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britesparc · 3 years

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Weekend Top Ten #497

Top Ten PC Games No One Talks About Anymore

Blimey, Quake is rather good, isn’t it? Have you heard about it? I really hope so, because it’s only twenty-five years old. I mean, Jesus. What’s up with that? Quake is meant to be the future. It’s full of true-3D polygonal texture-mapping and real-time dynamic light-sourcing. Fancy it being a quarter of a century old. That’s ridiculous. “Old” is for things like, I dunno, Space Invaders or The Godfather or I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Stuff that our parents heard about before we were born. It’s not – it’s absolutely not – used to describe something that people bought 3D accelerator cards for. It’s not used to describe a game that popularised online gaming.

But old it is, getting silver anniversary cards and everything. No longer the angry, hungry young tiger, devouring its ancestors and growling at upstart rivals like Duke Nukem 3D – sure, you’ve got non-linear levels, interactive scenery, and toilet humour, but we’ve got grenades that bounce with real physics – Quake is now an aged beast of the forest, resplendent, battle-scarred, weary with gravitas. Quake is the game that shaped the now, but it does not represent the future anymore. In fact, arguably its greatest rival – Unreal – is the game with the lasting, living legacy, its progeny building the next generation of gaming with one of the most popular and impressive engines around, the framework underpinning everything from Gears to Jedi to Fortnite. Quake blew us all away, but arguably it ceded the conflict, secure in its status as one of the most important and influential games of all time. Quake II got plaudits for actually having a proper story and an engrossing single-player campaign (and coloured lighting!), and its immediate descendants such as Half-Life changed the nature of what FPS games could do, but in a funny way it feels like Quake has long since retired. A sleeping titan. It got old.

So it’s great that they rereleased it on modern systems! The version of Quake released last month is basically the game I remember, but tarted up a little around the edges, with texture filtering and dynamic shadows and other stuff that I couldn’t manage on my Pentium 75 back in the day. It plays great – it’s slick as anything, and you go tearing round the levels like a Ferrari with a nail gun, blasting dudes and ducking back around a corner before you get hit with a pineapple in the face. It’s the first game I’ve played in a long, long time that evokes the feel of classic PC first-person shooters of that era – which, y’know, kinda makes sense as it is a first-person shooter of that era. But that style of fast-paced run-and-gun, circle-strafing gameplay has gone out of fashion now, with FPS games usually favouring slow, methodical, tactical combat, or larger-scale open-world warfare usually involving vehicles. Whether it’s a straight-up no-frills blaster like Quake, or a game that takes you on more of a linear, narrative journey, like Quake II, or even just a multiplayer-focused arena shooter, like Quake III Arena, it does feel like a dying artform, like a style of gameplay that could do with a resurgence (and, to be fair, there are games on the horizon that look like they’re harking back to the era, so that’s cool).

But it’s not just first-person shooters like Quake that I feel have slipped from gaming’s shared consciousness. Maybe it’s my age (it’s definitely my age) but there seems to be quite a lot of games that were a big deal twenty or so years ago that are utterly forgotten now, whereas some – Doom, Duke Nukem, Command & Conquer, Age of Empires – are often namechecked or rebooted (even before the full-on 2016 reboot, Doom must have been one of the most re-released games of the last thirty years). But there are lots of others where sometimes I feel like I’m the only one that remembers it. And that’s where this list comes in: inspired by the excellent re-release of the Quake franchise, here are some other great PC games of that general era that I feel still need shouting about, even if I’m the only one doing the shouting. Maybe they don’t all need a full-on remaster or whatever, but it’d still be nice if they got a bit of modern gaming love.

No One Lives Forever (2000): coming at a time when most FPS games were still Doom-style blasters with little in the way of real plot, NOLF was different: stylish and funny, genuinely well-written (as in the dialogue), with interesting objective-based missions and a cool female protagonist. It skirted similar ground to Bond and the then-white-hot Austin Powers franchise. Two games were made and then, as far as I’m aware, it evaporated into a mess of tangled rights, hence no sequels or remakes. A shame, because it was great.

