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Just talked to one of my oldest best friends...
Posted 3 years agoFor the first time in about half my life.
I don't remember it myself, but I remember him telling me this. Back in fifth grade, I saw a kid at school with an open book and rolling some dice. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was playing Rifts. I had no idea at the time, but that was the start of one of the best friendships I ever had.
From fifth grade through eleventh, he was my best friend. That Rifts game, it's a tabletop RPG, and for years I played it with him and his friends, bought maybe a dozen of its books and read about as many more, eventually got into other RPGs, and spent many, MANY afternoons and evenings giving my overactive imagination free reign in ways that never got old. We shared other interests too, but in that way, while he was not the first friend I had who I built a friendship on the foundation of "there's a lot going on in our heads; let's make it into stories worth telling," I can say with complete certainty that he's one of the people who helped make me who I am. Those memories are just as special to me now as they've always been.
Around twelfth grade, or maybe it was when we started college, as I recall, he did some kind of study abroad thing, and we lost touch after that. I only remember seeing him one other time, at some point when I was in college, I'll guess around 2005, when he came over to what was at the time my and my family's house for the first time in so long.
And, that was more or less that. We had a lot of great times, but our lives eventually went different directions, and our friendship ended with me having nothing but good things to say about him and hope that I'd been as good a friend to him, too.
Fast forward about seventeen years to ten days ago, as in December 4, 2022.
My brother said that he couldn't believe it but this friend messaged him on Facebook, which he didn't even remember he had, and asked my brother if he could have my number. Like many people, I've wondered over the years how old friends, people from school or former jobs, and others I've known are doing these days. But I feel like within the week before that, it occurred to me to wonder how this particular friend was doing. So, naturally, I said yeah, give him my number, and he shot me a text a few days later, which I returned, gushing a bit about how fondly I remembered him.
Now, I just spent about 40 minutes talking to him and swapping abridged versions of our stories about our journeys into adulthood.
He's been here and there in the USA; even in college, as I mentioned before, he was way more travelled than I was. He's (holy shit) married and (holier shit) has an eight-month-old son...who, in his words, "has rolled his first natural 20." He's built up a big group of RPG-playing people where he lives, which is not at all surprising: Even in our elementary school days, he was the person who got friends, and friends of friends, together to play games, a natural GM/DM and the first person who ever played that role for me, pun intended.
I couldn't imagine what I would say to him after we hadn't talked in so long. But now?
I'm practically shivering with how strong these good feelings are.
I don't remember it myself, but I remember him telling me this. Back in fifth grade, I saw a kid at school with an open book and rolling some dice. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was playing Rifts. I had no idea at the time, but that was the start of one of the best friendships I ever had.
From fifth grade through eleventh, he was my best friend. That Rifts game, it's a tabletop RPG, and for years I played it with him and his friends, bought maybe a dozen of its books and read about as many more, eventually got into other RPGs, and spent many, MANY afternoons and evenings giving my overactive imagination free reign in ways that never got old. We shared other interests too, but in that way, while he was not the first friend I had who I built a friendship on the foundation of "there's a lot going on in our heads; let's make it into stories worth telling," I can say with complete certainty that he's one of the people who helped make me who I am. Those memories are just as special to me now as they've always been.
Around twelfth grade, or maybe it was when we started college, as I recall, he did some kind of study abroad thing, and we lost touch after that. I only remember seeing him one other time, at some point when I was in college, I'll guess around 2005, when he came over to what was at the time my and my family's house for the first time in so long.
And, that was more or less that. We had a lot of great times, but our lives eventually went different directions, and our friendship ended with me having nothing but good things to say about him and hope that I'd been as good a friend to him, too.
Fast forward about seventeen years to ten days ago, as in December 4, 2022.
My brother said that he couldn't believe it but this friend messaged him on Facebook, which he didn't even remember he had, and asked my brother if he could have my number. Like many people, I've wondered over the years how old friends, people from school or former jobs, and others I've known are doing these days. But I feel like within the week before that, it occurred to me to wonder how this particular friend was doing. So, naturally, I said yeah, give him my number, and he shot me a text a few days later, which I returned, gushing a bit about how fondly I remembered him.
Now, I just spent about 40 minutes talking to him and swapping abridged versions of our stories about our journeys into adulthood.
He's been here and there in the USA; even in college, as I mentioned before, he was way more travelled than I was. He's (holy shit) married and (holier shit) has an eight-month-old son...who, in his words, "has rolled his first natural 20." He's built up a big group of RPG-playing people where he lives, which is not at all surprising: Even in our elementary school days, he was the person who got friends, and friends of friends, together to play games, a natural GM/DM and the first person who ever played that role for me, pun intended.
I couldn't imagine what I would say to him after we hadn't talked in so long. But now?
I'm practically shivering with how strong these good feelings are.
Ever, why don't you post here anymore?
Posted 3 years agoI'm still doing stuff, but none of it's appropriate for FA. Why's that? Because, aside from a single Wonder Egg Priority short fic, I'm still writing HuniePop fics. At least, when I'm writing; I keep running into periods of low inspiration, which is sad because I have a couple of plot skeletons that are laid out and ready to be filled in.
Not all of it's my own, either. For the first time in many years, I've been beta reading someone else's story, which has also taken up time, and which I consider to be a privilege that my assistance is so valued.
But it means that while I still visit this site daily, I don't have much to contribute here. HP doesn't really equal furry stuff, even with the nonhuman girls. Really, the only reason I haven't already taken down that Nikki story and the Audrey/Nikki story yet is because I personally like them so much. (Update: Never mind, the Audrey/Nikki story is gone now.)
Thought it was about time I get that 3+ month old journal off this page. If any of that interests you, here's my AO3 account: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evertide05 . Some of my stories from here have been put up there, but not much of my work that just features OCs; putting furry stuff on that site is already niche enough that I don't need to expect any interest in characters I made up myself.
Not all of it's my own, either. For the first time in many years, I've been beta reading someone else's story, which has also taken up time, and which I consider to be a privilege that my assistance is so valued.
But it means that while I still visit this site daily, I don't have much to contribute here. HP doesn't really equal furry stuff, even with the nonhuman girls. Really, the only reason I haven't already taken down that Nikki story and the Audrey/Nikki story yet is because I personally like them so much. (Update: Never mind, the Audrey/Nikki story is gone now.)
Thought it was about time I get that 3+ month old journal off this page. If any of that interests you, here's my AO3 account: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evertide05 . Some of my stories from here have been put up there, but not much of my work that just features OCs; putting furry stuff on that site is already niche enough that I don't need to expect any interest in characters I made up myself.
Another sudden name realization
Posted 3 years agoFour years ago, almost to the day, I had a sudden realization about names in Sailor Moon: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8782861/ (I can't link it on DA because I can't easily search for journals because DA doesn't believe in good decisions). Today, I had another.
I watched Sailor Moon on Toonami for a while sometime in the early 00s, and I remember in one of the seasons I caught some episodes of (looking this up on a wiki, the Dark Moon Circus), the monsters of the week had names that all started with what I heard as "Remlis/Rimless/Remless/etc." Which I thought was weird, but by then I was clued into the fact that translators didn't translate things perfectly from Japanese to English, in fact sometimes they just did whatever they wanted, and Sailor Moon might actually have been the first time that was pretty clear to me since I'd also seen some of the movies in subtitles and everyone's names were different, to say nothing of reading fanfiction and finding out that, omg, Uranus and Neptune were gay.
But at the time, I figured this Remlis-whatever stuff was just something from Japanese that didn't translate well and wasn't important.
Now I had another sudden realization.
I realized that the spelling of their names had to be "Remless" (and looking it up confirmed that's how it's spelled) because it references REM, Rapid Eye Movement, sleep. Aka, the phase of sleep when you do most of your dreaming.
There are a lot of gaps in my memory of the details of what I watched, but I remember they were looking in people's dream mirrors, and talked about dreams, and...something something, dreams were a focal point.
And they're all about disrupting dreams. Hence, no REM sleep, so you go...
REM-less.
I watched Sailor Moon on Toonami for a while sometime in the early 00s, and I remember in one of the seasons I caught some episodes of (looking this up on a wiki, the Dark Moon Circus), the monsters of the week had names that all started with what I heard as "Remlis/Rimless/Remless/etc." Which I thought was weird, but by then I was clued into the fact that translators didn't translate things perfectly from Japanese to English, in fact sometimes they just did whatever they wanted, and Sailor Moon might actually have been the first time that was pretty clear to me since I'd also seen some of the movies in subtitles and everyone's names were different, to say nothing of reading fanfiction and finding out that, omg, Uranus and Neptune were gay.
But at the time, I figured this Remlis-whatever stuff was just something from Japanese that didn't translate well and wasn't important.
Now I had another sudden realization.
I realized that the spelling of their names had to be "Remless" (and looking it up confirmed that's how it's spelled) because it references REM, Rapid Eye Movement, sleep. Aka, the phase of sleep when you do most of your dreaming.
There are a lot of gaps in my memory of the details of what I watched, but I remember they were looking in people's dream mirrors, and talked about dreams, and...something something, dreams were a focal point.
And they're all about disrupting dreams. Hence, no REM sleep, so you go...
REM-less.
So about 4/20 Day...
Posted 3 years agoEvery year, I wonder something, and I keep forgetting to put up a journal asking. Naturally, I don't actually expect any replies, given the nature of the question I'm about to ask, but I'm curious as an outsider looking in.
How is 4/20 Day a "holiday" per se, since the main method of celebrating it - smoking weed - seems like something those who are in the habit would already do every chance they get, every other day?
My theory: It's like Christmas, where we keep getting told to "keep the spirit of Christmas alive all year," this is just way easier.
How is 4/20 Day a "holiday" per se, since the main method of celebrating it - smoking weed - seems like something those who are in the habit would already do every chance they get, every other day?
My theory: It's like Christmas, where we keep getting told to "keep the spirit of Christmas alive all year," this is just way easier.
One Year Video Game-Free
Posted 3 years agoThe last time I played a video game was with HuniePop 2 on April 16, 2021. I first took a break from frustration at the final (that is to say only) boss (yeah, an NC-17 Bejeweled dating sim with a boss battle, imagine that), and after basically playing HP1 and 2 for almost two and a half months, it was starting to wear on me and I decided to focus on my writing for a while, which was so nice because thanks to HuniePop, I was making the time and finding the energy to really sit down and write a story for the first time in over three years.
Then I kept not playing games because I had a self-imposed deadline to meet: Finish the story I was working on by my birthday so I could start posting it on that day as a birthday present to myself. I did it.
I'm not sure when I decided to see how long I could do it, other than by the time I hadn't played a video game for a month, I was sure that was the longest I'd ever gone without playing video games since I first played a video game, or at least since I got my first game system, a Genesis, for my eighth birthday. At some point after I met my "finish the story by my birthday" goal, then the challenge became "how long can I keep it up?"
To my surprise, and at times disbelief, I just kept it up. Part of it was from how, now that I was writing again, I felt like I'd rediscovered a lost part of myself, a part of myself I missed deeply and that left me unwhole without it. Another part of it was because eventually I felt like if I stopped, I'd never be able to try it again and I wanted to be able to say that I'd done it; in other words, vanity, but I take what pride in my accomplishments I can get, and being able to say "I went a year of my own volition without playing video games" kind of makes me feel like if I can do that, I can accomplish more, so maybe less vanity and more a long-term self-esteem boost.
But...I did it. Despite heavy temptations like Deltarune Chapter 2 dropping out of nowhere, finding this really cool-looking game called CrossCode, and hearing that Freedom Planet 2 was scheduled for a spring release (which has since been delayed), I did it and it feels good.
What now? I really don't want to lose the drive to write that I got back a year ago. But I also promised myself, sometime around last October, that if I kept this up for a year that I'd reward myself by going back and clearing up some unfinished gaming business and beat some games I always wanted to beat but never did. In rough order, my intention:
1) Beat Metroid Prime 1 and 2 again, then beat Prime 3, which I never even played. And to think I call Metroid one of my favorite series ever and first got into it thanks to the Prime games and haven't even played Prime 3...
2) Beat Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny, maybe my oldest bit of unfinished gaming business.
3) Beat Twilight Princess, which I almost played to completion twice but never finished.
4) Dunno, we'll see.
P.S.: Late shout-out to the Hunie series for, again, moving me to do something I didn't think I could do, even if in a more roundabout way this time.
Then I kept not playing games because I had a self-imposed deadline to meet: Finish the story I was working on by my birthday so I could start posting it on that day as a birthday present to myself. I did it.
I'm not sure when I decided to see how long I could do it, other than by the time I hadn't played a video game for a month, I was sure that was the longest I'd ever gone without playing video games since I first played a video game, or at least since I got my first game system, a Genesis, for my eighth birthday. At some point after I met my "finish the story by my birthday" goal, then the challenge became "how long can I keep it up?"
To my surprise, and at times disbelief, I just kept it up. Part of it was from how, now that I was writing again, I felt like I'd rediscovered a lost part of myself, a part of myself I missed deeply and that left me unwhole without it. Another part of it was because eventually I felt like if I stopped, I'd never be able to try it again and I wanted to be able to say that I'd done it; in other words, vanity, but I take what pride in my accomplishments I can get, and being able to say "I went a year of my own volition without playing video games" kind of makes me feel like if I can do that, I can accomplish more, so maybe less vanity and more a long-term self-esteem boost.
But...I did it. Despite heavy temptations like Deltarune Chapter 2 dropping out of nowhere, finding this really cool-looking game called CrossCode, and hearing that Freedom Planet 2 was scheduled for a spring release (which has since been delayed), I did it and it feels good.
What now? I really don't want to lose the drive to write that I got back a year ago. But I also promised myself, sometime around last October, that if I kept this up for a year that I'd reward myself by going back and clearing up some unfinished gaming business and beat some games I always wanted to beat but never did. In rough order, my intention:
1) Beat Metroid Prime 1 and 2 again, then beat Prime 3, which I never even played. And to think I call Metroid one of my favorite series ever and first got into it thanks to the Prime games and haven't even played Prime 3...
2) Beat Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny, maybe my oldest bit of unfinished gaming business.
3) Beat Twilight Princess, which I almost played to completion twice but never finished.
4) Dunno, we'll see.
P.S.: Late shout-out to the Hunie series for, again, moving me to do something I didn't think I could do, even if in a more roundabout way this time.
Subnautica is my literal nightmare fuel (dream log)
Posted 3 years ago(And holy shit, this is journal number 666, how appropriate.)
I have a weirdly specific but rather effective fear of sea monsters. Which is indeed weird because I've had an off-and-on love about learning about the ocean since I was a little kid; it's like an alien world in our backyard.
I heard about Subnautica a long time ago, and knew I was absolutely not going to play it, because while it looked quite fascinating and even from trailers and such I could tell a lot of effort was put into making a believable ocean setting, effort that paid off...
Yeah. No.
I'm not super sure how I started, but in the last month, I started watching Subnautica videos and reading the wiki. Reading about it doesn't bother me (much), and it's really cool stuff. But videos...I don't know why I do this to myself. Mental/emotional masochism, I'm going to say.
And, last night...
[6:19 PM] Me: And well, the day sure didn't start chillaxed. You know how I mentioned I've been having weird dreams lately? Well, true to form, when that happens, there's usually a three to five-day period when that's a nightly occurrence. But this time, they were decidedly unpleasant.
[6:19 PM] Discord buddy: Not good.
[6:20 PM] Me: Not restful either. And here's what it was. I dreamed that a monster that had the body of this...
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20210806172618
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20210806172731
[6:21 PM] Me: And the head of this...
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20171220161137
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20170721034032
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20170721034030
(In case these links go bad, it had the body of a chelicerate from Below Zero and the head of a reaper from the first game.)
[6:21 PM] Me: Aka a fusion of two of my biggest Subnautican nightmares...though thankfully not including a particular third...
[6:22 PM] Discord buddy: Was gonna eat ya, huh?
