting, take out as many enemies as you can, balls to the wall. The bonus stage unlocked after beating the campaign is the "Ghost Ship" which is basically the entire ship that you speedrun in order to unlock the pirate skins I mentioned (why is it always so difficult...) In a way, I have to appreciate this mode because while I might not be as handy aiming with a PS4 controller versus a mouse, it's kind of fun to run around, choosing your own weapons, infinite ammo and just wailing on enemies (I don't like that for any campaign but for a bonus mode it's fine.)

Now some of the characters because you can actually play as a lot of them here.

I've never got the chance to play as Chris before but now I'm really glad I did, I completely understand. I always hear that he's the butt end of a joke but people still like it. He's a muscle-headed Chad, that only thinks about the mission, he's not a character, he's a tool but dang does that make him likable. At one point, he’s trying to unlock a door through a computer and I’m like “You sure HE’S the one that should be doing that?) I think Jill ends up doing it anyway, Jessica is well aware of his obliviousness though, it actually makes for an interesting dynamic.

Parker isn't my favorite. He's there to be there really, sometimes I need support and he'll shoot that last zombie but that's about it. Raymond...for some reason, I like Raymond?? I mean, he's like a red-haired Casey Neistat.

Jessica is kinda funny because she's half and half like Chris. I thought she'd be super serious but "Parker better get me dinner!" Also speaking of half and half, she has one pant leg, the other one is bare?? Ok? The characters are cheesy, much like a tv show but I love them. I would've liked a little more Rachel though.

The final boss is actually pretty dumb, he has a weak point but he lasts way longer than he should, the previous chapter's boss was much more fun. As for the alignment of a survival horror game versus an action game, this one is more closely aligned with an action game but I would beg that it's more connected to survival horror than others such as RE5 or 6. The game isn't terribly long, my play-through was a little over 5 hours but I enjoyed it for what it was and again, it's a 3DS game.

#rere #resident evil #revelations #ps4 #review #game #resident evil revelations

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lisinfleur · 5 years

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Lost?

Author’s Notes | Haha don’t worry babe! I also lose myself PRETTY EASILY into these places! Why they just CAN’T place platform C and D close to one another??? Universe | Vikings Pairing | Sigurd x Reader Info | Modern Age AU, requested by @lyanna-the-giantsbane for 5CW6 | Sigurd’s curses are in Norwegian according to Google Translator! Words | 1414 ⁑ Warnings: Some cursing.

With tons of days for consecutive unforeseen, it had to happen on your first vacation day. Of course!

First, the electrical system of your house had a problem at night and what was the only affected plug that stopped working? What was??? Your phone charger! Bingo!

No battery in the morning, therefore no wake-up alarms! Yay!

Lucky of yours you were used to waking up early in the morning so you just lost one hour from your plans: swallowing breakfast faster would replace the time lost and maybe take a shortcut to the airport would warrant you would be there on time for your plane.

It was a perfect backup plan... If the damn airport platforms weren't organized in any way but alphabetical order!

You have heard the last call to your plane and you just simply couldn't find the damn platform! Your ticket in hands, you were walking with your eyes on every single signal - and maybe that's the reason why you didn't see the blonde man coming in your direction.

He was looking around - probably searching for his platform as well! That place was an endless maze!! - so he didn't see you either. Bazinga!

"Oh, damn, I'm sorry!" his voice sounded first.

The sound of your hand suitcase splatting open on the ground came right after. Fucking great! You would surely have cursed his mother and four generations of his family after him if it wasn't his hands, both of them, preventing you from falling straight after your suitcase.

And the sound of HIS bag going straight to the ground after yours...

"I'm so sorry," he said, helping you to get your balance back and starting to pick your things from the ground, bringing them back to you. "I'm so, so sorry! This place is an endless maze! I can't find my platform... I was searching for it and I didn't see you coming. You're so smaller than me and I was looking up and..."

Wait... Smaller than him? You placed both of your hands on your waist.

"Are you calling me a midget?" you asked, pretending to be offended.

Somehow, he was sounding so... Cute. You couldn't avoid making a joke trying to relax a little.

"NO! No, I... I'm just... Å, dritt!" he cursed, and you frowned at that strange language.

"Hey, that's fine. I was just joking, I mean... It was an accident but... You're not from here, are you?" you said, closing your suitcase again as he got up checking on his own bag and smiling at you a little clumsy.

"No... In fact, I am..." his eyes saw the planes screen changing and he sighed, disappointed, changing his sentence with frustration in his voice. "I WAS going home today. Jævla det, Ivar will kill me for being late..."

Again, that strange accent and expressions that made you smile.

"I don't know what does it means, but it seems both of us will have to stay a little more..." you sighed, noticing your plane was just gone as well. "Shitty platforms."

"Lost your plane?" he said, smiling at you.

"Vacation trip is going to start later and be more expensive. Yay!" you said, shaking your ticket in front of him.

Noticing his eye was different when he came closer to look at your ticket. It was stained, different...

Maybe he didn't see you properly because of that. You kinda felt ashamed of cursing him mentally because of the accident.

"Wait, can I see your ticket?" he asked and you handled it to him who took a similar paper from his jacket, comparing and giggling. "The third person in this line will make the trip of her life: you were supposed to be sitting right beside me!" He said, showing your seat.

12A. He was 12B.

You giggled.

"Fated to find each other," you joked, "I'm Y/N," you introduced yourself extending your hand towards him and he shook your hand with a smile.

"I'm Sigurd Ragnarsson," he smiled. "It seems you were going to my country and now I'm stuck in yours." he joked.

And you smiled bigger.

"We can try to remake our check-ins and reset the tickets. If we're lucky, we can sit side by side again," you suggested and he took your ticket once again, together with his.

"Taxes on me," he surprised you, fully gentle.

"But... No... Sigurd, this will be super expensive and..."

Sigurd's hand touched your shoulder.

"Hey... I dropped your case, got you late to our flight, and yet you were fully gentle with me. Taxes on me and you can tell me where we can find a good coffee around ok?"

His smile was so sweet, you couldn't say no to that smile.

The two of you went to the company ticket office and settled the new tickets, also communicating the company your luggage was already dispatched on the first flight, so they would save the cases for you and Sigurd when the two of you arrived in Norway.

Through the whole time, you saw him being utterly gentle to the company employees, earning a lot of smiles and everything solved fast for him.