MDK (1997): the next game from the people who made the multimedia phenomenon that was Earthworm Jim, MDK was a really cool slice of sci-fi style, all sleek level design and intriguing features. It had a supremely bonkers plot which bled through into a game with a sense of humour, but mostly it was the run-and-gun gameplay and innovative use of a scoped weapon – possibly (don’t quote me on this) the first sniper rifle in a videogame. An even wackier sequel followed, but despite its cult status, that was it.

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Klingon Honor Guard (1998): it’s probably fair to say that Star Trek has not had as many great videogames as Star Wars, perhaps because Trek’s historically straightlaced earnestness just didn’t translate as well as bashing someone up the chops with a laser sword. Honor Guard shook things up by casting you as a Klingon, showering levels with pink blood and going Full Worf. It was the first game to licence the Unreal engine, and had a cool level where you walked along the outside of a ship like in First Contact. Also: shout out to the Voyager game, Elite Force (2000), which was another really good FPS set in the world of Trek, with intriguing gameplay wrinkles as you fought the Borg. It also let you wander round the titular starship between levels. Trek deserves more quality action games like these.

Earth 2150 (2000): the nineties on PC really saw RTS games come down to those who liked Command & Conquer or those who liked Warcraft, but as the decade drew to a close other titles chased the wargame crown (including Total Annihilation, which would have made this list, except I feel like the Supreme Commander franchise is a sequel in all but name). 2150 was notable for its Starcraft-like mix of three factions with contrasting play styles, and its use of 3D graphics and the ability to design and build weapons of war that could lay waste to armies and bases with spectacular results. I think the genre has ossified into something more hardcore, and this was probably an inflex point where idiots like me could still get a handle on things.

Midtown Madness (1999): Microsoft has a history of building up great racing franchises and then abandoning them, but their “Madness” line of games in the late nineties/early noughties was terrific and much-missed. Back when tooling round actual 3D cities was still new and exciting, this was a no-holds-barred arcade racer, with some gorgeous shiny chrome effects on the cars, and very nippy handling. It was great fun smashing up VW Beetles and the like. It was surpassed, I guess, by Project Gotham on the Xbox, and sadly the whole franchise was then forgotten, despite the ascendent Forza franchise mostly shunning city driving.

Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines (1998): part tactical war game, part puzzler, Commandos was famous for its gorgeously intricate graphics and its difficulty – I mean, it was way too hard for me. But its beautiful top-down design and its slow, methodical gameplay was compelling, as you evaded Nazis and solved missions with a team of unique units with special skills. Sequels followed, and western spin-off Desperados, but there’s not been a true follow-up for quite some time, despite promises; and few games have echoed its style or look.

The Pandora Directive (1996): okay, so really this is just a placeholder for an entire subgenre of game that appears to have been forgotten: interactive movies. I know, there are flirtations with this from time to time; and many of these games featured obtuse puzzles and relatively little gameplay strung between FMV scenes. Pandora was great though; a first-person 3D game with loads of old-school adventure aspects, as well as FMV, it was a noir-tinged detective story but set in the future. The Tex Murphy series (of which this was the fourth instalment) has had sequels – the most recent one was sadly cancelled only this year – but many other games of a similar ilk, such as Phantasmagoria and even Wing Commander – have fallen by the wayside. With in-engine graphics now allowing the fluidity and expression of cinematic renders of old, shooting movie inserts doesn’t seem like it’s worthwhile; but I still always loved a point-and-click game that featured digitised actors milling about. Toonstruck, anyone?

Marathon (1994): before Halo there was… Marathon! Back when I used to lug my Pentium round my mate’s house so we could play different games on different machines side-by-side, he’d bang on about this Mac-first series of games, like Doom but better, with an intricate plot and complex levels. And y’know what? He was actually onto something. There’s a style and an earnestness to the Marathon franchise, along with many concepts that would be refined in Halo years later. With Bungie now seemingly committed to Destiny, and Halo in Microsoft’s hands, I’m not sure what could possibly become of this, their forgotten FPS forebear, especially as it shares so much DNA with its offspring.