[6:22 PM] Me: You and I would both think that, but no. It was fighting, of all people...
[6:23 PM] Me: https://cdn.donmai.us/sample/22/5d/.....981ae78b5a.jpg
(Alucard from Hellsing.)
[6:23 PM] Discord buddy: Alucard-o
[6:24 PM] Me: And I don't need to tell you why I would have those two monsters on the brain. How Alucard got into the mix is beyond me because I can't think of a single time yesterday he entered my thoughts, and with my dreams, I can almost always trace where they came from, even from the briefest of times I thought about them.
[6:25 PM] Discord buddy: I mean, recent Death Battle.
[6:25 PM] Discord buddy: A little further back, but you can say it.
[6:26 PM] Me: That was like four months ago.
[6:27 PM] Me: Not that I ever needed DB to have him in my thoughts. But anyway, so yeah, those two were fighting. And it was very bloody. Like, disturbingly bloody.
[6:27 PM] Me: And despite going to bed early, these nights of lacking restful sleep are starting to wear on me. This really didn't help.
[6:28 PM] Me: I woke up feeling more tired than when I slept. And was kind of on an adrenaline crash the first half of the day at work. Fortunately...work was dead the first while. Like for the first three hours, I had literally nothing to do. Things have slowed down a lot, and the only people I really had to do anything with, with any urgency, were on the west coast, so they're two hours behind me and I can't very well call them at 6 AM their time.
So, now I can say Subnautica is literally my nightmare fuel, because it happened. Looks like a great game if what it offers is what you're into. But I'm out.
Update 3/9: And then I went to bed even earlier and, during the course of the night, despite waking up two or three times, dreamed up pretty much the entire second season of Wonder Egg Priority.
I have a weirdly specific but rather effective fear of sea monsters. Which is indeed weird because I've had an off-and-on love about learning about the ocean since I was a little kid; it's like an alien world in our backyard.
I heard about Subnautica a long time ago, and knew I was absolutely not going to play it, because while it looked quite fascinating and even from trailers and such I could tell a lot of effort was put into making a believable ocean setting, effort that paid off...
Yeah. No.
I'm not super sure how I started, but in the last month, I started watching Subnautica videos and reading the wiki. Reading about it doesn't bother me (much), and it's really cool stuff. But videos...I don't know why I do this to myself. Mental/emotional masochism, I'm going to say.
And, last night...
[6:19 PM] Me: And well, the day sure didn't start chillaxed. You know how I mentioned I've been having weird dreams lately? Well, true to form, when that happens, there's usually a three to five-day period when that's a nightly occurrence. But this time, they were decidedly unpleasant.
[6:19 PM] Discord buddy: Not good.
[6:20 PM] Me: Not restful either. And here's what it was. I dreamed that a monster that had the body of this...
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20210806172618
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20210806172731
[6:21 PM] Me: And the head of this...
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20171220161137
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20170721034032
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/s.....20170721034030
(In case these links go bad, it had the body of a chelicerate from Below Zero and the head of a reaper from the first game.)
[6:21 PM] Me: Aka a fusion of two of my biggest Subnautican nightmares...though thankfully not including a particular third...
[6:22 PM] Discord buddy: Was gonna eat ya, huh?
[6:22 PM] Me: You and I would both think that, but no. It was fighting, of all people...
[6:23 PM] Me: https://cdn.donmai.us/sample/22/5d/.....981ae78b5a.jpg
(Alucard from Hellsing.)
[6:23 PM] Discord buddy: Alucard-o
[6:24 PM] Me: And I don't need to tell you why I would have those two monsters on the brain. How Alucard got into the mix is beyond me because I can't think of a single time yesterday he entered my thoughts, and with my dreams, I can almost always trace where they came from, even from the briefest of times I thought about them.
[6:25 PM] Discord buddy: I mean, recent Death Battle.
[6:25 PM] Discord buddy: A little further back, but you can say it.
[6:26 PM] Me: That was like four months ago.
[6:27 PM] Me: Not that I ever needed DB to have him in my thoughts. But anyway, so yeah, those two were fighting. And it was very bloody. Like, disturbingly bloody.
[6:27 PM] Me: And despite going to bed early, these nights of lacking restful sleep are starting to wear on me. This really didn't help.
[6:28 PM] Me: I woke up feeling more tired than when I slept. And was kind of on an adrenaline crash the first half of the day at work. Fortunately...work was dead the first while. Like for the first three hours, I had literally nothing to do. Things have slowed down a lot, and the only people I really had to do anything with, with any urgency, were on the west coast, so they're two hours behind me and I can't very well call them at 6 AM their time.
So, now I can say Subnautica is literally my nightmare fuel, because it happened. Looks like a great game if what it offers is what you're into. But I'm out.
Update 3/9: And then I went to bed even earlier and, during the course of the night, despite waking up two or three times, dreamed up pretty much the entire second season of Wonder Egg Priority.
While discussing Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Posted 4 years ago[8:31 PM] Discord Buddy: Needless to say, the gameplay intrigues.
[8:31 PM] Discord Buddy: Reminds me a lot of Colloseum
[8:34 PM] Me: ...It's worth asking, but can we romance our Pokemon yet?
[8:35 PM] Discord Buddy: No
[8:36 PM] Evertide: Because I still haven't forgotten that one thing from Diamond and Pearl.
[8:36 PM] Discord Buddy: It's going to be referenced. I know it.
[8:36 PM] Evertide: It's not like there's ever been a better time, yanno.
[8:31 PM] Discord Buddy: Reminds me a lot of Colloseum
[8:34 PM] Me: ...It's worth asking, but can we romance our Pokemon yet?
[8:35 PM] Discord Buddy: No
[8:36 PM] Evertide: Because I still haven't forgotten that one thing from Diamond and Pearl.
[8:36 PM] Discord Buddy: It's going to be referenced. I know it.
[8:36 PM] Evertide: It's not like there's ever been a better time, yanno.
Best-selling, ill-advised manga idea
Posted 4 years agoMuch as I like that last journal, it's time to replace it with something: An idea for the next "how did THIS shit become the next blockbuster?" manga. Names changed to protect the guilty.
Evertide: "That time I got isekai'd to save some tribal babes, except they actually did the fighting, I was the chief's stay-at-home husband."
Evertide: If it's not a manga yet, it will be. Mark my words. It's an isekai thing, only the schmuck does the domestic stuff and is married to a badass...who does badass stuff while he does what he's apparently good at. Which is NOT being a save-the-world warrior. But their teamwork lets them save the world and have nice things too. And honestly this sounds like something I'd watch both because it sounds like it'd be pretty funny and would be nice to see things from that angle.
Chat Buddy: Isekai, that’s a new name for me I think
Evertide: Sorry, I forget sometimes that weeb stuff isn't always as widespread as I think. It's the term for the genre of "protag(s) are whisked from their world to the planet/dimension/AU/in short, the setting of the main story."
Chat Buddy: Ooooo
Evertide: And usually, that means randos from the modern world are sent to a fantasy one. That they're totally unqualified to save but they do because...something something.
Evertide: ...Hm, you ever have moments where you accidentally think of something great but you lack the ability to make it happen?
Chat Buddy: Always
Chat Buddy: I keep wanting to put elaborate stories to commission and I feel like I come up short
Evertide: Well maybe someday we can collab on this next best-selling, ill-advised manga.
Evertide: "That time I got isekai'd to save some tribal babes, except they actually did the fighting, I was the chief's stay-at-home husband."
Evertide: If it's not a manga yet, it will be. Mark my words. It's an isekai thing, only the schmuck does the domestic stuff and is married to a badass...who does badass stuff while he does what he's apparently good at. Which is NOT being a save-the-world warrior. But their teamwork lets them save the world and have nice things too. And honestly this sounds like something I'd watch both because it sounds like it'd be pretty funny and would be nice to see things from that angle.
Chat Buddy: Isekai, that’s a new name for me I think
Evertide: Sorry, I forget sometimes that weeb stuff isn't always as widespread as I think. It's the term for the genre of "protag(s) are whisked from their world to the planet/dimension/AU/in short, the setting of the main story."
Chat Buddy: Ooooo
Evertide: And usually, that means randos from the modern world are sent to a fantasy one. That they're totally unqualified to save but they do because...something something.
Evertide: ...Hm, you ever have moments where you accidentally think of something great but you lack the ability to make it happen?
Chat Buddy: Always
Chat Buddy: I keep wanting to put elaborate stories to commission and I feel like I come up short
Evertide: Well maybe someday we can collab on this next best-selling, ill-advised manga.
You Filthy, Dirty, SMUTTY Casual Gamer! (HuniePop review)
Posted 4 years agoAlternate titles: "Thanks for the Sex, Homie" / "Fuck Bitches, Get Munie" / "Puzzles N Titties"
First, I'll admit: This is kind of awkward. Second, I spend an inordinate amount of time talking about my history with this game here.
I first heard of dating sims in Excel Saga. I didn't think anything of it at the time other than it was another amusing joke. It wasn't until years later that I learned it wasn't something that wacky-ass anime made up, it's real and is a big thing in Japan. My reaction could only be summed up as, "What the fuck?" That opinion hasn't changed too much. As for puzzle games, not my thing; the only games with puzzle elements even sort of like this game's I've played are Tetris and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine...and I'm bad at both of them. That's right, I've never even played Bejeweled and (still) have no interest in doing so.
I first heard of this game during my regular browsing of the "milf" tag on Danbooru and found this picture (it's mostly safe, but it IS Jessie and I just told you how I found it): https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1805210 . Normally, smoking is fine as a character trait but is a big sexual turn-off for me, and I STILL thought, holy shit, that's a woman who drank a potion of distilled cougar essence. This series she's from, HuniePop, had a name that piques my curiosity, so I checked out the posted images. I was...kind of wowed. Yeah, it's just anime babes but they were so well drawn...and the babes were hot.
And THEN I looked it up on YouTube. Purposely didn't watch much, just a couple of plays of first meeting each of the regular girls and going on first dates with them. And it did something no dating game (other than maybe Katawa Shoujo, which I also haven't played) did before or since: It got me interested...once I got over that the mascot looks and sounds an awful lot like an older version of Madoka Kaname, especially since I'd gotten into Madoka Magica the year before and was still big on it.
I never...actually got around to playing it though. Like I said, dating games, what the fuck's up with that, even if they have sexy pics in them (maybe even moreso if they have sexy pics in them), how lonely and sad do you have to be? The puzzle aspect didn't appeal to me either, as noted previously.
And yet...once in a long while, I'd go back to YouTube and watch the videos I'd watched before. I'd resist the temptation to buy it when I saw it on sale. Finally, I went ahead and bought it, and it still sat in my library unplayed for years more.
At last, maybe five years after I first heard of the game and first got interested in it, I decided I'd waited long enough and started playing it in early February of this year.
It was worth the wait.
It only really does three things, but it does them great, so I'll talk about them in detail one at a time.
1) The Girls
Holy moly. The only other game I can think of that has so many instant waifus is Fire Emblem Awakening and maybe also Genshin Impact. Also one of the main things this game does great? The writing. It may not be deep, and it may be because games like this are made to be played while relaxed or to relax, but the only other games I've played in the last decade that made me laugh this consistently and this hard were Night in the Woods and Undertale. Not many games have made me spit out food from unexpected laughter. Twice. And their voice acting? God damn, they nailed it. What's more, the girls themselves are just so much fun to do more with. Whether you want to develop them as characters or keep it basic and fun like the games, you've got a lot to work with.
2) The Puzzles
Again, like I said, I'm not good at puzzle games and don't really enjoy them, but it's easy to pick up and fun to play. Getting a big combo gives a small but consistent shot of happiness hormone to my brain. Eventually you'll get so good that only being really unlucky with the RNG will cause you to lose, but there were many times I was playing this just to enjoy the puzzle aspect, which I absolutely did not expect.
3) The Presentation
There's basically no animation, but the visuals are pretty nice for still frames. The girls are, frankly, all hot and have some nice outfits, the scenery is pretty, and the special pictures unlocked from progressing (and not even the naughty ones) are just...wow. The music is catchy too and puts me in the mood for whatever location I'm currently at. Despite the simplicity, it sets the atmosphere nicely; in particular, Lusties Nightclub is a jam, Outdoor Lounge is very peaceful, and Your Bedroom is one of the sexiest tunes I've ever heard. There is a brief but noticeable moment between when songs end and when they repeat.
After playing it on GOG, I bought the Steam version just to get achievements because I enjoyed it that much, and much to my surprise, my save data transferred over and gave me most of the achievements I would have gotten retroactively. Not that I wouldn't still get them anyway.
By far the #1 thing that could have improved the game is more interactions between the girls. Each of them has exactly two parts where they talk to one other specific girl, and that's it. These personalities are too fun to not bounce off each other, a problem they definitely addressed in the sequel.
Also, they could really use some more variety in their figures. It's just a casual game, but maybe having options wouldn't be bad. It's hard to ignore that other than changes in height or bust size, it gets rather...generic after a while, speaking as someone who likes more than one body type.
All that said? It helps that the games are so low-maintenance that even a low-end computer from when it came out in 2015 could probably run it no sweat, so if you wanna play it, you probably can. It only does a few things, but it does them quite well. But for God's sake, if you're going to get this game, get it on Steam and download the uncensored patch, because GOG's is censored.
Lock the door and put on headphones, though.
My final score: As an overall game? There's not much to it. But scoring it for what it is and what it tried to be? Pretty much aced it. 9.5/10.
As Kyu said, "thanks for the sex, homie!"
Tips
* The puzzles may not be hard at first, but you're going to eventually want to use at least a bit of big brain energy. Take note that when you make a token match, you don't have to move the token that results in the match. If you move a token, the tokens you slide out of the way also move, and if THAT movement results in a match, you can drop the token you moved anywhere, potentially setting up another good match on your next turn or a combo later. In other words, whenever you see a potential match, take a second to consider how you might move a different token around to make the match better.
** Unless you're in the bedroom, then just match as fast as you can.
* Filling up the girls on food and booze does affect dates: You get more moves and start with more sentiment.
* Check the info of whatever girl you're talking to if you're going to chat them up in case they ask you what you know about them. Yes, you can always just look it up online but I find it funner to challenge myself a bit. I for instance tend to forget their height, weight, and birthday without a quick refresher. And come on, you can't just check your notecards when you're on a date, what kind of boy/girlfriend are you?
* Make Nikki your #1 waifu. She's one of us.
* Audrey may have no redeeming qualities, but she might be the funniest of the girls. Anytime she opened her mouth, I knew I was in for something smile-worthy, if not outright laugh-worthy ("what do you think of girls who don't shave their shit?" and "if I don't get some food right now, I'm gonna punch somebody in the cunt" got me to clean spit off my screen from sudden laughter). Kudos to her voice actor for going all-out on this alpha bitch.
* As the tool tip says, avoid throwing away goldfish during the day, especially outside. You might attract a stray animal. One who can drink anytime, anywhere ;3
* Nikki has a line about seeing some strange shit at night, and she happens to be the only girl you find at night in a certain location. Maybe she's onto something.
First, I'll admit: This is kind of awkward. Second, I spend an inordinate amount of time talking about my history with this game here.
I first heard of dating sims in Excel Saga. I didn't think anything of it at the time other than it was another amusing joke. It wasn't until years later that I learned it wasn't something that wacky-ass anime made up, it's real and is a big thing in Japan. My reaction could only be summed up as, "What the fuck?" That opinion hasn't changed too much. As for puzzle games, not my thing; the only games with puzzle elements even sort of like this game's I've played are Tetris and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine...and I'm bad at both of them. That's right, I've never even played Bejeweled and (still) have no interest in doing so.
I first heard of this game during my regular browsing of the "milf" tag on Danbooru and found this picture (it's mostly safe, but it IS Jessie and I just told you how I found it): https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1805210 . Normally, smoking is fine as a character trait but is a big sexual turn-off for me, and I STILL thought, holy shit, that's a woman who drank a potion of distilled cougar essence. This series she's from, HuniePop, had a name that piques my curiosity, so I checked out the posted images. I was...kind of wowed. Yeah, it's just anime babes but they were so well drawn...and the babes were hot.