In less than an hour, everything was placed for your vacation and his trip back home.

"You're very good with words, aren't you, Sigurd?" you praised, and Sigurd smiled back at you.

"Well, I'm good at dealing with people," he answered back, with a smile.

"I still owe you a good coffee," you smiled back. "Come with me!"

You took him to a coffee shop near the airport, a place you loved to eat in your free time. And the two of you sat to exchange some words while waiting and appreciating your drinks.

He told you he was an artist in ascension yet his family owned a company in which he was also working beside his brothers. You told him about your work and the fact that those were the first vacations you were taking in a long time.

He asked you why you decided to go to Norway and the two of you engaged in a long conversation about the Viking culture and the roots of his people. There was a long time since you shared such good moments with someone that seemed to know so much about the place you wanted to visit!

Sigurd even offered himself to guide you through some places in Norway if you wanted some company and you readily accepted his invitation: it would be lovely to have the chance to know him better. Why not?

What was a terrible day was starting to become something amazing when his phone started ringing and he asked you a moment to answer the call, which he did in his own language.

You took yourself watching as he seemed to be arguing with someone on the other side of the phone. His accent was so charming... And even the way his eyebrows were frowning with some angry was beautiful.

But crossing your fingers under your chin to keep looking at him, you turned your eyes to the clock for a second.

The most blessed second on Earth: the two of you were so distracted with one another that the time for your plane had come again and both of you would lose the flight one more time.

"Sigurd!" you called him, showing the clock and he said something to the other person on the phone, hanging up the call. "Our plane!"

"Dritt! Something really wants us to lose our flights, uh, søtnos?" he said, calling you something you couldn't understand.

Sigurd laughed at your frowned face, touching the wrinkles of your forehead with his index and a smile.

"When we arrive in Norway, we set a new day for us to meet each other. And then, I tell you what it means, søtnos. Now come! We must hurry!"

A good way to set a reason for you to accept a new meeting with him. Not that he really needed it: You were already charmed by those stained eyes and meeting him again would be really a pleasure.

But having an excuse to pretend he didn't catch you wrapped around his finger was a good idea.

The two of you ran into the airport, this time checking out where was your correct platform and taking your seats on the last minute before the departure.

But all you could think was that those vacations would surely be the best you ever had...

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fibrielsolaer · 4 years

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Majora’s Mask (N64)

Hello people of Tumblr! Let’s talk about the most divisive Zelda game.

James Rolfe semi-reviewed Majora’s Mask as part of Angry Video Game Nerd, tying the game’s themes into both a Twilight Zone reference (as per masks) and the New Year ball drop (as per moonfall):

youtube

I DIDN’T LIKE WUT HE SAID HARUMPH. >:o[

The Nerd is, of course, a fictional character that James has to put on an act for, and I’ve found that this act is much more obvious and stiff than usual. The Nerd normally tries to balance criticism with praise, but the transition in this one comes across as especially jarring and abrupt.

(OOTA = Ocarina of Time Also = James / The Nerd complains about something that applies to OoT also, or doesn’t notice / appreciate something that he ought to as an OoT veteran)

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Graphics

For some strange reason, The Nerd begins by complaining about the graphics - possibly a reference to the Game Grumps playthrough of Majora’s Mask. Arin Hanson did not wait 5 seconds before blurting out “THIS GAME LOOKS LIKE SHIT“ in a tone that made it obvious he was simply trying to stir drama.

OOTA: Despite pointing out that Majora’s Mask reuses the engine and some other assets, James / the Nerd doesn’t include or compare to OoT while criticizing the derived graphics of Majora’s Mask.

Of course, Majora’s Mask is designed to take advantage of the N64′s surreal, creepy graphics and create a disturbing, uncanny world. I would say that “bad graphics” tend to work in the favor of such games, if handled properly. Just look at Puppet Combo.

One must keep in mind, and James would absolutely be familiar with this, that older games up to around the GameCube era were still played on CRT televisions. The color choices and jagged edges of the N64 were less obvious due to the color balancing and blurriness of these old TVs. As such, today’s better monitors actually make these particular games look worse.

While the console overall has definitely not aged well visually, Majora’s Mask is one of the most graphically intensive games on the N64. If I recall correctly, the scene where the Woodfall Temple rises from the swamp is the most graphically demanding scene in any N64 game.

The Nerd asserts that, in contrast to early 3D, certain 2D styles such as Link to the Past still look good by today’s standards. This is never going to be an objective statement - not only because of the strong bias most people have in favor of or against particular graphical media, but also due to the high emotional investment longtime Zelda players have in both LttP and OoT, which tend to jockey for the title of Best Zelda. (Link’s Awakening is usually a close third place.)

I personally find LttP’s color palette appealing, but many sprites are incoherent or anatomically malformed, and its Escher-esque viewing angle with every wall slanting away from you is absurd. This is underscored in A Link Between Worlds, which is in full 3D but copies the viewing angle by hilariously tilting everything.

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Cosmic Checkpoints

The central criticism of Majora’s Mask, which the Nerd for some strange reason prioritizes after the graphics, has always been an example of Time Limit Syndrome.

Time Limit Syndrome is the phenomenon where perceiving a time limit will make many players freak out and possibly make them quit playing the game permanently. This is true even if the time limit turns out to do absolutely nothing when it expires. After all, they don’t know that ahead of time.

I usually hear complaints about Majora’s Mask’s time system from people who quit within 5 minutes due to Time Limit Syndrome... but James / The Nerd has beaten the final boss and really ought to know better.

As James / The Nerd implies, Majora’s Mask does not expect you to beat the game within a single three-day cycle. Indeed, you are forced to “fail” the first cycle in order to teach you the underlying mechanic of resetting the clock and instill in you the idea that you do not have to “beat the time limit”.

Majora’s Mask runs on a cosmic checkpoint system.

At any millisecond you can simply play the Song of Time to return to the Dawn of the First Day and keep every “checkpoint” you’ve met up to that point; “checkpoints” are things like acquired items and learned Songs.

For instance, as soon as you have the Sonata of Awakening, you can enter the Woodfall Temple. You can and should smack the Owl Statue closest to that temple, then immediately reset to a new cycle and enter the temple fresh on the First Day, skipping the long-ass Metal Gear Solid segment you did to get that song.