Outlaws (1997): LucasArts are famous for two things, really: their Star Wars games and their adventures. But they made loads of other stuff too – including this intriguing Western shoot-em-up. Back when Western games were rarer than Western movies (which were rare at the time), this quirky and difficult cowboy-em-up saw you rounding up outlaws in typical oater locations such as saloons, trains, and mines. It had great music and a really intriguing set of weapons, including (don’t quote me on this) the first sniper rifle in a game. Sadly Outlaws’ success could be described as “cult” and it never got a proper sequel. and, weirdly, despite the success of Red Dead Redemption, we’ve never had a bit Western-themed FPS again. Which is really odd.

Soldier of Fortune (2000): I pondered whether to include this one, as if I’m honest I’m not sure I want this licence brought back. But I can’t deny the game was a huge deal and has seemingly been forgotten. A relatively gritty and realistic combat game with a huge variety of excellent real-world weaponry, its big hook was its incredibly detailed damage modelling, that could see you blowing limbs off enemies, or splitting open heads, or disembowelling them. Whilst its OTT violence made headlines, the granularity of its systems meant you could be more tactical, shooting weapons out of hands. But really its biggest controversy should be its association with a big old gun magazine.

There are many, many other games that nearly made the list - I almost had a Top Ten of just FPS games, for instance. Little Big Adventure was here, till a sequel was announced the other day. Hexen and Heretic I think still have a place in FPS history. Toonstruck, although without a sequel, was only really a cult hit at the time, and I feel the people who’d love it already know about it. I do tend to overthink these things, y’know.

So maybe not all of these could make a comeback, but all the same I don’t think they should be forgotten, and it does make we wonder what games will fall by the wayside twenty or more years from now. That game about the big green space marine dude in a mask – what was that called again…?

#top ten #games #pc games #fps #shooter #strategy #1990s #2000s

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downloadgtavandroid58 · 3 years

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We will certainly update new functioning download links immediately. Feel free to ask your any kind of question related to this tutorial via comment section, we will reply you soon. After seeing lots of passion of Android users towards GTA 5, Superstar has actually determined to make this game feasible to operate on Android OS. SO they had developed and launched GTA 5 Apk in beta version.

Superstar in fact made it out of the park from the GTA franchise business. With the arrival of mobile video gaming, they have additionally released many games for Android and also iOS tools. Darrell is a blog owner who likes to stay up to date with the most up to date from the technology and also money globe.

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Considerable adjustments have been made with the increase in the variety of tools modifiers and also the capacity to take turns. Consequently, you can actively switch guns as well as extremely versatile sources whenever you go anywhere. This game's new functions make it much more sensible and also difficult than previous Grand Theft Auto games. And like in various other games of this kind, you will be given numerous alternatives in terms of garments, hairstyles, and also facial expressions.

The storyline teems with twists and turns, and also it's quite remarkable how the entire video game plays out. I never get tired of soaring mobsters, driving about in my individual Lamborghini, and also viewing the property of the abundant as well as famous burn down around you-- all while earning money for it. First COMPUTER variation development started in parallel with PlayStation 3 as well as Xbox 360. COMPUTER growth later paved the way as emphasis shifted to the console releases however ultimately resumed. Since the team had planned a COMPUTER variation from at an early stage, they made technical decisions ahead of time to promote later on growth, like support for 64-bit computer as well as DirectX 11.

The sites asserting to offer you the mobile variation of GTA V are phony. We can only wait for Superstar Gamings to lastly re-release GTA V for mobile devices. Till then, we can take pleasure in the other titles they have currently launched. To get the complete version of the video game, you need to get the OBB documents together with the information documents. The GTA V APK data alone is not enough to permit you to play and also enjoy the premium variation of the video game on your cellphone.

The initial thing that you were going to need to do is confirm that your device hardware is set up as well as powerful sufficient to run the game in the first place. If you 'd enjoy absolutely nothing greater than to have the chance to play this innovative video game on your favorite Android devices, you're going to need to obtain your hands on a proper GTA 5 APK. No, the GTA 5 APK is not created by the main GTA engineer. Some video game designers have actually developed the mobile APK variation.