And THEN I looked it up on YouTube. Purposely didn't watch much, just a couple of plays of first meeting each of the regular girls and going on first dates with them. And it did something no dating game (other than maybe Katawa Shoujo, which I also haven't played) did before or since: It got me interested...once I got over that the mascot looks and sounds an awful lot like an older version of Madoka Kaname, especially since I'd gotten into Madoka Magica the year before and was still big on it.
I never...actually got around to playing it though. Like I said, dating games, what the fuck's up with that, even if they have sexy pics in them (maybe even moreso if they have sexy pics in them), how lonely and sad do you have to be? The puzzle aspect didn't appeal to me either, as noted previously.
And yet...once in a long while, I'd go back to YouTube and watch the videos I'd watched before. I'd resist the temptation to buy it when I saw it on sale. Finally, I went ahead and bought it, and it still sat in my library unplayed for years more.
At last, maybe five years after I first heard of the game and first got interested in it, I decided I'd waited long enough and started playing it in early February of this year.
It was worth the wait.
It only really does three things, but it does them great, so I'll talk about them in detail one at a time.
1) The Girls
Holy moly. The only other game I can think of that has so many instant waifus is Fire Emblem Awakening and maybe also Genshin Impact. Also one of the main things this game does great? The writing. It may not be deep, and it may be because games like this are made to be played while relaxed or to relax, but the only other games I've played in the last decade that made me laugh this consistently and this hard were Night in the Woods and Undertale. Not many games have made me spit out food from unexpected laughter. Twice. And their voice acting? God damn, they nailed it. What's more, the girls themselves are just so much fun to do more with. Whether you want to develop them as characters or keep it basic and fun like the games, you've got a lot to work with.
2) The Puzzles
Again, like I said, I'm not good at puzzle games and don't really enjoy them, but it's easy to pick up and fun to play. Getting a big combo gives a small but consistent shot of happiness hormone to my brain. Eventually you'll get so good that only being really unlucky with the RNG will cause you to lose, but there were many times I was playing this just to enjoy the puzzle aspect, which I absolutely did not expect.
3) The Presentation
There's basically no animation, but the visuals are pretty nice for still frames. The girls are, frankly, all hot and have some nice outfits, the scenery is pretty, and the special pictures unlocked from progressing (and not even the naughty ones) are just...wow. The music is catchy too and puts me in the mood for whatever location I'm currently at. Despite the simplicity, it sets the atmosphere nicely; in particular, Lusties Nightclub is a jam, Outdoor Lounge is very peaceful, and Your Bedroom is one of the sexiest tunes I've ever heard. There is a brief but noticeable moment between when songs end and when they repeat.
After playing it on GOG, I bought the Steam version just to get achievements because I enjoyed it that much, and much to my surprise, my save data transferred over and gave me most of the achievements I would have gotten retroactively. Not that I wouldn't still get them anyway.
By far the #1 thing that could have improved the game is more interactions between the girls. Each of them has exactly two parts where they talk to one other specific girl, and that's it. These personalities are too fun to not bounce off each other, a problem they definitely addressed in the sequel.
Also, they could really use some more variety in their figures. It's just a casual game, but maybe having options wouldn't be bad. It's hard to ignore that other than changes in height or bust size, it gets rather...generic after a while, speaking as someone who likes more than one body type.
All that said? It helps that the games are so low-maintenance that even a low-end computer from when it came out in 2015 could probably run it no sweat, so if you wanna play it, you probably can. It only does a few things, but it does them quite well. But for God's sake, if you're going to get this game, get it on Steam and download the uncensored patch, because GOG's is censored.
Lock the door and put on headphones, though.
My final score: As an overall game? There's not much to it. But scoring it for what it is and what it tried to be? Pretty much aced it. 9.5/10.
As Kyu said, "thanks for the sex, homie!"
Tips
* The puzzles may not be hard at first, but you're going to eventually want to use at least a bit of big brain energy. Take note that when you make a token match, you don't have to move the token that results in the match. If you move a token, the tokens you slide out of the way also move, and if THAT movement results in a match, you can drop the token you moved anywhere, potentially setting up another good match on your next turn or a combo later. In other words, whenever you see a potential match, take a second to consider how you might move a different token around to make the match better.
** Unless you're in the bedroom, then just match as fast as you can.
* Filling up the girls on food and booze does affect dates: You get more moves and start with more sentiment.
* Check the info of whatever girl you're talking to if you're going to chat them up in case they ask you what you know about them. Yes, you can always just look it up online but I find it funner to challenge myself a bit. I for instance tend to forget their height, weight, and birthday without a quick refresher. And come on, you can't just check your notecards when you're on a date, what kind of boy/girlfriend are you?
* Make Nikki your #1 waifu. She's one of us.
* Audrey may have no redeeming qualities, but she might be the funniest of the girls. Anytime she opened her mouth, I knew I was in for something smile-worthy, if not outright laugh-worthy ("what do you think of girls who don't shave their shit?" and "if I don't get some food right now, I'm gonna punch somebody in the cunt" got me to clean spit off my screen from sudden laughter). Kudos to her voice actor for going all-out on this alpha bitch.
* As the tool tip says, avoid throwing away goldfish during the day, especially outside. You might attract a stray animal. One who can drink anytime, anywhere ;3
* Nikki has a line about seeing some strange shit at night, and she happens to be the only girl you find at night in a certain location. Maybe she's onto something.
A follow-up message for my future self
Posted 4 years agoYou know what's good? Birthday cake.
You know what's really good? The last piece, which you saved for a week and a half for when you were finally done with that one customer that was driving you up the wall during all that time. Especially when it, amazingly, ended in success.
You know what's really good? The last piece, which you saved for a week and a half for when you were finally done with that one customer that was driving you up the wall during all that time. Especially when it, amazingly, ended in success.
A message for my future self
Posted 4 years agoNot to brag about it, because this isn't something I feel any reason to be proud of, but in the last week, from Sunday morning to Saturday night, I put in just a few minutes over fifteen hours of overtime. It is by far the most time I've put in at a job in one week, POSSIBLY excepting when I worked for a dog kennel over a decade ago. Every day, starting early, working through lunch (some days literally not even having time to eat, not even at my desk), going home late, having some time to unwind, and then work some more from home before bed. No talking to anyone, which eventually gets me feeling kinda lonely.
I've compared it to feeling like I'm drowning a few times, complete with disorientation, lightheadedness, and no clear path to success.
Even today, I went in for a bit to just be able to catch up on work without anyone constantly needing me for something, and at least I feel as caught up as I can be now and at least the weekend was pretty nice.
This is just me announcing that I'm really damn tired, and really damn glad I finished that story in time that even when I'm like this, I can still put it up like I planned.
And is me leaving another "if you survived that, you can survive whatever's stressing you out now" message for my future self.
I've compared it to feeling like I'm drowning a few times, complete with disorientation, lightheadedness, and no clear path to success.
Even today, I went in for a bit to just be able to catch up on work without anyone constantly needing me for something, and at least I feel as caught up as I can be now and at least the weekend was pretty nice.
This is just me announcing that I'm really damn tired, and really damn glad I finished that story in time that even when I'm like this, I can still put it up like I planned.
And is me leaving another "if you survived that, you can survive whatever's stressing you out now" message for my future self.
Two months game-free
Posted 4 years agoAs of today, the last time I played a video game was two months ago. I've gone, by far, the longest without playing video games ever since I actually owned games, which would be since my eighth birthday (and probably sooner if you count computer games that I can't remember anymore).
I didn't plan it this way. Over a few weeks before April 15, I was just kind of losing interest in that and focusing more on writing now that I had something I wanted to finish. But a month later, I noticed I was doing just fine without it, and time that would otherwise be spent gaming was spent writing, and it was so satisfying to feel like I could still do it and that I might actually finish something.
It took somewhere around the end of May before I finally noticed, what the heck, I haven't played a video game in a month and a half.
But, no, it looks like...with how work and stuff is, I can't have it all, like I used to.
Now the challenge is to see how long I can keep it up. And I have more ideas for what I want to write that might make me take that challenge.
I didn't plan it this way. Over a few weeks before April 15, I was just kind of losing interest in that and focusing more on writing now that I had something I wanted to finish. But a month later, I noticed I was doing just fine without it, and time that would otherwise be spent gaming was spent writing, and it was so satisfying to feel like I could still do it and that I might actually finish something.
It took somewhere around the end of May before I finally noticed, what the heck, I haven't played a video game in a month and a half.
But, no, it looks like...with how work and stuff is, I can't have it all, like I used to.
Now the challenge is to see how long I can keep it up. And I have more ideas for what I want to write that might make me take that challenge.
Kimi na No wa. / Your Name. (no spoilers)
Posted 4 years agoReviewing movies and such isn't my thing and I don't intend to branch into it, but I'm overloaded with emotion and I have to share this.
As I promised myself I would, I rewarded myself for this week at work by getting some food and watching 2016's Kimi na No wa., aka Your Name. Finished a little bit ago. And I have to say...I knew very little about it other than its basic premise, but a lot of people talked about it when it came out. I heard it won like a bunch of awards.
It deserved...all of them.
Let me put it this way. While I did rewatch a couple parts I liked as I was watching, at one point I checked how far I was actually in because I felt like I must be at least halfway by now with all that's happened and how thoroughly I've been pulled in. I wasn't even a third of the way through. It felt like I'd watched a movie's worth of content in only about half an hour.
I might have just been hyped up but no amount of hype can get me this emotionally invested in a story and its characters unless it's this good.
Sometimes, not even hype is needed for something to be good. The things most worthy of it...don't need it.
Ten and a half out of ten, would pay you to watch, I'm in the afterglow of an emotional orgasm, etc.
It's...beautiful.
As I promised myself I would, I rewarded myself for this week at work by getting some food and watching 2016's Kimi na No wa., aka Your Name. Finished a little bit ago. And I have to say...I knew very little about it other than its basic premise, but a lot of people talked about it when it came out. I heard it won like a bunch of awards.
It deserved...all of them.
Let me put it this way. While I did rewatch a couple parts I liked as I was watching, at one point I checked how far I was actually in because I felt like I must be at least halfway by now with all that's happened and how thoroughly I've been pulled in. I wasn't even a third of the way through. It felt like I'd watched a movie's worth of content in only about half an hour.
I might have just been hyped up but no amount of hype can get me this emotionally invested in a story and its characters unless it's this good.
Sometimes, not even hype is needed for something to be good. The things most worthy of it...don't need it.
Ten and a half out of ten, would pay you to watch, I'm in the afterglow of an emotional orgasm, etc.
It's...beautiful.
Time until I'm back: One week
Posted 4 years agoThe last time I uploaded anything that could be called a proper story, or even part of one, was March 5, 2018. Since then, with the changes in work and how I have to allocate my mental resources, I just kind of...lost my will to write. Or rather, to do the "sit down and write" like I used to; I still wrote a ton, but they couldn't be called stories and weren't worth sharing.
But I've finally finished a story, and with the time I put into it, I had to give up a couple of things that made me happy, but by God did seeing myself actually create something give me a feeling of fulfillment that I haven't felt in a long, long time. And seeing it finished, that feeling is all the greater.
As always, I can't guarantee you'll all like it, in fact I'll say first that it's about something I've never written about before and is even in a style I don't think I've written before, but for reasons that still confuse me, people still watch me and occasionally add me to their watch lists, and it's time enough I gave them something to look at.
So, as a birthday present to myself for happening to finish it around my birthday, if all goes as planned, I'll be uploading the first part on June 17 and will keep uploading weekly until it's all posted.
Just like old times...
But I've finally finished a story, and with the time I put into it, I had to give up a couple of things that made me happy, but by God did seeing myself actually create something give me a feeling of fulfillment that I haven't felt in a long, long time. And seeing it finished, that feeling is all the greater.
As always, I can't guarantee you'll all like it, in fact I'll say first that it's about something I've never written about before and is even in a style I don't think I've written before, but for reasons that still confuse me, people still watch me and occasionally add me to their watch lists, and it's time enough I gave them something to look at.
So, as a birthday present to myself for happening to finish it around my birthday, if all goes as planned, I'll be uploading the first part on June 17 and will keep uploading weekly until it's all posted.
Just like old times...
My thoughts on Lola's redesign
Posted 4 years agoFor those who don't know: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ev0xwOH.....amp;name=large
I doubt this was their main motivation for any changes made, but if they think making a well-known furrybait bunny girl flat-chested is all it takes to kill her appeal to the furries, good luck with THAT, hero.
But if they even make a single joke about it, in the movie, in some way that kids wouldn't get it but adults would, it'd have been worth it. Assuming that's even possible anymore, but if they did it, I'd be impressed.
In fact, I'll throw out my offer.
LeBron: You're a cartoon character. A 2D drawing...on a piece of paper.
Lola: You calling me flat?
While we're on the subject, as I read someone say: I just hope LeBron stays in character when the bad guy offers him a buttload of money to renege on his morals and walk away, and he does, no questions asked.
I doubt this was their main motivation for any changes made, but if they think making a well-known furrybait bunny girl flat-chested is all it takes to kill her appeal to the furries, good luck with THAT, hero.
But if they even make a single joke about it, in the movie, in some way that kids wouldn't get it but adults would, it'd have been worth it. Assuming that's even possible anymore, but if they did it, I'd be impressed.
In fact, I'll throw out my offer.
LeBron: You're a cartoon character. A 2D drawing...on a piece of paper.
Lola: You calling me flat?
While we're on the subject, as I read someone say: I just hope LeBron stays in character when the bad guy offers him a buttload of money to renege on his morals and walk away, and he does, no questions asked.
Random acts of (anonymous) kindness
Posted 4 years agoMonday wasn't great and Tuesday was worse, so I went home yesterday feeling pretty beat down, enough to have to cancel some plans I'd made and not just because I got home late. Even though I only have to cross one street, I still find garbage to be thrown away, and because I'm me, I do it. This morning was no exception.
But today, one of the most damn amazing things happened.
What I found at the bus stop that needed to be disposed of today was a little 3x5 note card. It was face-down and blank when I picked it up, and normally I don't think to read what anything I toss says because who cares and also it's early, but this time I wondered if there was something on the other side.
And what it said was:
I'm not cold, but here's some warmth for you.
*heart*
Take care
I'm still kicking myself for not taking a picture of it. I wouldn't have kept it, it's stuff that was lying on the ground outside, but it was a burst of motivation when I needed it but didn't expect it at all. I almost cried from it.
This might be the first time I've ever said this, but whoever left their stuff sitting around for me to pick up...
Thanks.
But today, one of the most damn amazing things happened.
What I found at the bus stop that needed to be disposed of today was a little 3x5 note card. It was face-down and blank when I picked it up, and normally I don't think to read what anything I toss says because who cares and also it's early, but this time I wondered if there was something on the other side.
And what it said was:
I'm not cold, but here's some warmth for you.
*heart*
Take care
I'm still kicking myself for not taking a picture of it. I wouldn't have kept it, it's stuff that was lying on the ground outside, but it was a burst of motivation when I needed it but didn't expect it at all. I almost cried from it.
This might be the first time I've ever said this, but whoever left their stuff sitting around for me to pick up...
Thanks.
Assault and Battery, Guns and Gynoids (AAC "Review")
Posted 5 years agoA long while ago, a friend showed me this trailer for a twin-stick bullet Hell called Assault Android Cactus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgDv0z-fNCc . Historically speaking, I am not good at 2D shooters, let alone bullet Hells, but I've long watched in wonder as people have aced them, from oldschool Raiden at the arcades to Ikaruga on YouTube. I had a feeling that if I played this game, I was gonna have a bad time. Not that I had a computer that could run it.