The Nerd’s implication that you’re “losing progress” when you use the Song of Time thus makes no sense. It’s not any different than leaving a room in a dungeon and seeing that the puzzle in it has reset when you come back in. You don’t need to do that puzzle again if you already got the key item you get for completing it, thus you have not lost any progress. The proper term is replay value, since you have the option at any point of doing any part of the game over again, with any power-ups or self-prescribed inhibitions you like, without starting a new game. Why criticize Majora’s Mask for the #1 reason people love Super Mario World?

When you use the Song of Time to return to the Dawn of the First Day, you save the game. This is the only way to make a “permanent” save in the N64 version of the game (as compared to the 3DS remake); the other methods let you make a temporary save if you’re interrupted or have something else to do, which is deleted when you load it back up.

If you do let the timer run out by itself, then you get an amazingly horrific game over scene (as featured in the above video), and your current 3-day cycle is lost as you must reload the previous First Day save. The reason the N64 game will not let you override your permanent save mid-cycle is, undoubtedly, so that you do not somehow save a scenario where you will repeatedly game over without any chance to use the Song of Time (however unlikely that may be.) In addition, you can always count on your hard saves being at the start of everybody’s schedule, and you will not need to remember where in the middle of some convoluted three-day quest you were.

Personally, I would have made it so that the timer running out just forced the Song of Time effect. The only “good reason” I can think of to do otherwise is because Majora’s Mask is a very unsettling game and the anxiety of Time Limit Syndrome may actually be intentional as part of the mood... but I would prioritize consistent and intuitive gameplay over an inconsistent and unpredictable audience response.

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Time & Dungeons

Majora’s Mask does have a few frustrating consequences of its time system.

Minor annoyances include quests and rewards that only trigger at a very specific time (ghosts at night, The Other Link, etc.)

Moderate annoyances include quests that are not only that specific, but you have to trigger them first by doing something else specific at an earlier time, or intentionally fail another quest. (the Kafei & Anju quests that are not the Couple’s Mask quest)

Major annoyances include questlines that take place over all three days and which you have to completely restart if you mess up at any step and which sometimes have more than one ending (Couple’s Mask quest)

... but the dungeons semi-resetting is not a problem.

You should be smart and warp back as soon as you can access the dungeon, so that you can enter it at the very start of a new cycle. All you need is the Song that opens it and the Owl Statue closest to it (usually right in front of the dungeon entrance.)

Half of the dungeon is only there to block off the dungeon item. Once you get that, if you need to reset, you can skip half the dungeon next time because you’ve already got the dungeon item. You only need to get the Big Key and go fight the boss.

If you’ve ever challenged the boss, even if you had to quit the fight and reset, you can skip the entire dungeon and teleport right to the boss again on all subsequent cycles. (The boss will also call you out for holding its remains, if applicable.)

You only need to gather the fairies once per dungeon, since you keep all of the unlocked items across cycles.

It’s really quite forgiving except that it does not make it overt exactly where your checkpoints are. In fact, before James made this video and I looked it up, I didn’t know for the last 15+ years that merely challenging the boss let you skip the dungeon on subsequent cycles.

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But Why Tho

The entire 3-day nonsense is a necessity because of the illusion of life.

Similarly to Harvest Moon, major NPCs are scheduled to be in particular places at particular times of the three days. However, unlike Harvest Moon, this schedule is extremely specific for applicable characters. If you slow down time with the Inverted Song of Time, you will actually see these affected NPCs moving proportionately more slowly, because even their path from one place to another, and their exact departure and arrival times, are aligned to the time schedule. Doing certain things will also alter NPC schedules accordingly.

This, of course, helps deepen the characters and make them look more life-like in a game that is all about exploring them emotionally and learning about their fears, hardships, and heartbreaks. Link earns every single Mask in the game by healing somebody, even if he does not use the Song of Healing per se. If he gets every single last one, then he has the ultimate power of love and kindness that off-handedly obliterates the malice and hatred of Majora.

This level of detail would not be feasible, or at least not very intuitive, with a very long schedule, so the game takes place over the same three days repeated indefinitely.

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Comparisons

The Nerd compares Majora’s Mask to Breath of the Wild in other places in the video, but does not do so when it would not be favorable to the latter; specifically, his criticism of the Majora’s Mask banker and his/her talkiness applies ten times over to the Great Fairies in Breath of the Wild, who not only give their entire explanation of how they work every time you leave and return to them again, but also forcibly close the upgrade window when you run out of items you have materials for, without letting you look them over to see what you need to farm for.

You need to use the BotW Great Fairies all the time, but you only need to use the MM bank rarely. You can just deposit money into it once per cycle and ignore it otherwise, since you refill your ammo just by cutting bushes and never need to purchase any... unlike Breath of the Wild.

To deposit or withdraw all your Rupees at once, just enter 999 as the number. It will change it to however many you actually have. The reason you’ve given 5 Rupees in hand is (probably) because otherwise you might lose them when you had 995 or more Rupees in the bank, if indeed you can stand to grind Rupees for that long.

OOTA: The banker is the Termina counterpart of OoT’s beggar, and reuses the animation.

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Around this point, the “sequence breaking” in the editing becomes apparent. Like a videogamedunkey skit, random bits of the game are strewn into the video out of order.

This comes back to bite the review because the Nerd acts like he’s just gotten to a part of the game that has to be completed before what was shown earlier in the video (hence why I call it “sequence breaking”). This breaks the illusion of sincerity; the suspension of disbelief as to the video being scripted is lost and it starts to look a bit more doctored to color the perception of the game.

OOTA: The Nerd does not recognize obvious counterparts to or parodies of characters like the Organ Grinder / Guru Guru, and acts like he’s never encountered an N64 ReDead before.

OOTA: The swim sound is the same sound as in Ocarina of Time. Talk about fishing for complaints.

I disagree harshly with the statement that “all everybody talks about [in regards to Majora’s Mask] are the good things”. I’ve almost only ever heard people complain about the time system and how it’s “Not Really Zelda”.

The particular glitch shown - Zora Link rapidly colliding with the wall - must be intentionally invoked. That glitch occurs if you use the speed-swim against very specific spots of very specific walls... fittingly, any of the corners in the infamous whirlpool room work. All you have to do is let go of the buttons and it will stop. It’s kind of like sailing Mario under the log with a Green Shell in Lethal Lava Land, except Mario always dies (in the most hilarious way) when you do that and Link is only briefly inconvenienced (in the most hilarious way).