However, with the increasing interest of players in GTA V, it projects to locate a solution to download and install GTA V on mobile devices. Before downloading as well as mounting, you have to make certain that you have actually totally removed the previous version or cost-free variation of GTA5 from your Android gadget. If you missed this action, your installment will certainly be failed at any time and you will unable to set up and also play the game effectively. Pavlovich discovered that while Rockstar appointed the team objectives to compose songs for, a few of their arbitrary creations influenced various other missions and triggered motivation for further score advancement. He reviewed a "stem-based" system made use of to make music fit vibrant game variables where the group would certainly make up songs to highlight end results players could make quickly after completing objectives.

That song is a simplified variation of the GTA I motif's background songs. It was additionally the pager's ringtone in GTA III, and also remained in the GTA Vice City introductory under the retro Superstar Games logo design. If the gamer changes or fires weapons after a telephone call, the phone will certainly not disappear on CJ's hand. Changing to various other weapons, or entering an auto would certainly then eliminate this technique. If Carl has his phone out and also faces water being sprayed from a Firetruck, possibilities are that if he is just finishing a discussion and also is about to place his phone away, he instead will certainly maintain it in his hand.

#download android gta 5

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wainwrightjakobshammerlock · 4 years

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finally. i decided to do this. anyways hello there, i am jake and today i want to talk about something; you see, if you are in the tf2 fandom, you probably know about heavymedic. Wherther you are a hardcore gamer who resents f2p’s or a person that never played the game but has trillions of notes on their art- you know heavymedic exists and most of all you probably ship it.

And I find that weird. In the few fandoms in my life I have been in I had never seen a single ship be so widely if not shipped, then accepted. Sure, maybe everyone in the GF fandom knows what Billdip is - for better or for worse. Sure, maybe the HS fandom is 70% shipping.

But I have never ever seen such a phenomenon in a prominent multiplayer game fandom. A fandom, sadly, oftentimes filled with toxicity. Overwatch is very similar here - yet ships are either a hot topic of discussion or straight up ignored. But TF2? In here for whatever reason we ship these two mercenaries. And in this essay I will try and find a reason or two why is that.

Apologies for any mistakes or incoherency. English is not my first language, I need to ramble, and my vocabulary is all over the place.

Content warning: mentions of homophobia, blood, death, mentions of WLW fetishization, nsfw mention. Also MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE TF2 COMICS.

Part 1: Canonical Evidence and Interactions

Let’s be honest: I could ramble about this one for days on end. But I’ll try and keep it short.

First and foremost we have the official videos. And of course the first thing that comes to mind is Meet the Medic.

At the very start of the part where Medic himself appears, we see him telling a joke about a particularly gruesome situation to Heavy.

He laughs along with him, visibly enjoying his company. He even smiles as he waits for another joke. Heavy only shows genuine fear a lot later.

And of course this damn scene always cracks me up. Medic slightly pinches Heavy’s cheek and strokes his lip gently (the other part is almost not noticeable unless you play the video at slow speed).

Of course we all know about the Hand Hold that happens somewhere halfway in the vid. I don’t think I have to explain the gayness in that. The fact their hands stay interlocked even after Medic helps Heavy up. The deep breath Medic takes because even he cannot handle the emotions. That few seconds is unresolved sexual tension manifest.

Overall the short shows a strong feeling of trust between these two. Medic confides in Heavy and reverse. Yeah he puts a baboon heart into his friend’s chest cavity but the fact (as proven at the end of the video) that Heavy was the first one to have an Ubercharge implanted into him shows that Medic at the very least considers him a lab rat.

I treat End of the Line as non-canonical, as do many others, and as such won’t discuss it here. But it will forever crack me up that Valve endorsed such levels of homoerotic subtext.

These two have some short moments in other videos, like for example in Invasion Heavy helps Medic up (CINEMATIC PARALLELS) but it’s nothing major so I guess I’ll skip forward.

Second is their interactions ingame. You might call me a weirdo for trying to find stuff in there but holy shit I have things to say and I’m going to say them.

You thought I was going to fanboy over the “i love this doktor” voiceline huh? Well not really. I wish these two had unique lines if they assist one another.

Heavy is literally listed on the official wiki as the “ideal medic buddy” and multiple pages on that exact wiki say some pretty interesting things.

I have to say something about the Gentleman’s Ushanka and/or Pocket Medic. They are both community cosmetics - but the fact they both got accepted by Valve says a lot. Above is text snipped from the actual wiki.