But holy crap, it looked and sounded so good that I wanted to try it anyway. That all the main characters are cute gynoids sure helps. Then, later, this updated trailer came out and I was hooked all over again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1StvcYeEdaU . So, yeah, this game already gets definite points for a damn solid sales pitch when someone who knows he's not that good at these games sees their trailers and says "WANT."
I don't know when I bought it, but I didn't have a computer that could probably play it until mid-2019, and even then, I had other games ahead of it in line, but right around October 2020, I finally had enough waiting. I was jazzed up. I was gonna wreck some shit.
It held true to its promises. It's fast-paced, it's got a big cast of characters that play differently, it's got a soundtrack that encourages you to give in to all your destructive urges, it's damn good arcade-style shootin'-em-up.
Graphically, there's a lot going on and all of it's good. The animation's pretty smooth and at any given moment you've got a screenful of colorful bullets, your own and the enemies'. While there are only a handful of stage themes, they still look cool; the ones in section four are especially impressive as they constantly break down and rearrange based on your movement. The soundtrack only has twenty songs but they're a great bunch of techno and warrant some serious listening time on their own merit. "Gamma" in particular steals the show for me.
Nobody plays a 2D shooter for the story, but the characters have a decent amount of individuality and personality in their short interactions with each other and the pre- and post-boss banter. There's also, to my surprise, lore entries that can be unlocked that describe every character and enemy, among other things. In other words, for a game that could just as easily have zero story, there's more than I would expect and it feels like actual effort was put into it. That's a nice bonus.
And, of course, there's the gameplay. Enemies everywhere, bullets everywhere, power ups, characters that all play differently so there's someone for every style of play, and probably some sweet co-op if I actually bothered to try it. The only thing I'd change is to remove the fire button; I don't know why there's even a fire button at all in games like these, since there's no reason to ever not be shooting.
But you know that thing I said about not being good at bullet Hells? Yeah...this game is not very...forgiving.
With equal parts joy and frustration, and basically being locked into the only two characters I could beat anything with, I made it through the game once, and then put it down for a few days after some bad days at work left me feeling drained. And then, when I did feel like playing anything again...I just couldn't work up any drive to pick it back up. Which is kind of a shame, because I could tell this game kicks ass and I'm the one who can't get into it.
My final score: N/A. I didn't play it long enough to get much of what it offers.
It was a blast while it lasted, but this is a really good game...for someone else. I'll buy it for someone who asks, but only the next time it goes on sale.
About the only tips I played long enough to know are:
* Use Holly for regular stages and Cactus for bosses.
* You're invincible for a moment when you change weapons. Look for your character's white glow. (I'm so bad at these games that I had to be told this one.)
But holy crap, it looked and sounded so good that I wanted to try it anyway. That all the main characters are cute gynoids sure helps. Then, later, this updated trailer came out and I was hooked all over again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1StvcYeEdaU . So, yeah, this game already gets definite points for a damn solid sales pitch when someone who knows he's not that good at these games sees their trailers and says "WANT."
I don't know when I bought it, but I didn't have a computer that could probably play it until mid-2019, and even then, I had other games ahead of it in line, but right around October 2020, I finally had enough waiting. I was jazzed up. I was gonna wreck some shit.
It held true to its promises. It's fast-paced, it's got a big cast of characters that play differently, it's got a soundtrack that encourages you to give in to all your destructive urges, it's damn good arcade-style shootin'-em-up.
Graphically, there's a lot going on and all of it's good. The animation's pretty smooth and at any given moment you've got a screenful of colorful bullets, your own and the enemies'. While there are only a handful of stage themes, they still look cool; the ones in section four are especially impressive as they constantly break down and rearrange based on your movement. The soundtrack only has twenty songs but they're a great bunch of techno and warrant some serious listening time on their own merit. "Gamma" in particular steals the show for me.
Nobody plays a 2D shooter for the story, but the characters have a decent amount of individuality and personality in their short interactions with each other and the pre- and post-boss banter. There's also, to my surprise, lore entries that can be unlocked that describe every character and enemy, among other things. In other words, for a game that could just as easily have zero story, there's more than I would expect and it feels like actual effort was put into it. That's a nice bonus.
And, of course, there's the gameplay. Enemies everywhere, bullets everywhere, power ups, characters that all play differently so there's someone for every style of play, and probably some sweet co-op if I actually bothered to try it. The only thing I'd change is to remove the fire button; I don't know why there's even a fire button at all in games like these, since there's no reason to ever not be shooting.
But you know that thing I said about not being good at bullet Hells? Yeah...this game is not very...forgiving.
With equal parts joy and frustration, and basically being locked into the only two characters I could beat anything with, I made it through the game once, and then put it down for a few days after some bad days at work left me feeling drained. And then, when I did feel like playing anything again...I just couldn't work up any drive to pick it back up. Which is kind of a shame, because I could tell this game kicks ass and I'm the one who can't get into it.
My final score: N/A. I didn't play it long enough to get much of what it offers.
It was a blast while it lasted, but this is a really good game...for someone else. I'll buy it for someone who asks, but only the next time it goes on sale.
About the only tips I played long enough to know are:
* Use Holly for regular stages and Cactus for bosses.
* You're invincible for a moment when you change weapons. Look for your character's white glow. (I'm so bad at these games that I had to be told this one.)
So I have these giveaways still going...
Posted 5 years agoIt's the season of giving, and I don't feel like I've done enough.
I've had Bug Fables ( https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9717175/ ) and the Crusader duology ( https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9654619/ ) up for grabs for a while now, and nobody's sprung me for either of them.
I'm going to amend that by also adding Night in the Woods ( https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9589761/ / https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9590661/ ) to the "up for grabs" list.
I'd rather limit the offer to one per person at a time, but if more time passes and nobody claims any of them, I might change my mind.
C'mon, people. Steam or GOG (it'll have to be GOG for Crusader). I'd never recommend a game I didn't like, and I love these games.
UPDATE: Bug Fables is tentatively taken.
I've had Bug Fables ( https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9717175/ ) and the Crusader duology ( https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9654619/ ) up for grabs for a while now, and nobody's sprung me for either of them.
I'm going to amend that by also adding Night in the Woods ( https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9589761/ / https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9590661/ ) to the "up for grabs" list.
I'd rather limit the offer to one per person at a time, but if more time passes and nobody claims any of them, I might change my mind.
C'mon, people. Steam or GOG (it'll have to be GOG for Crusader). I'd never recommend a game I didn't like, and I love these games.
UPDATE: Bug Fables is tentatively taken.
This Game Really Bugs Me (Bug Fables review + giveaway)
Posted 5 years agoIf you want to skip this review and read a more concise one, check this out: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9370904/
So how about them Paper Marios, yeah? I dunno about them, but I do know there's a lot of talk about wanting something more classic. No really, I don't know about them; the Mario RPGs I've played are Super Mario RPG, the first two Paper Marios, and that's it, so honestly I can't really comment on whether or not any of the last four Paper Marios are good. I have mixed feelings: On the one hand, I think people (my generation especially) are too all about the classics making a return, but on the other hand, when modern stuff just isn't doing it anymore, it's normal to want to back to what we know works. But I can't speak well or ill of the post-Thousand-Year Door era because I don't personally know it.
But I do know that Bug Fables has everything I love from the Mario RPGs I played, and then some. It's got Badges I mean Medals, Star Pieces I mean Crystal Berries, a seven-chapter format, a mostly lighthearted but also surprisingly deep story, sidequests everywhere, cooking recipes (and three chefs!), an enemy/area/person-you're-talking-to Tattle system, you name it.
As usual for my reviews, I'll start with the best part of the game, and where the game shines most is the story. I could go on about how the overall story is good in general, with a great balance of lightheartedness, humor, and drama. I could also go on about how this game adds a ton of personality to the party with a Tattle ability that lets you hear their thoughts about whatever area they're in or whoever they're talking to. There're some characters I didn't care for at the beginning but came to appreciate a lot more by the end. There's even its share of trope subversion, something I always appreciate, especially when I didn't expect it. But there are two things I want to draw particular attention to.
First, something this game does that I find quite rare for RPGs. The whole game, I felt like there are three main protagonists, not a group of characters with one as the main focus. Because you have only the same three characters in your party, all of them have their own field abilities that are needed to traverse the land and solve puzzles, and all of them are present for the entire story, it really doesn't feel like there's a particular main character. In almost every situation, every party member has a part to play. They still each get time in the spotlight, and even then, one or both of the others still has meaningful things to contribute. This is one of the most likeable trios I've seen in a long time: Their personalities are so different but compliment each other so well, and when your story has such good main protagonists, you've got a strong cornerstone right there. There are so many times I wish GOG Galaxy had a screenshot button (and from searching around, I don't think it does) because there's gobs of memorable dialogue with these three.
Second, the worldbuilding. I was completely unprepared for how much worldbuilding there is in this game. A quest that spans almost the entire game involves gathering over two dozen lore books that each give a snippet of the game's past and present, even with a bit of mythology thrown in, and I call it mythology because it has to do with unproven and not-scientifically-understood creation theories and myths that the in-game writers know that nobody knows the answer to from either a mythical or scientific standpoint. Talking to people both during the course of the story and just to chat with random NPCs reveals that the area in which the game is set is just one of at least three other such lands of talking, sentient bugs...and that's just the lands they know of. And they aren't even the first generation of civilized bugs. There's a lot of plot breadcrumbs sprinkled in the story that aren't resolved but I very much got the idea that the writers want to show that there isn't just a lot more going on in the world than what the main characters go through; there's a lot more that happened before any of them were born, and the bugs in this world want to know about it as much as the players do. Much like us in our real world, they don't know everything about who lived here and what happened before them, nor do they know everything about what happened before that; they can only use the same tools we do, and again much like us, that's another way of saying "we weren't there, we don't know, we can only take best guesses, but we want to improve the accuracy of those guesses." I, personally, am rather curious about several things, not the least of which is how such a diverse assortment of bugs from around the world got here in the first place. This is a world with scope and history.
But now, one place the game is just "all right" is the presentation, particularly the graphics. They're cute and colorful. Some parts of the game are quite scenic, and I enjoyed the journey through them as much as the destination. I always liked movies like Toy Story and A Bug's Life and such that show the world as seen by something the size of an insect, and this game does that well. There's a fair amount of variety in the bugs themselves, both the sapient bugs and the wild bugs, which is pretty important with how much variety the insect kingdom has. But overall, I just found the graphics, as I said, all right. They aren't bad at all, and they were designed to look like nice papercraft, not to push the limits of any engines, but when I compare them to Thousand-Year Door's sprites and world, they feel a bit bland and unpolished.
The audio is better: This game has a pretty good soundtrack. Every song is at least "good" with some "great." If there's one thing that would have pushed the quality up, it's if the songs themselves were longer, because I just want MORE of them. The OST has plenty of songs, yes, and I love it when games give each boss has their own theme music, but I'd like it if some of the individual songs were longer. That said, one thing that shortness does well is the very short tunes: There are different sound effects for acquiring different items, which is a detail that made getting stuff feel a little more rewarding, and in particular, the victory jingle after you win a fight is about three seconds of triumph that feels as good to hear near the end of the game as it does in the beginning. I also appreciate that there's two battle themes for the early and later game, and the second is better and more intense to show off that the stakes and challenge are rising. The sound effects themselves are pretty simple, sometimes they play after they should have stopped, and I think a few of them were just made with one person making noises into a microphone, but the smack from hitting enemies never really got old, and despite talking in little "blip blip" sound effects, they're varied enough that the character "voices" have more variety and personality than I would have expected.
But now, let's talk about the combat, which is another important thing to nail in an RPG. If the paper aesthetic didn't instantly clue you into the fact that this game is Paper Mario-inspired, the combat will. That was one thing that made the early Mario RPGs fun and, more importantly, KEPT them fun: Timed attacks/defenses that kept you involved in combat instead of the usual "mash A to win" tactic. Also much like Paper Mario, your level up boosts and Medals play a huge part in how you fight. Maybe it's because I actually did some research when I played Bug Fables and not when I played Paper Mario 1 and 2 (and Mario RPG is not complicated enough to "need" combat research), but if you ask me, Bug Fables actually had me making more thought-out decisions on how I wanted to build my characters and play them. And I found out I wasn't alone: There are lots of actual BUILDS in a game this deceptively simple, and it's surprisingly easy to break the game.
Somewhere around halfway through the game, I suddenly noticed my Medals had gotten more useful and I found myself being choosy on which ones to use in certain situations (some for common battles, some for bosses), my strategic options were more complicated, and my enemies were getting tough enough to make me actually need what was being given to me. I also suddenly noticed that not only was I thinking strategically even for common enemies, I wasn’t always THINKING so much as FEELING. I had enough time in battles to know that I shouldn’t just throw the characters at their targets or think “have character 1 do this, character 2 do this, and character 3 so this;” I needed them to do those things in a certain order, while the party is arranged a certain way, AND have an idea of what to prepare for on the enemy’s turn. Sometimes I stopped to weigh my options, while other times it was second nature. In other words, I already liked the combat system, but that was when I realized it was even better than I thought.
And when "our job's done"...it's still not done. Beat the game without Hard Mode, at least most of the time? Do it again with Hard Mode the whole time. Heck, add the Hard Hits and Exp Booster Medals for even more challenge if you're into that. There's codes for what you can name your saved games to mess with the game mechanics even more, like unlocking Hardest Mode or requiring near-perfect timing to block attacks.
But you know the real reason your job's not done? It's because there is so much sequel/prequel/DLC potential. Like I said in the story section, it's obvious there's a ton going on in this world beyond the land this game takes place in and a lot happened before the events of the game too. Some people dislike vagueness and unanswered questions in stories. But when the rest of the story is so good, all I see is potential ready to be fulfilled, and I have total confidence the makers of this game can do it again.
Having said all those good things, there are two big bugs (a lot of things come in twos here, don't they?) that kind of ruined my mood more than a couple times, and by "bugs" I mean problems. The first is that this game froze on me a lot. Any time I opened the pause screen, I estimated there was something like a one to three percent chance the game would freeze. It could also happen when I entered or exited a structure that causes a "see inside cutaway" effect (not a "fade to black, then fade to a new area" effect), though maybe only four or five times in the entire game. I got used to it and both saved more often and made sure to never pause after doing something like beating a boss until after I saved...but that didn't stop it from wiping the smile off my face a few times. I remember one time in particular early on in the game that it took me about ten minutes to get through about two or three minutes' worth of content because I kept having to do it over from my game freezing.
Now, it's important to note that I think that problem was on my end. I did several searches to see if others had similar problems and came up with nothing, but still, my games really don't tend to glitch like that. Not to mention, freezing is something that happens in the context of the game since one of the main characters uses ice magic, so searching for stuff related to "Bug Fables" and "freezing" is way more likely to bring up stuff related to that character and not, you know, the game freezing.
Then, something worse. One day, I started playing only to notice there was an update to the game to download (and no, it wasn't the version 1.1 update). I closed the game and opened it again, only to find that the very worst glitch of all happened: MY SAVE WAS GONE. I was more than halfway through the game at that point and was seriously wondering if I wanted to start over or not, but after a little research, I found what had happened: My save data somehow got moved out of the folder it had been in and into the parent folder of that folder. Copying it back into the save folder was all it took to work again, but there was a 36-hour period when I was feeling immensely pissed off. I don't think that was exclusive to me, either: As I understand, over the last few months, people who played this through GOG (like me) were talking about cloud saves being implemented (which, I kind of figured that was standard in games these days, especially when you play them on a service like Steam or GOG). I caaan't help but wonder if they were implemented and didn't go how they should. I will say that...I probably would have started over if I had to. I wouldn't enjoy it, and I'd manually back up my saves, but I'd have done it because the game is that good.