OOTA: Most of Majora’s Mask’s more common glitches are the same as in Ocarina of Time due to reusing the engine. Infinite Sword Glitch and Bombchu Hover are both still around, for instance.

The one glitch that is the most problematic is that sometimes, when you reset in the middle of a dungeon, the doors will lock but the Small Keys will not go back into their chests. You then have to keep resetting until it resets correctly, which should be the very next reset.

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Wart / Arrghus

Majora’s Mask may be the only Zelda game with two minibosses in every dungeon - one for the dungeon item, one for the Big Key.

That eyeball boss is Wart, the first of the two Great Bay Temple minibosses, who guards the Ice Arrows. It’s Arrghus from Link to the Past, who was always called ワート WART in Japanese. In the 3DS version, its name in several other languages is the same as Arrghus’s.

Wart is the most annoying enemy in the entire game. He’s a fucker and I hate him. The worst thing about Wart is that the only way to make his long-ass battle faster is to completely destroy your N64. You do this by shooting an arrow into his eye when it’s open, causing every single mini-eyeball to fall off of him, dropping your frame rate into the gutter. (It gets even worse when you start hitting them with the sword.)

You fight Wart again in the Secret Temple (which is basically a boss gauntlet.)

Fuck Wart.

And fuck the second Great Bay miniboss, the gecko in the blob.

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Bits and Bobs

Sometimes the game’s camera cuts (such as when night falls and the game pauses to announce it) interrupt the gameplay. I don’t remember whether the camera angle you had before the cut effects the camera angle after the cut.

While not strictly required, the Bunny Hood literally only makes you run much faster, and makes the skeleton captain sequence (and 90% of the game) much easier. Always use the Bunny Hood when you don’t need any other mask.

OOTA: You should always be tapping the Lens of Truth on and off to use way less magic. (Basically zero, if you tap it rapidly enough.)

The Goron Race is one of the most frustrating parts of the game, and you need to complete it by the 2nd Day or else you can’t get the Gilded Sword. To get the most amount of time possible to complete it:

Confront Ghot at least once

Save a lot of Rupees in the bank

Get the Powder Keg certification

Start a new cycle

Buy a Powder Keg

Use Fire Arrow to ready forge and turn in sword for Razor Sword

Defeat Ghot (necessary for races to start)

Use bought Powder Keg to blow up boulder (shoot it with an arrow to detonate it)

Complete race as soon as possible for Gold Dust

Get Razor Sword

Turn Razor Sword right back in

Get Gilded Sword

Nintendo has never had good control sticks; the N64 and the Joycon alike both have shitty sticks that experience drift or misalign after a few months of use. This is probably why James is unable to roll Goron Link straight forward, or stay on the pipes, despite the N64′s analog stick locking into an octagon to ensure the 8 main directions are easy to hit.

You have to hit the trees with the Hookhot, but the stupid turtle wobbles around, so the trees are hard to hit. I’m not sure how the game determines whether the Hookshot connected or not. Is it checked on fire? Is it checked on arrival? No idea.

The reason the Ice Arrows are not working is because James is shooting too close to the wall. The ice platform would then clip through it. The game could move the platform to be further from the wall but decides to just not form any platform at all. I remember being pretty pissed off with it myself.

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Video ending

The Nerd doesn’t have to do the entire dungeon over again, because he already has the Ice Arrows. He only has to get to and fight that stupid blob gecko again for the Big Key and then get back to the boss.

OOTA: Why would you walk into the giant exit light before you got the Heart Container. Hell, so far as I know, this is Every Zelda Game Also since all of them let you forget to pick up the Heart Container...

Majora’s a bastard. If you get every mask in the game and turn them all in to him, he will for some unfathomable reason give you the Fierce Deity Mask and let you completely whoop his ass with it. The Fierce Deity Mask makes the battle into an utter joke. In the N64 version you can only use it in boss rooms, unless you use a glitch. The 3DS version also lets you use it when fishing (which itself is not in the N64 version.)

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In summary

Majora’s Mask is definitely beloved more for its themes and characters than for its gameplay. It has some of the most beautiful music in all of Zelda, most notably the Song of Healing, and its advanced special effects and cinematography are top-tier by the standards of the N64. It is chock-full of bittersweet, heavy-hitting content and is a major source of inspiration for future "serious subject” indie games and creepypastas - not just BEN DROWNED and Spooky’s Jumpscare Mansion, but in general.

The gameplay is, for the most part, a weird Ocarina of Time mod. The mask forms play differently, and there are extra mechanics introduced by some songs such as the Elegy of Emptiness, but overall you solve puzzles and fight battles with the same “strategy” as in OoT.

MM has always been very divisive because of the time system, which the game does not adequately explain to most players, and which is particularly frustrating in regards to specific parts of the game such as the Gilded Sword or the Couple’s Mask quest. The Bomber’s Notebook helps keep track of some aspects (and is expanded in the 3DS version), but many players simply find the detailed scheduling and the sequence of events too much crap to keep track of and too many repeated chores in the event of failures and many resets, and do not develop a recognition - let alone appreciation - of when they have reached a checkpoint in the main game and can reset to a new cycle without losing anything, or how to gauge whether they have the time left to take on a new task whimsically rather than through planning.

When I first started playing I hated it, but over time I began to be okay with the structure around the time cycle, albeit a bit bored or frustrated when I had to repeat day 1+2 because I screwed up a quest on day 3.

There are so many cool moments in Majora’s Mask that, for me at least, it supercedes the frustrating parts of the quests that cover all 3 days, and some of the just plain annoying parts that are not strictly relevant to the time system.

How the dogs react to each form of Link

Any time you use the Song of Healing

Mummy-Dad and the Well

When you realize who the Skull Kid is

When you realize what happened to the Butler’s son

The full ending with 100% completion

I’ve often said that Earthbound is “a lousy game but a great experience”.

I suppose it’s not out of the park to say Majora’s Mask is in the same boat.