Last but not least: The Comics. Darned comics. The pair of mercenaries has basically no interaction - unless you count issue 6.

Heavy getting absolutely PISSED when Medic is killed by Ch*avy. Their reunion. Medic referring to Heavy by “my friend” in a totally straight way. Kind of sad Valve wasted an opportunity for them to hug. Maybe they knew their comic artist ships them and wanted to avoid having to answer the Question™.

Part 2: Dynamics

This part’s a bit trickier, mostly due to the reason that I’m new to this whole dynamic analysis thing. Yeah I’m good at spotting canonical evidence but very specific shipping dynamics often escape my gaze.

The most obvious one is Big Guy, Little Guy. Quoting the TVTROPES page:

[…] This trope describes a pair of guys who always fight together, are best friends forever, and quite often have a very obvious hierarchy: The little guy is often in charge […] The little guy is usually listed first, since he’s the leader, and they are always listed together, as if they are one entity. In fact, some episodes may center on the fact that they can’t live without each other. […] If this is a case of Brains and Brawn, the Big Guy is usually the Brawn, and the Little Guy the Brains. It’s almost never the other way around, but in some cases the Big Guy can be rather smart too. […]

A sub-type of this, a common favorite here on Tumblr is known as “small chaotic big calm” and hoo boy if that isn’t these two. I don’t really have much to say here - again I am not an expert.

Part 3: Fandom Impact

So you don’t think Red Oktoberfest (as Heavymedic is sometimes called) is super popular on anywhere else than Tumblr? Wrong.

It’s hard to find TF2 fics on Archive of Our Own not tagged with Heavy/Medic. Of course most of them only contain hints to their relationship but go in the main tf2 tag and I can guarantee you, you’ll gonna see “implied heavy/medic” all the time.

But these two go further than AO3 or Tumblr or Instagram or whatever. They are recognized even within the wider circle of the fanbase. Take this SFM, for example. (I am using the Saxxy Awards version of Secret Lives here mostly due to the fact that the Heavymedic moment is much gayer. In the normal version, the dialogue isn’t changed, but they simply hold hands.)

youtube

But it gets deeper. (WARNING: THE GAY MOMENT IN THIS ONE IS NSFW. NOT EXPLICITLY SO BUT JUST A HEADS UP TUMBLR PLEASE DO NOT FLAG ME)

youtube

And the best part? The comments are extremely positive. You’d expect hoards upon hoards of homophobes screeching but no, the comments are supportive. Even on places such as Reddit or Youtube, comments like “yeah they’re gay and in love” do not get downvoted/disliked to hell; in fact the opposite.

Part 4: Canon Status

Let’s be real. Most ships are shipped because people want to explore the dynamics in fanfic, fanart or something else. But Heavymedic is shipped because… well, I have no idea.

Actually, I kind of do - but only theories. You see, while the canonical evidence is here, the creators have never said anything about them. No confirmation, no disproval, no hinting, nothing.

But the ship is so prominent! There has to be something causing this!- you say. And to that I present you 2 theories on why Heavy/Medic is so popular.

Theory number 1 states that we simply all choose to interpret their interactions as homoerotic. And this is very easy to disprove - there’s simply no way we just collectively agreed on these matters out of nothing. There has to be something bigger.

And theory 2 states that, well, our interpretation is the desired interpretation. But this is even more ridiculous than theory 1 for a number of reasons. If they are in fact gay, why hasn’t Valve made them canon yet?

A Theoretical Scenario

I am going to ramble big time on this one, so buckle up lads. I’ll discuss a theoretical scenario in which, well, if that was not obvious, Valve confirms Heavymedic as canon. Maybe then we will see why they will probably never do so.

TF2 is considered by typical capital G, alt-right Gamers as a “non-political” game. This means no women (in the game itself, at least, and if even, sexy women only), no queer folk and no minorities (for some reason they accept Demoman but throw a fit if someone draws any other merc as not being pearl white). Team Fortress 2 was around before Gamergate and other things like Gamers Rise Up. It’s a classic and Valve is regarded as the good guy to Epic Game’s bad guy. If Valve did anything to confirm doubts, wherther it be clearing up popular fanon or confirming ships, these people would throw hands. (Although they seemed to ignore when one of the writers confirmed Miss Pauling is a lesbian. Huh.) Even those that don’t play TF2 would come to the aid of their bros.