Something else that is minor but very curiously missing even after the version 1.1 update (which came only about four days after I started playing) is that there's no way to sort your inventory. You have very limited space for consumable items so you're not going to be digging for one of them for long, and you can sort your Medals by showing a page that reveals who's equipped what, but the Medals are only ever arranged one way and that's it. It'd be really nice to be able to sort your consumables in some way other than putting them in item storage and then taking them back out in the order you want, or to sort your Medals and key items based on what you consider most useful to least useful, and I don't understand why you can't do either of those things, or at least I never found it. At least the Medals are automatically grouped by name and similarity of function.
My final thoughts?
I know comparing Bug Fables to the Paper Marios is selling it short, but it's hard not to when the game pretty much specifically welcomes those comparisons. Even Miyamoto himself basically said, "Bug Fables does a good job of doing what Paper Mario did, but it really needs to be judged on its own merits." But if this game grabbed your attention because you have many fond memories of the earlier Mario RPGs, like I do, it's not for nothing that comparison is done as praise. Don't play this game "because it's Paper Mario 3," because it isn't. For all the inspiration it takes from Paper Mario and as much as it rides the wave of "that's not the Paper Mario we want!", it's too unique to deserve being called "indie Paper Mario and that's it." Play this game because it deserves to be seen for what it is: A return to form in a good way while still standing out in its own right.
My final score: 8.5 out of 10.
And you know I'm willing to buy it for the first person who asks for it.
Tips
* Probably the main tip to give is regarding rank-up benefits. At first, I was going to get HP, then TP, then MP and cycle between them evenly, much like when I played the Paper Mario games. But then I thought maybe I should do things differently this time and did a little looking around. I ended up taking HP twice, never touched that benefit again, and never really needed it. For a while I boosted TP and MP equally, then most of mid-game I boosted TP exclusively, and finally boosted MP exclusively when medals started getting really good. That all felt like the right decision when bosses on Hard Mode were tough but enough to give a fun challenge and I didn't just obliterate them in a few turns.
* Speaking of ranking up, you can re-spec your party's HP, TP and MP benefits from leveling up...albeit late in the game. And you probably will. After beating the game, I re-specced everything into MP to fight the rush modes and endgame content, and Team Snakemouth went from tough to nearly unstoppable.
* Another common tip for RPGs: How do you make money? It's easy. The earliest way to easily grind money: After chapter 2, a certain bee gives you a quest that's repeatable for a risk-free berry reward that also happens to be good for grinding experience for that point in the game. Money and ranks all in one. Then, once you get your bank savings to 500 berries, your interest rate goes up to 6% every 30 in-game minutes...so just take a day to leave the game on and let the clock run up (or keep doing that aforementioned quest while you do to be constructive). Remember also that interest is still building while you're out, you know, playing the game and furthering the story. If you can get to the end of chapter 3 or so with a thousand berries in the bank, you'll probably be set for the rest of the game.
* Speaking of money, don't go to Metal Island at least until you get the ferry price down to 90 berries, and even then, don't do it until you reach a point in a certain "trade this item for that item, then for that item"-type of quest that requires you to go there so you can definitely get something out of the trip.
* If you're not sure whether or not to play on Hard Mode (which is unlocked in the very first room of the game), I at least recommend turning it on for boss fights, for the achievements, the rewards, and the challenge. You can usually tell when a boss fight is coming up and equip it then, but if you don't, you can always lose on purpose and try again with a different loadout (which will give you the added benefit of at least a preview of how the boss fights).
* Speaking of Hard Mode, if you're achievement hunting, none of the content is permanently missable. You can try getting it when the opportunity first comes up, or you can wait until later.
* Spy Cards: I don't know if I recommend looking up guides because spoilers, but if you want some good deck ideas that have never lost a game for me, check this out: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugFables/.....ard_decklists/
* Speaking of Spy Cards, here's a good spoiler-free and deliberately vague deck that you can make as soon as you unlock Spy Cards, with credit due to a poster on that Reddit thread: Boss Card – Chapter 2's boss / Mini-Boss Cards – A praying mantis, and the mini-boss you defeated to unlock Spy Cards in the first place / Common Cards – One Seedling, one very special Seedling, two acorns, two spike-headed tunnelers, three bulky ladybugs, and three talking pink flowers.
* Other than the bounty quests, it's usually a good idea to do quests as soon as they become available. Sometimes the rewards aren't worth it, but even early on, they can pay off surprisingly well. Two early pieces of advice on this note: Do the chef-related quests ASAP to unlock some items that will keep being useful for the rest of the game (in particular, the TP-related item is almost overpowered in terms of what you get out of it for how much it costs). Also, do the quest "Requesting Assistance" as soon as possible. It's probably going to involve the toughest battle you've fought yet, but it unlocks a lot of things that will be useful both at that point and in the future.
* Give the Bug Ranger Plushie to everything whenever you can. It will get some laughs out of you.
* Zasp is the king of the simps, but he's the simp you wish you were.
* All the queens give off a "hot mom" vibe, but the Bee Queen...mmm...
* There's a well-hidden room in a certain flooded area of the game that's very much worth looking for. Once you find the entrance, it may not seem like you're getting anywhere, but keep at it and you'll get there. It gave me goosebumps...and once you're there, maybe just...hang out for a minute or so. Watch some TV. And watch closely.
So how about them Paper Marios, yeah? I dunno about them, but I do know there's a lot of talk about wanting something more classic. No really, I don't know about them; the Mario RPGs I've played are Super Mario RPG, the first two Paper Marios, and that's it, so honestly I can't really comment on whether or not any of the last four Paper Marios are good. I have mixed feelings: On the one hand, I think people (my generation especially) are too all about the classics making a return, but on the other hand, when modern stuff just isn't doing it anymore, it's normal to want to back to what we know works. But I can't speak well or ill of the post-Thousand-Year Door era because I don't personally know it.
But I do know that Bug Fables has everything I love from the Mario RPGs I played, and then some. It's got Badges I mean Medals, Star Pieces I mean Crystal Berries, a seven-chapter format, a mostly lighthearted but also surprisingly deep story, sidequests everywhere, cooking recipes (and three chefs!), an enemy/area/person-you're-talking-to Tattle system, you name it.
As usual for my reviews, I'll start with the best part of the game, and where the game shines most is the story. I could go on about how the overall story is good in general, with a great balance of lightheartedness, humor, and drama. I could also go on about how this game adds a ton of personality to the party with a Tattle ability that lets you hear their thoughts about whatever area they're in or whoever they're talking to. There're some characters I didn't care for at the beginning but came to appreciate a lot more by the end. There's even its share of trope subversion, something I always appreciate, especially when I didn't expect it. But there are two things I want to draw particular attention to.
First, something this game does that I find quite rare for RPGs. The whole game, I felt like there are three main protagonists, not a group of characters with one as the main focus. Because you have only the same three characters in your party, all of them have their own field abilities that are needed to traverse the land and solve puzzles, and all of them are present for the entire story, it really doesn't feel like there's a particular main character. In almost every situation, every party member has a part to play. They still each get time in the spotlight, and even then, one or both of the others still has meaningful things to contribute. This is one of the most likeable trios I've seen in a long time: Their personalities are so different but compliment each other so well, and when your story has such good main protagonists, you've got a strong cornerstone right there. There are so many times I wish GOG Galaxy had a screenshot button (and from searching around, I don't think it does) because there's gobs of memorable dialogue with these three.
Second, the worldbuilding. I was completely unprepared for how much worldbuilding there is in this game. A quest that spans almost the entire game involves gathering over two dozen lore books that each give a snippet of the game's past and present, even with a bit of mythology thrown in, and I call it mythology because it has to do with unproven and not-scientifically-understood creation theories and myths that the in-game writers know that nobody knows the answer to from either a mythical or scientific standpoint. Talking to people both during the course of the story and just to chat with random NPCs reveals that the area in which the game is set is just one of at least three other such lands of talking, sentient bugs...and that's just the lands they know of. And they aren't even the first generation of civilized bugs. There's a lot of plot breadcrumbs sprinkled in the story that aren't resolved but I very much got the idea that the writers want to show that there isn't just a lot more going on in the world than what the main characters go through; there's a lot more that happened before any of them were born, and the bugs in this world want to know about it as much as the players do. Much like us in our real world, they don't know everything about who lived here and what happened before them, nor do they know everything about what happened before that; they can only use the same tools we do, and again much like us, that's another way of saying "we weren't there, we don't know, we can only take best guesses, but we want to improve the accuracy of those guesses." I, personally, am rather curious about several things, not the least of which is how such a diverse assortment of bugs from around the world got here in the first place. This is a world with scope and history.
But now, one place the game is just "all right" is the presentation, particularly the graphics. They're cute and colorful. Some parts of the game are quite scenic, and I enjoyed the journey through them as much as the destination. I always liked movies like Toy Story and A Bug's Life and such that show the world as seen by something the size of an insect, and this game does that well. There's a fair amount of variety in the bugs themselves, both the sapient bugs and the wild bugs, which is pretty important with how much variety the insect kingdom has. But overall, I just found the graphics, as I said, all right. They aren't bad at all, and they were designed to look like nice papercraft, not to push the limits of any engines, but when I compare them to Thousand-Year Door's sprites and world, they feel a bit bland and unpolished.
The audio is better: This game has a pretty good soundtrack. Every song is at least "good" with some "great." If there's one thing that would have pushed the quality up, it's if the songs themselves were longer, because I just want MORE of them. The OST has plenty of songs, yes, and I love it when games give each boss has their own theme music, but I'd like it if some of the individual songs were longer. That said, one thing that shortness does well is the very short tunes: There are different sound effects for acquiring different items, which is a detail that made getting stuff feel a little more rewarding, and in particular, the victory jingle after you win a fight is about three seconds of triumph that feels as good to hear near the end of the game as it does in the beginning. I also appreciate that there's two battle themes for the early and later game, and the second is better and more intense to show off that the stakes and challenge are rising. The sound effects themselves are pretty simple, sometimes they play after they should have stopped, and I think a few of them were just made with one person making noises into a microphone, but the smack from hitting enemies never really got old, and despite talking in little "blip blip" sound effects, they're varied enough that the character "voices" have more variety and personality than I would have expected.
But now, let's talk about the combat, which is another important thing to nail in an RPG. If the paper aesthetic didn't instantly clue you into the fact that this game is Paper Mario-inspired, the combat will. That was one thing that made the early Mario RPGs fun and, more importantly, KEPT them fun: Timed attacks/defenses that kept you involved in combat instead of the usual "mash A to win" tactic. Also much like Paper Mario, your level up boosts and Medals play a huge part in how you fight. Maybe it's because I actually did some research when I played Bug Fables and not when I played Paper Mario 1 and 2 (and Mario RPG is not complicated enough to "need" combat research), but if you ask me, Bug Fables actually had me making more thought-out decisions on how I wanted to build my characters and play them. And I found out I wasn't alone: There are lots of actual BUILDS in a game this deceptively simple, and it's surprisingly easy to break the game.
Somewhere around halfway through the game, I suddenly noticed my Medals had gotten more useful and I found myself being choosy on which ones to use in certain situations (some for common battles, some for bosses), my strategic options were more complicated, and my enemies were getting tough enough to make me actually need what was being given to me. I also suddenly noticed that not only was I thinking strategically even for common enemies, I wasn’t always THINKING so much as FEELING. I had enough time in battles to know that I shouldn’t just throw the characters at their targets or think “have character 1 do this, character 2 do this, and character 3 so this;” I needed them to do those things in a certain order, while the party is arranged a certain way, AND have an idea of what to prepare for on the enemy’s turn. Sometimes I stopped to weigh my options, while other times it was second nature. In other words, I already liked the combat system, but that was when I realized it was even better than I thought.
And when "our job's done"...it's still not done. Beat the game without Hard Mode, at least most of the time? Do it again with Hard Mode the whole time. Heck, add the Hard Hits and Exp Booster Medals for even more challenge if you're into that. There's codes for what you can name your saved games to mess with the game mechanics even more, like unlocking Hardest Mode or requiring near-perfect timing to block attacks.
But you know the real reason your job's not done? It's because there is so much sequel/prequel/DLC potential. Like I said in the story section, it's obvious there's a ton going on in this world beyond the land this game takes place in and a lot happened before the events of the game too. Some people dislike vagueness and unanswered questions in stories. But when the rest of the story is so good, all I see is potential ready to be fulfilled, and I have total confidence the makers of this game can do it again.
Having said all those good things, there are two big bugs (a lot of things come in twos here, don't they?) that kind of ruined my mood more than a couple times, and by "bugs" I mean problems. The first is that this game froze on me a lot. Any time I opened the pause screen, I estimated there was something like a one to three percent chance the game would freeze. It could also happen when I entered or exited a structure that causes a "see inside cutaway" effect (not a "fade to black, then fade to a new area" effect), though maybe only four or five times in the entire game. I got used to it and both saved more often and made sure to never pause after doing something like beating a boss until after I saved...but that didn't stop it from wiping the smile off my face a few times. I remember one time in particular early on in the game that it took me about ten minutes to get through about two or three minutes' worth of content because I kept having to do it over from my game freezing.
Now, it's important to note that I think that problem was on my end. I did several searches to see if others had similar problems and came up with nothing, but still, my games really don't tend to glitch like that. Not to mention, freezing is something that happens in the context of the game since one of the main characters uses ice magic, so searching for stuff related to "Bug Fables" and "freezing" is way more likely to bring up stuff related to that character and not, you know, the game freezing.
Then, something worse. One day, I started playing only to notice there was an update to the game to download (and no, it wasn't the version 1.1 update). I closed the game and opened it again, only to find that the very worst glitch of all happened: MY SAVE WAS GONE. I was more than halfway through the game at that point and was seriously wondering if I wanted to start over or not, but after a little research, I found what had happened: My save data somehow got moved out of the folder it had been in and into the parent folder of that folder. Copying it back into the save folder was all it took to work again, but there was a 36-hour period when I was feeling immensely pissed off. I don't think that was exclusive to me, either: As I understand, over the last few months, people who played this through GOG (like me) were talking about cloud saves being implemented (which, I kind of figured that was standard in games these days, especially when you play them on a service like Steam or GOG). I caaan't help but wonder if they were implemented and didn't go how they should. I will say that...I probably would have started over if I had to. I wouldn't enjoy it, and I'd manually back up my saves, but I'd have done it because the game is that good.
Something else that is minor but very curiously missing even after the version 1.1 update (which came only about four days after I started playing) is that there's no way to sort your inventory. You have very limited space for consumable items so you're not going to be digging for one of them for long, and you can sort your Medals by showing a page that reveals who's equipped what, but the Medals are only ever arranged one way and that's it. It'd be really nice to be able to sort your consumables in some way other than putting them in item storage and then taking them back out in the order you want, or to sort your Medals and key items based on what you consider most useful to least useful, and I don't understand why you can't do either of those things, or at least I never found it. At least the Medals are automatically grouped by name and similarity of function.
My final thoughts?
I know comparing Bug Fables to the Paper Marios is selling it short, but it's hard not to when the game pretty much specifically welcomes those comparisons. Even Miyamoto himself basically said, "Bug Fables does a good job of doing what Paper Mario did, but it really needs to be judged on its own merits." But if this game grabbed your attention because you have many fond memories of the earlier Mario RPGs, like I do, it's not for nothing that comparison is done as praise. Don't play this game "because it's Paper Mario 3," because it isn't. For all the inspiration it takes from Paper Mario and as much as it rides the wave of "that's not the Paper Mario we want!", it's too unique to deserve being called "indie Paper Mario and that's it." Play this game because it deserves to be seen for what it is: A return to form in a good way while still standing out in its own right.
My final score: 8.5 out of 10.
And you know I'm willing to buy it for the first person who asks for it.
Tips
* Probably the main tip to give is regarding rank-up benefits. At first, I was going to get HP, then TP, then MP and cycle between them evenly, much like when I played the Paper Mario games. But then I thought maybe I should do things differently this time and did a little looking around. I ended up taking HP twice, never touched that benefit again, and never really needed it. For a while I boosted TP and MP equally, then most of mid-game I boosted TP exclusively, and finally boosted MP exclusively when medals started getting really good. That all felt like the right decision when bosses on Hard Mode were tough but enough to give a fun challenge and I didn't just obliterate them in a few turns.