#zelda #majora's mask #legend of zelda #loz #lozmm #loz majora's mask #avgn #angry video game nerd

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jmsebastian · 7 years

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How Not To Refine a Horror Game: Clock Tower 3

Clock Tower 3 is many things: a product of a developer acquiring the rights to a series they had no hand in creating, a mashup of several interesting and competing ideas that offer a lot of promise, a disjointed final package that suffered from a lack of singular vision. In the simplest terms, it’s a survival horror game made by Sunsoft and published by Capcom for the Playstation 2 in 2002. Following the collapse of Human Entertainment, the developers responsible for creating the Clock Tower series, Sunsoft acquired the rights and set out to push the franchise toward a larger audience. Their attempt to do that meant making sweeping changes, and seemingly making as many of them as possible.

Part of what made the Clock Tower games so interesting was their limited mechanical complexity. They acted more or less as point and click adventure games. Players move a cursor using the D-Pad on the controller to highlight objects in the environment and move the player character around the screen. They use a menu system to interact with the things they find in the environment. The straight forward nature of this control scheme was deliberate. It created a separation between what was happening on screen and what the player intended to do. That lack of instant response helps build tension, which is something you want as much as possible in a horror game. With the changing tides of the industry and the increasing understanding of how to move characters around in 3D space, control over the player was the biggest overhaul made.

In Clock Tower 3, you control your character, Alyssa, with the left analog stick. Her movement is very similar to the movement found in the Resident Evil remake for Gamecube or the Fatal Frame series. Moving the analog stick in a direction will move Alyssa in that direction. Holding a direction will continue Alyssa’s momentum in that same direction despite changes to camera angle, until the analog stick is released. Releasing the analog stick resets the direction back to zero, essentially. Alyssa’s default speed is running, though she can walk as well, accomplished by holding the Square button while moving. She can also crawl, which is performed by holding the Circle button and moving with the analog stick. While this is technically more complicated than the other games in the series, the reality is that having direct control of the protagonist is significantly more intuitive for most players, especially at the time of its release. Tank controls and point and click interfaces were rapidly being exchanged for more direct options. While remembering which button crawls and which one walks can cause a few hiccups, those movement types are not used with enough frequency to cause any serious trouble for players, and it’s a small trade off for the possibilities that direct control opens up.

Being used to Playstation 2 era horror games, I enjoy how Alyssa controls. The complexity of movement does, however, highlight some issues with development. For instance, setting the default movement to running is fine. The levels are large enough to accommodate running and Alyssa’s run speed feels appropriate. The problems begin with walking. Since it was included in the game, one would think that the player might need to utilize walking at various points in the game. The obvious use would be to move around more quietly so as not to arouse the game’s antagonists. Early in the first level there are even reinforcements of this principle. As you make your way through a tunnel, there are some tin cans that Alyssa will kick over if she runs through them, but that will stay undisturbed if she walks. It’s a brilliant use of the environment to pull the player into the world and make them aware of their effect on the things around them. In truth, these little additions have no real impact at all. You can kick over all the cans you want, or stomp on as much broken class as your heart desires. It doesn’t change anything that happens in the game. They are simply elements of game polish.

It definitely feels as though the walking was designed to work in the way I described. It’s inclusion really makes no sense otherwise. If this is true, it points to the likelihood that Sunsoft didn’t have the time to fully implement it. They either didn’t build it into the villain AI or they didn’t create enemies to tie in specifically to this mechanic. What this leaves the player with is a useless movement option. There are no benefits whatsoever to walking. In order to escape those in pursuit of Alyssa, she will need to run. In order to stay out of the clutches of the various restless ghosts, she will need to run. At no point ever does the player ever need to force her to walk. It’s a shame that this was not more fleshed out. Since you come across the cans so early on in the game, they seem specifically built toward subtly teaching you about a core component of eluding capture. There’s a definite stealth aspect being teased, and to have that tease go unrewarded feels deeply unsatisfying.

While walking turned out to be a disappointing inclusion, it was not the only mechanic to get short shrift. Peppered throughout the levels are green spiral indicators that let the player know they can evade a pursuer there, or hide from them. Hiding from enemies is one of those no-brainer ideas for horror games that it’s a bit of a mystery why so few games actually implement it. Their implementation in Clock Tower 3 gives the player the impression that they will be an integral part of the game. For a while, they are. In the first level, there is one particularly useful hiding place behind a curtain in the house where you first come across Hammer, the Subordinate who chases after Alyssa throughout the stage. Hiding behind a curtain is a pretty unconvincing place to hide, but it works as intended and when used properly, can really give you some breathing room when exploring the house for key items.

He’ll never think to look behind a thin hanging sheet that exists for no practical reason.

The dubiousness of the hiding places only increases, and the effectiveness of them also goes down. In that same first level, there is a locker that Alyssa can run into. The main problem with it is that the first time the player discovers it, it’s likely with Hammer right on their heels. The AI of enemies is not particularly robust, but it’s good enough that an enemy will attack you in a hiding place it watched you enter. A hiding spot found in a later level is tucked behind a fish tank that can clearly be seen through. When you look directly at the axe wielding fiend who wants to kill you through some glass, yet no reaction is elicited from the assailant, the consistency of the world really breaks down and the tension is lost.

The impenetrable defense of transparent water.

The silliness of these designated hiding places is important to highlight because there are other areas of levels that can be hidden in that are not marked as such, they just logically work out to shield you from the view of those who would see you dead. In the concert hall in the first level, there are two places you can usually find respite, even though the game does not indicate explicitly that you can hide there. In the entryway, you can duck behind a counter to stay out of view of Hammer. You can also go behind the large curtain hanging on the stage and wait there until the coast is clear. This is the kind of design that the entire game should have been built around. The placement of the designated spots is conspicuous enough that they would have been hard to miss by curious players to begin with. The other side of them working as intended, of course, would have been to make sure there was appropriate quiet time and space between bouts of running for your life. The relentlessness of the Subordinates and the compactness of the level designs means there just wasn’t enough room for this idea to breathe properly, and it’s a shame, because it was probably the most promising aspect of the game.

Things get a lot better when it comes to Alyssa’s defensive capabilities. During the majority of gameplay, Alyssa can use Holy Water to stun enemies, open doors, or activate portals. She begins with just two uses of the Holy Water per fill of the vial, but this increases as each stage boss is defeated. The stun effect, which is the main method of outmaneuvering enemies, temporarily stops them from moving. The stun does not last long, but it’s enough to put a decent distance between Alyssa and the Subordinates, enough to either make it to a hiding place without being followed in or to reach the next objective that will alter the Subordinate’s behavior. Refilling the vial is also a fairly straight forward affair. Refill stations are rarely too far away due to the small level layouts. Over time, the need to refill also drops as more uses can be held per refill. The multi-purpose aspect of the Holy Water is probably its greatest asset. It certainly isn’t the sole focus of the interactive aspects of the game, as there are single use items of various types as well, but it is the most frequently used, and there is tension created when you’re not sure whether to use some Holy Water to open a door and press on, our double back and refill before going into the unknown.