Let me illustrate with two very similar examples. In both cases these confirmations were the first made by the company as a whole, both are fairly recent and both confirm a character as gay.

First we have the confirmation of Tracer from Overwatch as a lesbian. It was done in one of OVW’s comics. Tracer is the FACE of Overwatch as a whole and while most of the fanbase accepted it (thankfully the Gamers are reluctant to infest ow), some people threw what I can only describe as a hissy fit. At least her girlfriend’s a background character.

Second is Neeko from League of Legends. Unlike Tracer she was added a while before it was confirmed she was gay. LOL is much more toxic and filled with Gamers than OW and holy shit people smeared LOL so much.

Of course these are not accurate to Heavy/Medic. In both of the cases I listed it was girls being wlw and we all know how much cisgender heterosexual gamers LOVE yuri porn. Apparently only girls can be gay because they can jack off to it - if it’s two guys then it’s disgusting. Nevertheless I think these are good approximations - in every case the company gets “shat on” on social media and other sites. With the community that Valve has, I think even if they wanted them to be gay, they would never ever confirm it.

Conclusion

I’m sorry for that ending. I had to theorize a bit. Regardless I’d love if you shared this on other sites, reblogged or whatever - I wasted at least 1 and a half hours of my life on it. Feel free to cite this as a source if someone asks you why you ship the big heavy weapons expert and the feral battle medic.

#my post #text post #tf2 #medic #heavy #heavymedic #long post

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breakingarrows · 4 years

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Stealing this from twitter, one of those 1 like = 1 video game answer

1. Very first video game

I have hazy memories of playing Sonic on the Genesis and if not that then most likely Pokemon Red? Twisted Metal is the oldest game I own that I didn’t buy myself and just always had so maybe that one.

2. Your favorite character

God gotta be Geralt. It is hard to separate his Witcher 3 iteration from the books, which is probably the best compliment I can give CDPR’s adaptation as the more I read the books the more I appreciate how faithful that game was. Geralt’s the typical grumpy dad who puts on a show of having no emotion but really does care about others and frequently acts on that (no need to read into how that reflects myself).

3. A game that is underrated.

Tough because underrated as in metacritic or just in general like mass audience reactions? I think overrated would be an easier pick for metacritic but for mass audience underrated I would say something like Disco Elysium since it was PC only and even there seems to have found a small but dedicated niche audience. I would also say Rain World but honestly need to play more.

4. Your guilty pleasure game.

LA Noire, Alan Wake, Alien Isolation, games people are mostly either like, that was okay or didn’t like but I really love.

5. Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were)

Damn guess its time to admit how Geralt reflects myself.

6. Most annoying character.

Got some classics like Navi (OOT), Dutch/Micah (RDR2), Ryder (GTASA), I feel like there are more good ones but I can’t find/trigger their memories.

7. Favorite game couple.

Geralt and Yennefer (Witcher), Red and her unnamed lover (Transistor), Harry and Kim (Disco Elysium)

8. Best soundtrack.

Fuck. Hyper Light Drifter, Final Fantasy VII, DOOM, Transistor, Halo Reach/ODST, Red Dead Redemption, Kingdom Hearts, Alien Isolation, LA Noire. Licensed: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1, 2, 3, Fallout 3/New Vegas (even if they repeat way too often).

9. Saddest game scene.

Ending of Crisis Core, death of Avalanche members in Final Fantasy VII, ending of Red Dead Redemption, ending of Transistor, saying goodbye to Clementine in The Walking Dead Season 1.

10. Best gameplay.

Titanfall 2, DOOM, Hitman, Halo 5 (Arena multiplayer only), Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (revert is king), Metroid Prime (on Wii).

11. Gaming system of choice.

PS4/3/PC in that order

12. A game everyone should play.

Disco Elysium, Bioshock 2, Rain World, Yakuza 5, Final Fantasy Tactics (either PSOne Classic or War of the Lions)

13. A game you’ve played more than five times.

lol full playthroughs Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, DOOM. Games I’ve started and made significant progress in so many times: Final Fantasy VII, Modern Warfare 2, Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, LA Noire, Halo Reach, Final Fantasy Tactics The War of the Lions

14. current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper.