* Speaking of ranking up, you can re-spec your party's HP, TP and MP benefits from leveling up...albeit late in the game. And you probably will. After beating the game, I re-specced everything into MP to fight the rush modes and endgame content, and Team Snakemouth went from tough to nearly unstoppable.
* Another common tip for RPGs: How do you make money? It's easy. The earliest way to easily grind money: After chapter 2, a certain bee gives you a quest that's repeatable for a risk-free berry reward that also happens to be good for grinding experience for that point in the game. Money and ranks all in one. Then, once you get your bank savings to 500 berries, your interest rate goes up to 6% every 30 in-game minutes...so just take a day to leave the game on and let the clock run up (or keep doing that aforementioned quest while you do to be constructive). Remember also that interest is still building while you're out, you know, playing the game and furthering the story. If you can get to the end of chapter 3 or so with a thousand berries in the bank, you'll probably be set for the rest of the game.
* Speaking of money, don't go to Metal Island at least until you get the ferry price down to 90 berries, and even then, don't do it until you reach a point in a certain "trade this item for that item, then for that item"-type of quest that requires you to go there so you can definitely get something out of the trip.
* If you're not sure whether or not to play on Hard Mode (which is unlocked in the very first room of the game), I at least recommend turning it on for boss fights, for the achievements, the rewards, and the challenge. You can usually tell when a boss fight is coming up and equip it then, but if you don't, you can always lose on purpose and try again with a different loadout (which will give you the added benefit of at least a preview of how the boss fights).
* Speaking of Hard Mode, if you're achievement hunting, none of the content is permanently missable. You can try getting it when the opportunity first comes up, or you can wait until later.
* Spy Cards: I don't know if I recommend looking up guides because spoilers, but if you want some good deck ideas that have never lost a game for me, check this out: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugFables/.....ard_decklists/
* Speaking of Spy Cards, here's a good spoiler-free and deliberately vague deck that you can make as soon as you unlock Spy Cards, with credit due to a poster on that Reddit thread: Boss Card – Chapter 2's boss / Mini-Boss Cards – A praying mantis, and the mini-boss you defeated to unlock Spy Cards in the first place / Common Cards – One Seedling, one very special Seedling, two acorns, two spike-headed tunnelers, three bulky ladybugs, and three talking pink flowers.
* Other than the bounty quests, it's usually a good idea to do quests as soon as they become available. Sometimes the rewards aren't worth it, but even early on, they can pay off surprisingly well. Two early pieces of advice on this note: Do the chef-related quests ASAP to unlock some items that will keep being useful for the rest of the game (in particular, the TP-related item is almost overpowered in terms of what you get out of it for how much it costs). Also, do the quest "Requesting Assistance" as soon as possible. It's probably going to involve the toughest battle you've fought yet, but it unlocks a lot of things that will be useful both at that point and in the future.
* Give the Bug Ranger Plushie to everything whenever you can. It will get some laughs out of you.
* Zasp is the king of the simps, but he's the simp you wish you were.
* All the queens give off a "hot mom" vibe, but the Bee Queen...mmm...
* There's a well-hidden room in a certain flooded area of the game that's very much worth looking for. Once you find the entrance, it may not seem like you're getting anywhere, but keep at it and you'll get there. It gave me goosebumps...and once you're there, maybe just...hang out for a minute or so. Watch some TV. And watch closely.
Surprised by my own headcanon
Posted 5 years agoFigured it was about time I got that other journal off the page, nice as it is for me to see.
So yesterday evening I spent most of the time listening to hit 80s music and occasionally watching their videos. One was for Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" from the movie Mannequin. This is context for the following thing that went through my head on the bus to work this morning, over the span of about twenty seconds.
* Listens to song again.
* Looks up on Wikipedia.
* "It's a modern retelling of the Pygmalion myth of an artist who creates a statue so perfect it comes to life."
* Oh yeah, and her name was Galatea.
* That might be a good character name for me to use someday.
* That and I just like the name.
* She'd need a nickname.
* How about Tea?
* What, like the Yu-Gi-Oh! char?
* Sudden completely unexpected headcanon accepted: Tea's name was short for Galatea all along.
* Like Tristan Taylor's name, it even has alliteration with her last name: Galatea Gardner.
* (Or maybe Dorotea)
So yesterday evening I spent most of the time listening to hit 80s music and occasionally watching their videos. One was for Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" from the movie Mannequin. This is context for the following thing that went through my head on the bus to work this morning, over the span of about twenty seconds.
* Listens to song again.
* Looks up on Wikipedia.
* "It's a modern retelling of the Pygmalion myth of an artist who creates a statue so perfect it comes to life."
* Oh yeah, and her name was Galatea.
* That might be a good character name for me to use someday.
* That and I just like the name.
* She'd need a nickname.
* How about Tea?
* What, like the Yu-Gi-Oh! char?
* Sudden completely unexpected headcanon accepted: Tea's name was short for Galatea all along.
* Like Tristan Taylor's name, it even has alliteration with her last name: Galatea Gardner.
* (Or maybe Dorotea)
Diablo II complete
Posted 5 years agoMostly another little entry for myself to look back on later, but my return journey to Diablo II began on June 27, 2019. As of tonight, it's finally ended. Beaten on Hell difficulty with every character.
This really is one of the best and most timeless games ever. No wonder the servers are still up and the fans are still playing after so long.
Good times.
This really is one of the best and most timeless games ever. No wonder the servers are still up and the fans are still playing after so long.
Good times.
My voting advice
Posted 5 years agoIf you want to skip over the politics, I feel your pain. I go here to either take a break from politics or mock them before going back to my business. But events both in and out of work lately have worn down my filters and inhibitions.
"Every four years" seems to come earlier and be more exhausting with each passing segment of time. I can't tell people how to vote, which is probably a good thing, but I can offer one bit of advice:
The presidential election is probably the LEAST important decision on the ballot, which is just as well because it's probably the decision over which you have the least control. What's more important is who's leading you on a more local, personal level.
I say this not just because it's true, or at least the first sentence is. I say it also from not just seeing comparable things, but from LIVING them for the last eight-odd years.
At my previous job, every few years, there was some change in company: The section I worked for broke off and formed its own company, then it merged with a couple others. Both times, nothing meaningful changed and I could contentedly keep going about my business because people I knew I could trust and not just work FOR, but work WITH, were guiding us.
Then, a couple years after THAT, the firm that hired us wanted a new company to come in. This happened for reasons that had nothing to do with our performance, in fact, they loved us and wanted as many of us as possible to stay. But my boss and my boss's boss, for separate reasons, didn't remain in those roles. I told my boss's boss in a letter I handwrote for her for her last day that through the changes in company names, I never had any doubt that we would get along just fine because she was still at the helm. I wrote my boss a similar letter for his last day of being my boss. I speak from a lot of experience when I say I wasn't wrong to feel that way.
For a while, things stayed mostly on track. In my case, even though I was now in more of a leadership role than before (unofficially but someone had to do it), I was able to keep things pretty well together because I was lucky enough to have maybe the single best coworker I've ever had still working with me.
And then...things got bad. I needed help, and the people I was now supposed to go to...didn't really help. I did my damnedest to keep it going and not let the customers know, but every day I wondered if a breaking point would be hit. For some half a year, I felt like I had nobody to turn to when I needed it anymore.
The higher-ups in the company? They weren't gonna help. They weren't there. They had bigger concerns, and I don't really blame them for it: I'll give them enough benefit of the doubt to believe they were actually doing the company-running stuff (which I don't wanna do so why would I blame them for it?) while we were doing the frontline work.
Several times, it was suggested by one of the people I asked for help to go to one of those higher-ups. I knew we couldn't go to her for help because she couldn't see things at our level. It wasn't her job to see things at our level. She saw things at a higher level, and that's good because we needed someone who could do that: While we handle what's going on at our level (the day-to-day work and our immediate surroundings), she was watching for stuff coming our way that she was better able to see because it's either bigger or above the metaphorical treeline. People in high positions can know mundane things and vice versa, especially if they started at the bottom, but I wouldn't go to, say, someone on the board of directors at a big lumber company and expect them to know anything beyond the basics of how their company turns trees into lumber. Again, I speak from experience when I say I knew that wasn't the answer, and continued experience suggests I was right to say so.
So, finally, I had enough, and I left. Now I have a much better relationship with my peers and those directly above me. I'm still learning the ropes, but I want to get better because I want them to feel like they can count on me; they've already done a great job of teaching and encouraging me, and that's improved my performance. It's the mutually beneficial relationship I lost and we, and consequently our company, are better off for it.
I've seen these kinds of relationships repeated over and over in my own life and others, reality and fiction alike, in all kinds of settings. We want our leaders to be good ones, however we define that, but it's not like they have any more time in their days than we do, so they can't pay attention to all of us at once. What's more, most of us don't meaningfully influence who's more than a few steps above us on the ladder, and quite often, we don't have to, especially when we have someone looking out for us closer to our own levels and who we want to look out for in turn.
Who are your senators? Your representatives? Your mayors and governors? Your judges? Your...anyone else on a lower level who has a say in what goes on around you on a day-to-day basis? Who COULD they be?
"Think globally, act locally" is more than just a saying. But thinking locally isn't so bad either, especially when acting locally is the best you can do...and it affects more than you might think.
"Every four years" seems to come earlier and be more exhausting with each passing segment of time. I can't tell people how to vote, which is probably a good thing, but I can offer one bit of advice:
The presidential election is probably the LEAST important decision on the ballot, which is just as well because it's probably the decision over which you have the least control. What's more important is who's leading you on a more local, personal level.
I say this not just because it's true, or at least the first sentence is. I say it also from not just seeing comparable things, but from LIVING them for the last eight-odd years.
At my previous job, every few years, there was some change in company: The section I worked for broke off and formed its own company, then it merged with a couple others. Both times, nothing meaningful changed and I could contentedly keep going about my business because people I knew I could trust and not just work FOR, but work WITH, were guiding us.
Then, a couple years after THAT, the firm that hired us wanted a new company to come in. This happened for reasons that had nothing to do with our performance, in fact, they loved us and wanted as many of us as possible to stay. But my boss and my boss's boss, for separate reasons, didn't remain in those roles. I told my boss's boss in a letter I handwrote for her for her last day that through the changes in company names, I never had any doubt that we would get along just fine because she was still at the helm. I wrote my boss a similar letter for his last day of being my boss. I speak from a lot of experience when I say I wasn't wrong to feel that way.
For a while, things stayed mostly on track. In my case, even though I was now in more of a leadership role than before (unofficially but someone had to do it), I was able to keep things pretty well together because I was lucky enough to have maybe the single best coworker I've ever had still working with me.
And then...things got bad. I needed help, and the people I was now supposed to go to...didn't really help. I did my damnedest to keep it going and not let the customers know, but every day I wondered if a breaking point would be hit. For some half a year, I felt like I had nobody to turn to when I needed it anymore.
The higher-ups in the company? They weren't gonna help. They weren't there. They had bigger concerns, and I don't really blame them for it: I'll give them enough benefit of the doubt to believe they were actually doing the company-running stuff (which I don't wanna do so why would I blame them for it?) while we were doing the frontline work.
Several times, it was suggested by one of the people I asked for help to go to one of those higher-ups. I knew we couldn't go to her for help because she couldn't see things at our level. It wasn't her job to see things at our level. She saw things at a higher level, and that's good because we needed someone who could do that: While we handle what's going on at our level (the day-to-day work and our immediate surroundings), she was watching for stuff coming our way that she was better able to see because it's either bigger or above the metaphorical treeline. People in high positions can know mundane things and vice versa, especially if they started at the bottom, but I wouldn't go to, say, someone on the board of directors at a big lumber company and expect them to know anything beyond the basics of how their company turns trees into lumber. Again, I speak from experience when I say I knew that wasn't the answer, and continued experience suggests I was right to say so.
So, finally, I had enough, and I left. Now I have a much better relationship with my peers and those directly above me. I'm still learning the ropes, but I want to get better because I want them to feel like they can count on me; they've already done a great job of teaching and encouraging me, and that's improved my performance. It's the mutually beneficial relationship I lost and we, and consequently our company, are better off for it.
I've seen these kinds of relationships repeated over and over in my own life and others, reality and fiction alike, in all kinds of settings. We want our leaders to be good ones, however we define that, but it's not like they have any more time in their days than we do, so they can't pay attention to all of us at once. What's more, most of us don't meaningfully influence who's more than a few steps above us on the ladder, and quite often, we don't have to, especially when we have someone looking out for us closer to our own levels and who we want to look out for in turn.
Who are your senators? Your representatives? Your mayors and governors? Your judges? Your...anyone else on a lower level who has a say in what goes on around you on a day-to-day basis? Who COULD they be?
"Think globally, act locally" is more than just a saying. But thinking locally isn't so bad either, especially when acting locally is the best you can do...and it affects more than you might think.
Please help one of my favorite furry writers
Posted 5 years agoUPDATE: Wow, only about 36 hours after I learned of the problem and it's already fixed, apparently. Guess it's all good now. Nicely done.
raydobbs
I’ve said it before, but it’s kind of impossible to know where “furry” started with me, considering I was an animal lover since before I could talk (and I have some cherished photos to prove it), so whenever that crossed into “furriness” as we know it has no real defined point, but there have been milestones. One of them came when my curiosity became too great to ignore and I did a fateful web search for “pregnant furry art,” which led me to good old Pregfur.org before long after that.
Some of the stories there really captured my attention and kept me coming back. One of the two I can remember that particularly impressed me was "Well, Hello Miss Powell" by one John Thornbush. It was never finished, even though a more updated version was posted to FA years later. I exaggerate very little when I say that's still one of the best pregfurry stories I've ever read, or certainly one of the most iconic in my mind. Some pretty nice pictures were associated with that story.
To my surprise, one of the regulars on Pregfur.org invited me to a biweekly IRL meeting of local furs, which I attended for a few years. Good times, even if I was kind of a wallflower who was just happy to be around people even if I wasn't always interacting with them. Also to my surprise (and what a coincidence this was), the author of that story was present for some of them and at least a few times showed me some more pictures he'd had done. I never forgot it.
Over the many years I've been interested in pregnancy-related stuff, I've read...lots. Lots and lots, both real and fictional, both "supposedly real but so out there I almost can't believe it" and "fictional but it's so well-done I could see this really happening." This artist's stories have definitely been in that latter category: This is someone who puts effort and realism into his writing, especially of things like pregnancy and birth, which I think by now even those of us who aren't interested in can say that believable fiction is hard to find. Overall, this person had a definite impact on me not just "as a furry" or "as a writer," but by extension, as a person.
To my dismay, though...life isn't fair, as they say, and not just with how seemingly little attention his work of this quality gets. Now he's at risk of losing everything, including intellectual property. I can't sit idly by and just let that fall into undeserving, ungrateful hands.
If you want to help, and get some art for it, check this out: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/38874950/
If you want to ask him about it yourself, check this out: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9662377/
The importance of "supporting your favorite artists" has only gotten clearer to me over time. I don't want this one who gave me a lot to go out with a little.
raydobbsI’ve said it before, but it’s kind of impossible to know where “furry” started with me, considering I was an animal lover since before I could talk (and I have some cherished photos to prove it), so whenever that crossed into “furriness” as we know it has no real defined point, but there have been milestones. One of them came when my curiosity became too great to ignore and I did a fateful web search for “pregnant furry art,” which led me to good old Pregfur.org before long after that.
Some of the stories there really captured my attention and kept me coming back. One of the two I can remember that particularly impressed me was "Well, Hello Miss Powell" by one John Thornbush. It was never finished, even though a more updated version was posted to FA years later. I exaggerate very little when I say that's still one of the best pregfurry stories I've ever read, or certainly one of the most iconic in my mind. Some pretty nice pictures were associated with that story.