Like with all of the game’s mechanics, the Holy Water is a good idea that doesn’t get enough room to breathe. The small number of levels and their incredibly compact designs means that nothing lasts very long. You have to toss a lot of water around to get past Subordinates, you have to use two sprinkles of the stuff to open portals. The result is really just a lot of backtracking. This isn’t so bad, really, as the levels are small, as mentioned before, but it does mean you are basically guaranteed to run into an enemy again, which might prevent you from getting back to the portal or doorway with a full vial.

The most enjoyable part of the game comes at the end of each stage, when the Subordinate who was hunting you becomes the stage boss. These segments are where you go from being a helpless schoolgirl running away from monsters to a magical girl capable of banishing evil to some fate worse than death. This all happens because Alyssa is the most recent in a long line of Rooders (spelled ruders on the book in the cutscene, but Rooders in the game text), and as such, it is her duty to put the Subordinates to rest. During boss fights, Alyssa dons a magical bow capable of shooting arrows which bind Subordinates to the ground. Bind them enough times in sequence and she can fire off a powerful arrow capable of taking off huge amounts of the Subordinate’s HP.

Moon Prism Power! Make Up!

There’s still a bit of helplessness tied to Alyssa’s control here. She still runs at the same speed as usual, and when her bow is drawn she cannot move around or adjust her aim. In order to bind Subordinates, arrows also have to be charged to their maximum capacity. The longer you hold down Triangle, the more charged your arrow becomes until it signals that it is binding. It’s very basic combat, but remarkably enjoyable. Baiting enemies into lengthy attacks takes some figuring out. Getting into the correct position to provide enough space for a full charge is not difficult, but it is interesting. It’s also very satisfying to bind enemies enough to activate those powerful shots, as they are ushered in through a cutscene reminiscent of a summon in Final Fantasy VII. There’s nothing revolutionary here, but it feels good to be able to put the hurt on the monsters that have been chasing you around every level, spouting off about how they’re going to get you.

From a narrative standpoint, the transformation into a magical girl makes perfect sense. It’s the cornerstone of the story. Alyssa’s entire involvement comes down to the fact that she’s a Rooder, and her grandfather has gone insane with the idea of binding his soul to hers in an effort to become a supernatural being. It’s not a particularly deep or surprising story, but it works well, and is probably the standout aspect of the game as a whole. From a mechanical standpoint, the juxtaposition of these two facets of gameplay are incompatible. There is just no justifiable reason why Alyssa can’t always be prepared to shoot arrows at bad guys once she discovers her power. Yes, it would completely destroy the survival horror aspect of the game, but at that point, you have to ask yourself, why exactly is this a survival horror game in the first place?

The final aspect of the game worth focusing on is the various spirits that harass Alyssa if she gets too close to them. These apparitions appear as various colored phantoms. They represent the dead who still have unfinished business in the living world before they can be put to rest. To allow them to pass on, an object of theirs must be returned to them (basically the entire premise of From Software’s Echo Night boiled down into its most basic implementation). Returning objects can reward the player with rare defensive items, or help to progress the story by opening up previously inaccessible areas. These are great additions to the game, but they, more than any other aspect, feel unfinished. The extra items that you get for returning items are not necessary to finish the game. They might help a little, but the game is easy enough without them. For those ghosts that help progress the story, it’s obviously much more satisfying to resolve their issues and get them out of limbo, but there just aren’t enough of these situations.

A lot of good it’s going to do your bloodied corpse.

The ghosts suffer the same shortcoming that nearly everything else does in the game, not enough space to breath in. The levels, well designed though they may be, are simply too small to flesh out all of the things the game tries to include and there just aren’t enough of them to vary out the experiences. This is why it feels like the Subordinates can never be given the slip for more than a minute or two at a time. It’s why hiding places are more of a tease than a useful escape, and why the backtracking is focused more on making sure you are fully stocked up on Holy Water than making progress through previously inaccessible areas. The game has very little quiet time, and for a survival horror game to truly manage tension well, quiet time must be existent and savored. Clock Tower 3 just does not have enough of it, and the result is that nearly everything in the game feels rushed and imbalanced.

The likely solution to all of the game’s problems would have been more development time. The ideas behind all of the mechanics are sound (if a bit incongruous at times), and they are implemented about as well as they could be given the circumstances. Sure, some of the hit boxes are a bit difficult to predict, especially with regard to Alyssa’s arrows, but they are consistent once you learn them. There is just so much going on in the game, it feels as if it was intended to be much bigger. Maybe due to the time of its development, Sunsoft seems to have just scaled everything down rather than reduce the complexity of the game to its most crucial elements. It’s hard to fault them for that decision, though the decision really didn’t pay off for Sunsoft. The game Capcom ended up publishing was nothing like the previous games in the series, and one that felt loaded with filler despite its short length. It’s a better game than one might have expected, but sadly, it just wasn’t enough to make it a classic entry in an increasingly crowded genre.

#clock tower #capcom #ps2 games #survival horror #sunsoft

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fashiontrendin-blog · 6 years

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Everything You Need To Know About Chronograph Watches

http://fashion-trendin.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chronograph-watches/

Everything You Need To Know About Chronograph Watches

Considering they’re basically jumped-up stopwatches, timepieces with a chronograph function definitely have something about them. Perhaps it’s the fact they’ve been integral to the history of automotive sport, aviation and space travel. Perhaps it’s that Paul Newman wore one (his 1968 Rolex Daytona recently became the most expensive wristwatch ever sold at auction, fetching $17.75m). Maybe they just look cool.

But what do they actually do and why are they so popular? Essentially a chronograph is a stopwatch. A pusher, usually found at two o’clock, sets a central seconds hand running. The same pusher is used to stop the seconds hand and another pusher at four o’clock resets back to 12. It’s a timer. Anything from 30 minutes to several hours depending on the model, with the seconds, minutes and hours logged on the watch’s subdials.

Yes, there are more complicated versions of it (a rattrapante, for example, has multiple seconds hands that can be stopped and started independently) but it’s essentially a mechanical way of timing anything from a 100m sprint to a perfectly boiled egg.

A chronograph’s charm isn’t all in the breakfast-friendly functionality, though. There’s something boys’ own about the look of them – clean and symmetrical but lots going on nonetheless. It’s hard not to think about a racing car’s dashboard or jet plane’s cockpit when you’re gazing at those subdials.

“I think there is something inherently attractive about chronograph dials. They’re aesthetically interesting and manage to be complicated while being very straightforward to read,” says Dr Rebecca Struthers, watchmaker and co-founder with husband Craig of Struthers London. “I once had a client say the reason they liked chronographs was that the centre seconds hand doesn’t run in normal operation so they look more serene.”

The History Of Chronograph Watches

The world’s oldest chronograph was only discovered in 2012. It’s called a ‘compteur de tierces’, or thirds counter. Built by watchmaker Louis Moinet in the 19th century, it had been referred to in historical texts but was thought lost.

When it surfaced again at an auction in Geneva, it kinda rewrote the history of time, being five years older than the next likely candidate. It was, of course, quite primitive by modern standards, but it marks the beginning of what is possibly the most popular style of men’s watch.

In the years since, chronographs have synonymous with adventure. They have graced the wrists of pilots – Breitling’s 1942 Chronomat, for instance, was the first ‘slide-rule’ chrono, helping flyboys calculate anything from air speed to fuel consumption. The original Autavia, from what is today Tag Heuer, started life as a dashboard clock for rally cars. And a chronograph, the Omega Speedmaster, was not only the first watch on the moon but also saved the crew of Apollo 13 because the astronauts used them to time critical engine burns that got them safely back to earth.

However, despite this rich history, part of the charm is that they are, in relative terms, one of the most affordable watch complications on the market. You can find mechanical chronographs for under £500 and, if you know what you’re looking for, you could even get a vintage Speedmaster for £1,000.

What Should You Spend On A Chronograph?

When it comes to price, with a chronograph it’s worth knowing what you’re paying for as the mechanics have do have an effect. The first factor to consider is whether the chrono is a column wheel or cam-actuated.

Luxury watch brand Zenith, which produced the world’s first automatic chronograph, also had one of the first examples of a column-wheel function. This featured a mechanism that resembles a small castle turret in the movement. Each time the chronograph pusher is activated the turret rotates one increment. It requires a lot of care and attention to build and maintain this type of chrono, so expect to reach deep into your pockets.

Dropping the price is the cam-actuated chrono. Rather than using wheels it uses levers and arms that are meshed together and driven by a cam. It doesn’t have to be constructed in such a precise manner as a column wheel but does the job just as well. NASA certified a cam-actuated chrono, so who are we to argue?

The other difference in price tends to come with whether the chronograph is modular or integrated. As the word suggests, ‘modular’ implies a block of mechanics comprising the complication function that can be easily added to a base calibre. Aside from allowing brands to swap and change complications without having to remake entire movements, it’s great for watchmakers because you can service the hard-working elements of the movement – escapement, mainspring, winding system – without having to take apart the complication as well.

An integrated movement is just that: integrated, with everything enclosed in one calibre. Snobs believe these are better because integration takes more skill on the part of the watchmakers and developers. It does make for more beautiful views through the case back but it is harder to create, develop and service, which naturally drives up the price. The exception to this is the legendary Valjoux 7750, which is integrated, was invented in 1974 and doesn’t cost a fortune.

Styling Your Chronograph

Originally a chronograph was a sports watch, which made styling it pretty simple – just keep things casual. These days though, you can run the full gamut from dress to dive, which makes things a little more complex.

“I think chronographs are perfectly acceptable with a suit,” says Dan Rookwood, US editor of Mr Porter. “There are those purists who might disagree but they can take up the argument with James Bond if they like. Really the key consideration for a tailored look is whether or not you are wearing cufflinks. If not, carry on as you were. But if so, the watch should sit comfortably under the linked cuff. And that, of course, is more problematic with a bulkier timepiece.

“To my mind a chronograph makes an excellent choice as an everyday watch because it can be styled down as well as up so can be worn casually with chinos and a button-down or more formally with a suit. Strictly speaking one ought to wear a dress watch with formal evening wear; it’s just more elegant. But again, 007 often breaks that rule. I suppose Q can’t get all his gadgets in an Altiplano.”

How Should You Look After A Chronograph Watch?

Some people will never use a chronograph watch as designed. Others, will use it a little too much. “The first thing I always say to people is don’t run the chronograph function constantly,” says Breitling’s in-house watchmaker at the Bond Street boutique, who recommends a complete service every four to six years.

“You can, and people do, but it’s like running two watches. On 80 per cent of chronographs you’ll have a second hand running anyway, so if you’re also running the central hand then you’re running a separate set of wheels and pinions. This uses twice as much power so your power reserve will run down quicker.

“If you are going to use it, keep your watch wound because if you’re running at low amplitude then everything is fighting for power and that will affect the timekeeping and put extra wear on the wheels. And don’t use your chronograph pushers underwater as that will let water in.

“That said, do run the chronograph occasionally. There are jewels, which are lubricated with oil and that can go thick over time if the watch isn’t used. But you shouldn’t be scared, chronographs are very functional. Just keep on top of it and if you notice a problem get it seen to straight away.”

The Best Chronograph Watches To Buy Right Now

Montblanc Star Legacy Chronograph

To say Montblanc makes good chronographs is a bit like saying Grenson makes nice shoes. It even has an entire line named after Nicolas Rieussec, the man who invented the word. This latest chronograph, however, is from the Star Legacy collection. There’s no frills or fuss here.

The movement is Montblanc’s Calibre 25.02 – a modified ETA 7753 with a column wheel chronograph function and the case features the classic vintage combination of Breguet numerals and railroad sub dial. It’s clean, crisp and definitely looks more expensive than it is.

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Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 17 Panda

This watch was originally designed in 1963 as a tribute to the Carrera Panamericana auto race and was the first chronograph specifically designed for professional drivers – two facts that make it the ultimate when it comes to sports-inspired chronos.

Two years ago, Tag brought out this fabulous colour update. It is powered by the Calibre 17 – a modular chronograph first introduced in 2012 – and has all the racy details you’d expect such as the tachymetre scale and perforated leather strap. But mostly importantly, it looks damn cool.