To my surprise, one of the regulars on Pregfur.org invited me to a biweekly IRL meeting of local furs, which I attended for a few years. Good times, even if I was kind of a wallflower who was just happy to be around people even if I wasn't always interacting with them. Also to my surprise (and what a coincidence this was), the author of that story was present for some of them and at least a few times showed me some more pictures he'd had done. I never forgot it.
Over the many years I've been interested in pregnancy-related stuff, I've read...lots. Lots and lots, both real and fictional, both "supposedly real but so out there I almost can't believe it" and "fictional but it's so well-done I could see this really happening." This artist's stories have definitely been in that latter category: This is someone who puts effort and realism into his writing, especially of things like pregnancy and birth, which I think by now even those of us who aren't interested in can say that believable fiction is hard to find. Overall, this person had a definite impact on me not just "as a furry" or "as a writer," but by extension, as a person.
To my dismay, though...life isn't fair, as they say, and not just with how seemingly little attention his work of this quality gets. Now he's at risk of losing everything, including intellectual property. I can't sit idly by and just let that fall into undeserving, ungrateful hands.
If you want to help, and get some art for it, check this out: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/38874950/
If you want to ask him about it yourself, check this out: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9662377/
The importance of "supporting your favorite artists" has only gotten clearer to me over time. I don't want this one who gave me a lot to go out with a little.
No Remorse, No Regret, No Matter What (Crusader duology r...
Posted 5 years agoFirst and foremost, since I no longer have the strategy guides to reference (and didn't think to go look for them until I was writing this review), I owe a big shout-out to NSchwartzman, the only person who posted a FAQ for these games on GameFAQs, way back in 1998: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/19.....orse/faqs/1695 and to the people who put up their longplays on YouTube.
Also, yes, the title was inspired by the flavor text of the Magic: The Gathering card Akroma's Memorial.
Now here's a bit of a curveball: A review of something I just finished playing that I've wanted to play for a long time, but it's something you've probably never heard of but it's not because you shouldn't have. These are games that I wanted to play for a long time because they're games I grew up with that sort of disappeared but I never forgot them.
Let's go back to 1995, when playing video games on CDs was a thing that hadn't been a thing for too terribly long. A friend showed me this game called Crusader: No Remorse, and I thought it was awesome. What do you do? You play as a one-man army joining a Resistance against an evil world-government-corporation, in the FUTURE! Your goal? Kill everything that moves, then blow up everything that doesn't move. The second half of that last sentence is a big part of the fun, because there's SO MUCH of the environment you can destroy. Is it actually necessary? Not usually. But when you leave an area and it's not just full of dead enemies but it also looks like a tornado went through it, you really feel like you're kicking ass. Don't be satisfied with killing your enemies: Blow their shit up too! And hey, if you don't feel like looking for a keycard, sometimes you can just blow up the door you're trying to get through!
Add to that big levels, very memorable music, some surprisingly decent puzzle elements for an action-heavy game, lots of ways to kill for lots of ways to win, secrets worth looking for (including Easter Eggs, something I feel is sorely missing from a lot of games these days), and writing with a good sense of humor, and you've got yourself a game that any kid looking for an adrenaline rush can enjoy. Definitely worth a nod of approval even today is the fact that this game had full-motion video, still infamous for good reason, but I really feel like the FMV in this game stands above so much of the rest in that I thought it was cool as a kid, but while I grew up and realized that FMV was the accidental joke of mid-90s gaming, this game's FMV aged surprisingly well. I like the characters and I like the story they tell. Oh yeah, it still brings the cheese, but this cheese hasn't gone bad. Weasel alone can justify it.
I think I asked for the sequel, Crusader: No Regret, for a Christmas or birthday or something, and I only asked for games I really wanted for those occasions. I got it. If I were to make a list of "top 10 best video game sequels," it would be somewhere on that list: Keeping everything that made the previous game great, cutting out stuff that didn't work, and adding more stuff or changing enough that it has its own identity, all of which should please old and new fans alike.
But for all the praise I could give these games, they were left in the category of "games I played a lot that only a handful of people did too and the only way I find anyone who remembers them is if I go looking." Aka, "cult classics." Nobody really talks about them, nobody really remembers them, not unless they played the games. I'm sure we all have games, TV shows, and so on that we loved but sort of ended up on the cutting room floor of history, and for me, these are two of them. As many classics as can be found on Steam, these aren't among them.
And then, some five or six years ago, I was introduced to the site Good Old Games, www.gog.com. I wondered how much it lived up to that name, so I did some browsing. They had Duke Nukem Forever, which I snatched up, but I figured if you're going to have one "good old game," it'd be a smash hit like that everyone remembers. Then, doubtful that they'd actually have them, I searched for the Crusader games. My jaw dropped that they were listed. Insta-buy. I searched for more PC games, some I knew but never played, others I loved but were unfairly lost to the dusts of time, and kept finding them. I'm not known for impulse buying, but I must have bought six games that night. I bought so many that I found out the next day my bank turned off my card because such sudden repeated transactions were so uncharacteristic of me. I LOVE THIS SITE.
Recently, after finishing Night in the Woods and letting a die roll decide what to play next, it was finally the Crusader duology's turn. After 25 years, time to see how well it held up.
It stood the test of time, and then some.
In most shooters, you leave behind corpses; in Crusader, you leave behind ruin, and that's what the games are built around and what they pull off so well. Smile- or outright laughter-inducing bits of text from checking computer monitors made it worthwhile to check all of them (less a thing in Regret, most monitors in that game actually tell you something useful, even if they haven't lost their sense of humor). Taking control of enemy mechs, with all the joy of unlimited ammo, is a rare treat but oh god is it fun. Spider bombs are still some of the best little gadgets of destruction ever.
I stand by my statement that the FMV sequences are among the few good ones in video games. There's campiness and overacting, as is tradition, but the actors do a good job of portraying their characters...and again, if there's one character who can justify the FMV, it's Weasel. The versions on GOG must be updated compared to what I played, too, because there are a couple of cutscenes in Remorse that definitely weren't in the Remorse I played. I can't give too many details because spoilers, but they're in mission 14 and finally answered a 25-year-old question I'd wondered: What happened to Brooks. So that's a special little thing for me.
The music in both games is even better than I remember, with at least a couple songs good enough to be put on my iPod to listen to anytime I want, and as I've written elsewhere, I'm choosy about what music I put on my iPod. Some tunes get your pulse pounding and ready to shoot, shoot and shoot some more, while others are the more spacey-techno kind, but each level has its own music that gives it a feeling of its own identity, even if the characteristics of the levels themselves fit into one of only a few categories (some are the same kind of industrial, some are the same kind of office buildings, etc.). Regret takes it a step further by giving most levels two music tracks (one mission has one track, and one mission has at least four), usually all-new tunes with a couple of remixes and a couple of tunes right from the first game. The Resistance base from Remorse in particular has three tracks, and 25 years later, I can still replay the guitar strums from one of those tracks in my head without even having to look them up online. A last note on music, I just realized I didn't try this myself, but I think you can press Ctrl M to cycle through the tracks.
But all that said...there are a couple of definite low points, ones I remember from back then and that were proven to not just be "me being a stupid kid" but really were kind of the games' fault.
If there's one thing I can criticize, it's the controls. They're kind of jank. I haven't played a Resident Evil game yet, but I'm very familiar with the words "tank controls," and I feel like I've at least gotten a good idea of what that's like from the Crusader games. Even after 25 years, I think I retained enough muscle memory that it took less getting used to than it would with most people, but up until the end, there were times when I was second-guessing which arrow key I had to press to turn a certain direction and tapped one or the other to see which way I moved before committing to that movement. Much like with Resident Evil, over time, you can subconsciously adapt to it so it's less of a problem, but when you're suddenly set upon by enemies and need to turn to either face them or run to cover, that can feel like an unfair disadvantage: You don't get hit because you suck, you get hit because the key you push to turn a certain direction changes depending on which way you're facing.
Control issues are worse in Remorse, where there are more parts that require jumping, even if those parts are usually to get optional secrets, and these are decidedly not games with Mario levels of jumping control and precision. The puzzles are toned way down in Regret, which kind of sucks because I like it when action-heavy games can throw in puzzles without breaking the flow too much, especially when those puzzles have payoffs and aren't just things to endure while you get to more action (most of the time, but even the more complicated ones don't take more than a few minutes to guess your way through). But they did pretty much eliminate the need for jumping, which was the right decision because the jumping mechanics are even wonkier than the turning mechanics.
There're a few other things that could definitely use some improvement but there are still workarounds for them. One is that it can be hard to tell what's in piles of loot stacked on top of each other. If you squint, you can make at least some of it out, and it seems like in Regret, the various doodads get a little spaced out from each other to make it easier to know what's in there, but that's not going to help when it's off screen. It'd be really nice if you could more easily identify it, perhaps by holding a key a la Diablo, especially when they're offscreen (and, in the case of things that were deliberately hidden from the player, maybe things like keycards could not show up). Or perhaps selecting a pile of loot and seeing a menu of specific things that can be picked up that are close enough to you instead of cycling your selection cursor through stuff to get what you want. Another thing that could really be useful is some kind of item menu or wheel. In Remorse, you can only carry five guns so it doesn't take long to cycle to the weapon you want, while in Regret, you can carry every gun in the game but use the number keys on the keyboard to pick one, but the same is not true for items in either game. A small annoyance, but one that's going to come up frequently.
Overall, though, the good greatly outweighs the bad. I get that there's only so much room in our collective memory, but the Crusader duology doesn't deserve obscurity. These aren't good old games, they're great old games, and as of this review, you can get them both for a total of twelve bucks. Money...well...spent.
On GOG, the games come with the manuals and a couple of the peripheral documents that added a little flavor to the game's world (like giving you bits of history and a short manual on how the Resistance works as if you're a new member), which is pretty sweet, but I wish they came with the official Origin strategy guides. They weren't just super helpful, especially in a time when "go look it up on the Internet" wasn't something you were really expected to be able to do; they added tons of flavor to the game world, none of which was needed to know in order to play the games but the fact that it was there if you wanted it made it feel like they really put a lot of effort into this, even if much of it would be in the background, which is something I as a writer very much respect and that I really wish my younger self had better appreciated. For instance, one sort of Easter Egg that's right in front of your face and you'd never know it without reading the guide is that the layout of mission 9 of Remorse is based on the Origin offices. If you enjoyed the games, you'll love these, they're both useful to play the game and good reads on their own merit: http://www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk/downloads/
That said, it does please me that they kept one particular extra from Remorse: An anti-Resistance manual from the bad guys that has notes from two Resistance members sprinkled throughout it as if they left their own thoughts here and there. Like I said, not necessary for the game, but there's a surprising amount of backstory and personality to it if you want to find it.
I hear the original series was supposed to span FIVE games, and with how much went into designing the world, its characters and its history, I believe it...which makes it all the more a damn shame it stopped after only two...and ended on a "we still have a lot of work to do" note, no less. While Viewtiful Joe still tops the list of games that I was promised a conclusion for and then it never happened and it's unlikely it ever will, the Crusader games take either the silver or bronze medal. From time to time, I still want the series to get picked up again so I can continue the fight like I was promised. But not by EA, no, I stopped trusting them long ago, and an announcement from them that they're reviving or remaking the games would get, at best, a mixed reaction. From the games themselves to the manuals and other stuff made with them, the Crusader duology feels like it was made by people who didn't just do this as their job, they enjoyed what they did. Whether it's from a big-time developer or a handful of indie fans, I'd want these games back in the hands of people who make games because they enjoy them. That's a special kind of feeling that turns a game from great to classic, and that's the feeling I still get from these games.
My final score: 9/10.
And if you want to see these great old games for yourself, send me a note. First person who asks gets both of them on GOG.
Tips
* Read the manuals and practice! Knowing the controls and shortcut keys will save your life. A lot.
* Look for secrets. Some are hidden pretty well. There are a few that bear special mention:
** In Remorse, mission 2 (go back to the jail cells, there's a teleporter hidden in one), and mission 7 (THREE secrets, actually: the wall by the first staircase is fake and can be jumped through; there's some grating on the floor in that same room that hides a teleporter; and in one section with a light bridge, if you turn it off, run back to the side you started crossing from, and stand in just the right spot where the bridge starts extending, you'll land on a hidden ledge that leads to a teleporter).
** In Regret, at the start of mission 4, blow up the destructible panels on the floor and fall through. In mission 6, south of your mission objective, press the switch on the railing, then keep going south; there's a floor panel you can step on by the health station to reveal a teleporter to the game's main Easter Egg.
* Enemies can and do appear out of nowhere, even in areas you've already cleared. Backtrack as you need to get items or use health/energy stations, but beware that you may not be alone.
* I mentioned before that sometimes objects or the foreground can get in your way of seeing loot when searching. One solution is to jump somewhere more visible, and right after hitting the jump key, hit the search key so you select what you want to search. It will still be selected when you land.
* Explosions go through walls. Use them to destroy cameras and enemies on the other side. This is especially useful against mechs at rest; you can blow them up in their stations before they're activated. Just remember that explosions hurt you through walls, too.
* You can save whenever you want. How you use this is up to you, but I at least recommend having a separate save file that you overwrite at the start of each mission. That way, if you softlock yourself, you can start the mission over regardless of whether you saved after the softlock or not, instead of starting the whole game over. For instance, one time, I jumped out of the level...but only once.
* When you're crouching, there's no reload animation and the reload delay is shorter. This is especially useful for the pump shotgun, until you get the auto shotgun.
* When enemies are looking around, it isn't an idle animation; they're actually looking and will see you if you're in that direction (and won't see you if you're not).
* If you find you aren't using disposable items, just drop them to keep the slot empty. I for instance almost never found a use for land mines or portable Bettys, even though I probably could if I tried.
* A couple notes on mechs:
** They take one-third damage from most weapons, except for explosions.
** I might be misremembering, but I don't think the Vortex gun works in Remorse; it's supposed to be an anti-mech weapon but I feel like I never saw it work any better than other weapons. It does, however, work in Regret, with each hit stunning them for a moment; sustained hits will usually stunlock them...usually.
* At the end of mission 8 in Regret, if you're playing on Loose Cannon or No Regret, take the disruptor off the telepad or you can't finish the level.
Tips if you're not above playing dirty
* For guns that use clips for ammo, if you drop the gun and pick it up, it will have a full clip in it, basically giving you infinite ammo.
* Enemies react to taking damage, but unless they're onscreen, they won't react to anything else. They won't even see you, nor will they won't start opening fire on you unless they're mostly onscreen. On that note...
* Pressing Z centers the camera on you. Holding it down keeps it centered. There are a couple ways to use these to your advantage:
** You can shoot enemies before they can react. If you aim right or hit your mark with a more powerful weapon, you can kill them before they have a chance to get a single shot at you.
** I think you can destroy cameras in Remorse even if they're not onscreen, but that doesn't seem to be the case in Regret.
* Like I said, you can save and load whenever you want, meaning you can just savescum your way through the game if that's your thing.
Or you can just outright cheat
That FAQ I linked before? It has all the cheat codes. I won't judge you for using them; I did when I was a kid. In fact, give the "unlock all cheats" from Remorse a try in Regret, even if you don't want to cheat. It'll be fun. Trust me.
Also, yes, the title was inspired by the flavor text of the Magic: The Gathering card Akroma's Memorial.
Now here's a bit of a curveball: A review of something I just finished playing that I've wanted to play for a long time, but it's something you've probably never heard of but it's not because you shouldn't have. These are games that I wanted to play for a long time because they're games I grew up with that sort of disappeared but I never forgot them.
Let's go back to 1995, when playing video games on CDs was a thing that hadn't been a thing for too terribly long. A friend showed me this game called Crusader: No Remorse, and I thought it was awesome. What do you do? You play as a one-man army joining a Resistance against an evil world-government-corporation, in the FUTURE! Your goal? Kill everything that moves, then blow up everything that doesn't move. The second half of that last sentence is a big part of the fun, because there's SO MUCH of the environment you can destroy. Is it actually necessary? Not usually. But when you leave an area and it's not just full of dead enemies but it also looks like a tornado went through it, you really feel like you're kicking ass. Don't be satisfied with killing your enemies: Blow their shit up too! And hey, if you don't feel like looking for a keycard, sometimes you can just blow up the door you're trying to get through!
Add to that big levels, very memorable music, some surprisingly decent puzzle elements for an action-heavy game, lots of ways to kill for lots of ways to win, secrets worth looking for (including Easter Eggs, something I feel is sorely missing from a lot of games these days), and writing with a good sense of humor, and you've got yourself a game that any kid looking for an adrenaline rush can enjoy. Definitely worth a nod of approval even today is the fact that this game had full-motion video, still infamous for good reason, but I really feel like the FMV in this game stands above so much of the rest in that I thought it was cool as a kid, but while I grew up and realized that FMV was the accidental joke of mid-90s gaming, this game's FMV aged surprisingly well. I like the characters and I like the story they tell. Oh yeah, it still brings the cheese, but this cheese hasn't gone bad. Weasel alone can justify it.
I think I asked for the sequel, Crusader: No Regret, for a Christmas or birthday or something, and I only asked for games I really wanted for those occasions. I got it. If I were to make a list of "top 10 best video game sequels," it would be somewhere on that list: Keeping everything that made the previous game great, cutting out stuff that didn't work, and adding more stuff or changing enough that it has its own identity, all of which should please old and new fans alike.
But for all the praise I could give these games, they were left in the category of "games I played a lot that only a handful of people did too and the only way I find anyone who remembers them is if I go looking." Aka, "cult classics." Nobody really talks about them, nobody really remembers them, not unless they played the games. I'm sure we all have games, TV shows, and so on that we loved but sort of ended up on the cutting room floor of history, and for me, these are two of them. As many classics as can be found on Steam, these aren't among them.
And then, some five or six years ago, I was introduced to the site Good Old Games, www.gog.com. I wondered how much it lived up to that name, so I did some browsing. They had Duke Nukem Forever, which I snatched up, but I figured if you're going to have one "good old game," it'd be a smash hit like that everyone remembers. Then, doubtful that they'd actually have them, I searched for the Crusader games. My jaw dropped that they were listed. Insta-buy. I searched for more PC games, some I knew but never played, others I loved but were unfairly lost to the dusts of time, and kept finding them. I'm not known for impulse buying, but I must have bought six games that night. I bought so many that I found out the next day my bank turned off my card because such sudden repeated transactions were so uncharacteristic of me. I LOVE THIS SITE.
Recently, after finishing Night in the Woods and letting a die roll decide what to play next, it was finally the Crusader duology's turn. After 25 years, time to see how well it held up.
It stood the test of time, and then some.
In most shooters, you leave behind corpses; in Crusader, you leave behind ruin, and that's what the games are built around and what they pull off so well. Smile- or outright laughter-inducing bits of text from checking computer monitors made it worthwhile to check all of them (less a thing in Regret, most monitors in that game actually tell you something useful, even if they haven't lost their sense of humor). Taking control of enemy mechs, with all the joy of unlimited ammo, is a rare treat but oh god is it fun. Spider bombs are still some of the best little gadgets of destruction ever.
I stand by my statement that the FMV sequences are among the few good ones in video games. There's campiness and overacting, as is tradition, but the actors do a good job of portraying their characters...and again, if there's one character who can justify the FMV, it's Weasel. The versions on GOG must be updated compared to what I played, too, because there are a couple of cutscenes in Remorse that definitely weren't in the Remorse I played. I can't give too many details because spoilers, but they're in mission 14 and finally answered a 25-year-old question I'd wondered: What happened to Brooks. So that's a special little thing for me.
The music in both games is even better than I remember, with at least a couple songs good enough to be put on my iPod to listen to anytime I want, and as I've written elsewhere, I'm choosy about what music I put on my iPod. Some tunes get your pulse pounding and ready to shoot, shoot and shoot some more, while others are the more spacey-techno kind, but each level has its own music that gives it a feeling of its own identity, even if the characteristics of the levels themselves fit into one of only a few categories (some are the same kind of industrial, some are the same kind of office buildings, etc.). Regret takes it a step further by giving most levels two music tracks (one mission has one track, and one mission has at least four), usually all-new tunes with a couple of remixes and a couple of tunes right from the first game. The Resistance base from Remorse in particular has three tracks, and 25 years later, I can still replay the guitar strums from one of those tracks in my head without even having to look them up online. A last note on music, I just realized I didn't try this myself, but I think you can press Ctrl M to cycle through the tracks.
But all that said...there are a couple of definite low points, ones I remember from back then and that were proven to not just be "me being a stupid kid" but really were kind of the games' fault.
If there's one thing I can criticize, it's the controls. They're kind of jank. I haven't played a Resident Evil game yet, but I'm very familiar with the words "tank controls," and I feel like I've at least gotten a good idea of what that's like from the Crusader games. Even after 25 years, I think I retained enough muscle memory that it took less getting used to than it would with most people, but up until the end, there were times when I was second-guessing which arrow key I had to press to turn a certain direction and tapped one or the other to see which way I moved before committing to that movement. Much like with Resident Evil, over time, you can subconsciously adapt to it so it's less of a problem, but when you're suddenly set upon by enemies and need to turn to either face them or run to cover, that can feel like an unfair disadvantage: You don't get hit because you suck, you get hit because the key you push to turn a certain direction changes depending on which way you're facing.
Control issues are worse in Remorse, where there are more parts that require jumping, even if those parts are usually to get optional secrets, and these are decidedly not games with Mario levels of jumping control and precision. The puzzles are toned way down in Regret, which kind of sucks because I like it when action-heavy games can throw in puzzles without breaking the flow too much, especially when those puzzles have payoffs and aren't just things to endure while you get to more action (most of the time, but even the more complicated ones don't take more than a few minutes to guess your way through). But they did pretty much eliminate the need for jumping, which was the right decision because the jumping mechanics are even wonkier than the turning mechanics.
There're a few other things that could definitely use some improvement but there are still workarounds for them. One is that it can be hard to tell what's in piles of loot stacked on top of each other. If you squint, you can make at least some of it out, and it seems like in Regret, the various doodads get a little spaced out from each other to make it easier to know what's in there, but that's not going to help when it's off screen. It'd be really nice if you could more easily identify it, perhaps by holding a key a la Diablo, especially when they're offscreen (and, in the case of things that were deliberately hidden from the player, maybe things like keycards could not show up). Or perhaps selecting a pile of loot and seeing a menu of specific things that can be picked up that are close enough to you instead of cycling your selection cursor through stuff to get what you want. Another thing that could really be useful is some kind of item menu or wheel. In Remorse, you can only carry five guns so it doesn't take long to cycle to the weapon you want, while in Regret, you can carry every gun in the game but use the number keys on the keyboard to pick one, but the same is not true for items in either game. A small annoyance, but one that's going to come up frequently.
Overall, though, the good greatly outweighs the bad. I get that there's only so much room in our collective memory, but the Crusader duology doesn't deserve obscurity. These aren't good old games, they're great old games, and as of this review, you can get them both for a total of twelve bucks. Money...well...spent.
On GOG, the games come with the manuals and a couple of the peripheral documents that added a little flavor to the game's world (like giving you bits of history and a short manual on how the Resistance works as if you're a new member), which is pretty sweet, but I wish they came with the official Origin strategy guides. They weren't just super helpful, especially in a time when "go look it up on the Internet" wasn't something you were really expected to be able to do; they added tons of flavor to the game world, none of which was needed to know in order to play the games but the fact that it was there if you wanted it made it feel like they really put a lot of effort into this, even if much of it would be in the background, which is something I as a writer very much respect and that I really wish my younger self had better appreciated. For instance, one sort of Easter Egg that's right in front of your face and you'd never know it without reading the guide is that the layout of mission 9 of Remorse is based on the Origin offices. If you enjoyed the games, you'll love these, they're both useful to play the game and good reads on their own merit: http://www.pixsoriginadventures.co.uk/downloads/
That said, it does please me that they kept one particular extra from Remorse: An anti-Resistance manual from the bad guys that has notes from two Resistance members sprinkled throughout it as if they left their own thoughts here and there. Like I said, not necessary for the game, but there's a surprising amount of backstory and personality to it if you want to find it.
I hear the original series was supposed to span FIVE games, and with how much went into designing the world, its characters and its history, I believe it...which makes it all the more a damn shame it stopped after only two...and ended on a "we still have a lot of work to do" note, no less. While Viewtiful Joe still tops the list of games that I was promised a conclusion for and then it never happened and it's unlikely it ever will, the Crusader games take either the silver or bronze medal. From time to time, I still want the series to get picked up again so I can continue the fight like I was promised. But not by EA, no, I stopped trusting them long ago, and an announcement from them that they're reviving or remaking the games would get, at best, a mixed reaction. From the games themselves to the manuals and other stuff made with them, the Crusader duology feels like it was made by people who didn't just do this as their job, they enjoyed what they did. Whether it's from a big-time developer or a handful of indie fans, I'd want these games back in the hands of people who make games because they enjoy them. That's a special kind of feeling that turns a game from great to classic, and that's the feeling I still get from these games.
My final score: 9/10.
And if you want to see these great old games for yourself, send me a note. First person who asks gets both of them on GOG.
Tips
* Read the manuals and practice! Knowing the controls and shortcut keys will save your life. A lot.
* Look for secrets. Some are hidden pretty well. There are a few that bear special mention:
** In Remorse, mission 2 (go back to the jail cells, there's a teleporter hidden in one), and mission 7 (THREE secrets, actually: the wall by the first staircase is fake and can be jumped through; there's some grating on the floor in that same room that hides a teleporter; and in one section with a light bridge, if you turn it off, run back to the side you started crossing from, and stand in just the right spot where the bridge starts extending, you'll land on a hidden ledge that leads to a teleporter).
** In Regret, at the start of mission 4, blow up the destructible panels on the floor and fall through. In mission 6, south of your mission objective, press the switch on the railing, then keep going south; there's a floor panel you can step on by the health station to reveal a teleporter to the game's main Easter Egg.
* Enemies can and do appear out of nowhere, even in areas you've already cleared. Backtrack as you need to get items or use health/energy stations, but beware that you may not be alone.
* I mentioned before that sometimes objects or the foreground can get in your way of seeing loot when searching. One solution is to jump somewhere more visible, and right after hitting the jump key, hit the search key so you select what you want to search. It will still be selected when you land.
* Explosions go through walls. Use them to destroy cameras and enemies on the other side. This is especially useful against mechs at rest; you can blow them up in their stations before they're activated. Just remember that explosions hurt you through walls, too.
* You can save whenever you want. How you use this is up to you, but I at least recommend having a separate save file that you overwrite at the start of each mission. That way, if you softlock yourself, you can start the mission over regardless of whether you saved after the softlock or not, instead of starting the whole game over. For instance, one time, I jumped out of the level...but only once.
* When you're crouching, there's no reload animation and the reload delay is shorter. This is especially useful for the pump shotgun, until you get the auto shotgun.
* When enemies are looking around, it isn't an idle animation; they're actually looking and will see you if you're in that direction (and won't see you if you're not).
* If you find you aren't using disposable items, just drop them to keep the slot empty. I for instance almost never found a use for land mines or portable Bettys, even though I probably could if I tried.
* A couple notes on mechs:
** They take one-third damage from most weapons, except for explosions.
** I might be misremembering, but I don't think the Vortex gun works in Remorse; it's supposed to be an anti-mech weapon but I feel like I never saw it work any better than other weapons. It does, however, work in Regret, with each hit stunning them for a moment; sustained hits will usually stunlock them...usually.
* At the end of mission 8 in Regret, if you're playing on Loose Cannon or No Regret, take the disruptor off the telepad or you can't finish the level.
Tips if you're not above playing dirty
* For guns that use clips for ammo, if you drop the gun and pick it up, it will have a full clip in it, basically giving you infinite ammo.
* Enemies react to taking damage, but unless they're onscreen, they won't react to anything else. They won't even see you, nor will they won't start opening fire on you unless they're mostly onscreen. On that note...
* Pressing Z centers the camera on you. Holding it down keeps it centered. There are a couple ways to use these to your advantage:
** You can shoot enemies before they can react. If you aim right or hit your mark with a more powerful weapon, you can kill them before they have a chance to get a single shot at you.
** I think you can destroy cameras in Remorse even if they're not onscreen, but that doesn't seem to be the case in Regret.
* Like I said, you can save and load whenever you want, meaning you can just savescum your way through the game if that's your thing.
Or you can just outright cheat
That FAQ I linked before? It has all the cheat codes. I won't judge you for using them; I did when I was a kid. In fact, give the "unlock all cheats" from Remorse a try in Regret, even if you don't want to cheat. It'll be fun. Trust me.
My first good day at (this) work
Posted 5 years agoSo, today at work, I went through a list of things I had to follow up on, and after checking it against what my mentor found that I had to follow up on, I...got them all right and didn't forget anything. I hadn't felt like I did something right mostly on my own, no matter how inconsequential, at this job in the last two or so weeks, and while part of me says "let's see you do that when you have ten or more loans to juggle and not just two," for now it was the first time I felt like I had actually learned something.
I was also asked by my new manager to demonstrate a new document retrieval system that must have only just gotten put in because nobody but me knew about it yet. And to be asked to teach again...that's a truly great feeling too even though I barely know more about it than my manager does but now we can all learn together.
And then I got home and it's a very windy day, with gusts up to 35 mph or so I heard. I must have stepped into one of those gusts. Feeling the wind in my face, at the perfect balance between cold enough to wake someone up but warm enough that you can stand it, was wonderful. I just walked the block from the bus stop to home with my arms open just to take it all in. At one point the wind was so strong I couldn't walk against it for a second.
And then I got home and things started okay until...bam, spilled the rice I made for dinner. Thank goodness it wasn't something made with spaghetti sauce or something and was easily cleaned but...slightly dulled my mood. But only slightly because I still felt kinda good about my first actually good day at work. Outside of training that is.
And then...the only reason I saw it was because I was going to get the vacuum...I looked out the window and saw the beginning of a rainbow...and within a couple of minutes that rainbow kept rising up until I couldn't see how high it went anymore.
I got pictures and videos of it rising into the sky before my eyes. It was like Longcat herself saw my journal being sad at her passing and decided not to let my day end on a sour note so she graced me with her presence when I needed it.
Over the course of only four minutes, just as quickly as it came, it was gone.
But while it lasted...it was magical.
I was also asked by my new manager to demonstrate a new document retrieval system that must have only just gotten put in because nobody but me knew about it yet. And to be asked to teach again...that's a truly great feeling too even though I barely know more about it than my manager does but now we can all learn together.
And then I got home and it's a very windy day, with gusts up to 35 mph or so I heard. I must have stepped into one of those gusts. Feeling the wind in my face, at the perfect balance between cold enough to wake someone up but warm enough that you can stand it, was wonderful. I just walked the block from the bus stop to home with my arms open just to take it all in. At one point the wind was so strong I couldn't walk against it for a second.
And then I got home and things started okay until...bam, spilled the rice I made for dinner. Thank goodness it wasn't something made with spaghetti sauce or something and was easily cleaned but...slightly dulled my mood. But only slightly because I still felt kinda good about my first actually good day at work. Outside of training that is.
And then...the only reason I saw it was because I was going to get the vacuum...I looked out the window and saw the beginning of a rainbow...and within a couple of minutes that rainbow kept rising up until I couldn't see how high it went anymore.
I got pictures and videos of it rising into the sky before my eyes. It was like Longcat herself saw my journal being sad at her passing and decided not to let my day end on a sour note so she graced me with her presence when I needed it.
Over the course of only four minutes, just as quickly as it came, it was gone.
But while it lasted...it was magical.