Buy Now: £4,150.00

Seiko Prospex Black Series Solar Chronograph

While chronographs are historically associated with the world of motoring, its popularity as a complication has meant it has migrated into other sports, as this Seiko Black series dive watch proves. Given that you can go to 200m with this watch, it’s good to know that Seiko’s solar technology converts all types of light into power and the dial is designed for maximum legibility even in deep ocean when light is hard to come by. The perfect dive watch, in other words.

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Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona

As chronographs go this is the ultimate. Named after the racetrack in Daytona Florida, of whose races Rolex became official timekeeper in 1962, its original incarnation wasn’t that popular, despite Paul Newman sporting one. It was only when it was given a Zenith Calibre 4030 and became an automatic that people sat up and took notice. Now you’ve got a three to five year waiting list for one of these beauties.

But if you can afford to wait, you won’t be disappointed. Now powered by the Rolex 4130, it is incredibly accurate (+2/-2), perennially stylish and one hell of an icon to have on your wrist.

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Tudor Heritage Black Bay Chronograph

When Tudor launched this addition to its Black Bay line last year, the biggest talking point, apart from its rugged good looks, was that it was powered by a new in-house chronograph. The chat got even louder when it was revealed that this movement was in fact designed in collaboration with Breitling and was in fact a derivation of its B01 with column-wheel chronograph.

In return Breitling got Tudor’s MT5612 for its SuperOcean Heritage II. Toy sharing is so rare that the watch world at times resembles a two-year-old’s birthday party, so this is an interesting move from both these brands. Especially when it yields results a great as this Black Bay.

Buy Now: £3,610.00

Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Chronograph

Rolex’s Daytona may well be the Holy Grail when it comes to chronos but price and patience are limiting factors and besides it doesn’t get to call itself the ‘first watch on the moon’. It’s not just the moon connection that makes the Omega Speedmaster possibly the most popular chronograph in production; though being the watch that saved astronauts’ lives is always going to give you an edge over your competitors.

Its vintage stylings have remained on-trend (this version is a homage to the original CK2998 from 1959) and the column-wheel movement that powers this version – the 1861 – is renowned for its reliability. There is also a pared-back restraint to the dial that makes it the perfect everyday wearer.

Buy Now: £4,320.00

Breitling Navitimer Rattrapante

Breitling’s chronographs are to aviation what TAG’s are to motor racing – so entwined that they are almost part of the registration kit. The Navitimer was launched in 1952 as a ‘wrist instrument’ that comprised every tool a pilot would need while flying. Although this latest iteration might be more at home on civvie street, it is still an impressive piece of kit.

Powering this 45mm beast is Breitling’s first in-house rattrapante (or split-second) chronograph, which is visible through the caseback. Turn it over and you have a vintage-looking tropical dial – one that looks as though it has been faded by the sun – lovely contrasting cream subdials and every scale you’d ever need. Even if all you’ll ever use it for is to boil an egg.

Buy Now: £9,730.00

Zenith Elite Chronograph Classic

Zenith seems to have been on a single-brand mission to prove chronographs can work with suits. This gorgeously restrained, elegant design is the ideal dress watch. Under that midnight-swimming pool coloured dial beats the 46-year-old, high-frequency El Primero movement with column-wheel chronograph.

Born in 1969, it was the first-ever automatic chronograph, was totally integrated and, thanks to its 5hz frequency, incredibly accurate. And nearly five decades hasn’t aged it in the slightest. And this Elite Classic might be the best outfit it’s worn yet.

Buy Now: £5,500.00

Autodromo Ford GT Endurance Chronograph

The aesthetics of the golden age of motoring are at the heart of everything industrial designer and founder Bradley Price creates for Autodromo. This retro chrono is inspired by Ford’s maiden victory at the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours Endurance race. It’s even got the blue with wide white stripes colourway in homage to the livery that has been seen on the best racing Fords.

However the most interesting thing is what’s inside – a Seiko VK64 Hybrid Meca-Quartz Chronograph movement. A meca-quartz is a combination of quartz and mechanical technologies. In this watch, the timekeeping is battery powered but the chronograph function moves like a mechanical one – a sweep rather than tick – and by using components taken from Seiko’s allows the chronograph mechanism to reset by disengaging from the quartz motor and going straight back to zero as a mechanical watch would. All of which gives you a lot of horological bang for under seven hundred bucks.

Buy Now: $695.00

Tissot Courturier Gents Chronograph

If there is a Swiss watch brand that is better value than Tissot then we’ve yet to find it. This is a brand that consistently makes great-looking, robust watches – like this Courturier – but at prices that make you think someone is still using the retail list from 1985.

Being part of the Swatch Group means it has ready access to ETA movements, which explains the amazing price tag. It also ticks all the chronograph boxes with its tachymeter scale, three sub-dials and clean yet sporty aesthetic. It may not have the refinement of some of the higher priced watches on this list but it’s a great piece that will more than withstand what daily life can throw at it.

Buy Now: £600.00

Hamilton Khaki Field Auto Chrono

When it comes to the Hamilton family, the Khaki is its military field-watch line complete with vintage military stylings. Most of the range are three-handers but if you’re going to add a complication, given its utilitarian leanings, it has to be the chronograph and, as you can see below, Hamilton has done it with style.

Rather than go for the traditional 3,6,9 subdial layout it has reduced the number to two at 6 and 12 to allow for a symmetrical and sympathetic day date at 3. You’ve got a Valjoux 7750 running the show and, although there is a more obviously retro brown strap and cream detail option, this all-black number has a more moodily seductive presence on the wrist.

Buy Now: £1,470.00

Alpina Alpiner 4 Manufacture Flyback Chronograph

You don’t tend to look to Alpina, Frederique Constant’s sporty younger brother, for innovation, which is what makes this chronograph so impressive. It is a module that sits on Alpina’s version of the FC Manufacture automatic the AL-710 and within it exists a new way of connecting and disengaging the stopwatch from the power source by bringing into play a new type of swivelling component with two toothed pinions.

When the button is pressed, it pivots and connects the two “storeys” together. It has also reduced the module to just 96 parts. All of which means you’ll have to get used to resetting the chrono with the four o’clock pusher but there’s so much less to go wrong. Watch geekery to be sure, but technology that makes for a long-lasting and happy purchase.

Buy Now: £4,070.00

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