Wallpapers on phone have been Evangelion for years now. The rotating desktop wallpaper folder only has Alien Isolation because of how much it looks like Alien and Breath of the Wild because of how much it looks like Ghibli landscapes.

15. Post a screenshot from a game you’re playing right now.

It would be something from Apex (a win screen) or Red Dead Redemption 2 (landscape)

16. Game with the best cutscenes.

God most games have cutscenes that are really boring (shot, reverse-shot, in-game engine puppets, black bar zoom ins, economical choices because of how often they’re going to be used but so boring) so I guess Control because its got styyyyyyle.

17. Favorite antagonist.

uhhhhh the greater structure of the world in Disco Elysium? Human opponents in Apex Legends. The rain in Rain World. Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. Xenomorph in Alien Isolation.

18. Favorite protagonist.

I mean Geralt (Witcher), Alan Wake (the titular Alan Wake), Harry Du Bois (Disco Elysium), Red (Transistor), John Marston (Red Dead Redemption), CJ (Grand Theft Auto San Andreas), DOOMGUY (DOOM), Jesse Faden (Control)

19. Picture of a game setting you wished you lived in

Most of video game worlds are trying to kill you but Breath of the Wild, San Andreas, Kingdom Hearts, Morrowind

20. Favorite genre

Seems to be shooters, some open world if the angle is good.

21. Game with the best story.

Story as in fiction? Disco Elysium. Story as in the thing its trying to sell you on as you play? The Last of Us, Bioshock 2, Transistor.

22. A game sequel which disappointed you.

Not technically a sequel but Bioshock Infinite, Red Dead Redemption 2, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V, Uncharted 4, Halo 5, Infamous Second Son

23. Game you think had the best graphics or art style

Persona 5, Disco Elysium (those portraits jesus so good), Shadow of the Colossus (PS2 version, the fog and unfocused edges make it such a #mood), Morrowind (I love the fucking early 2000s 3D graphics), Final Fantasy VII (the pre-rendered backgrounds, I could star at them for days), Control, Hyper Light Drifter, any of those Yoshi art games (crayon of Yoshi’s Island and fuzz of Wooly World are standouts)

24. Favorite Classic game

Pokemon Gold, Link’s Awakening, Doom, Final Fantasy VII/Tactics, Spider-Man

25. A game you plan on playing

boy I have a whole spreadsheet for this on but the one on my mind is Okami, Alpha Protocol, Madworld

26. Best voice acting

uh idk the expensive games, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Last of Us?

27. Most epic scene ever

when I get a win in Apex Legends with like 8+ kills overall

28. Favorite game developer

Remedy Entertainment, Respawn, uh hard to find consistency, most of my favorites have been one-offs where I either haven’t played or don’t really like the rest that developer made.

29. A game you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.

I usually don’t play games I don’t think I would like because I know my tastes and don’t waste time but I guess something like Hitman was a surprise because I had heard all the praise about it long before I finally sat down to play it myself and it was fucking great.

30. Your favorite game of all time.

God uh I mean I’ve been returning to games like Uncharted 2, Final Fantasy VII, San Andreas for like a decade now. Pokemon Gold too if I would finally buy the stuff to replace the battery in it. So I guess one of those since they’ve been part of my life the longest.

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out-of-this-dimension · 4 years

Text

Future Star Fox Game Predictions

I could probably write an essay about what I’d like to see in a SF game but I ain’t got time for that, so here’s some predictions for what we might see because I like predictions/speculation. A lot of this is built off of what we’ve already gotten and what feels like the natural progression from where we are at. All of this is, of course, assuming Star Fox Grand Prix isn’t happening (I’m... very torn on how I feel about everything to do with that but that’s for another day):

I’m going to start this off with what feels semi obvious: Star Fox 2 will have its influence in this game. I definitely do not think it’s coincidence that they happened to release Star Fox 2 when they did. Having recently replayed every route of the original Star Fox for the SNES, it’s become pretty obvious that while a lot of the game was a homage to Star Fox 64, arguably more of it was a homage to the original Star Fox. I actually think that the reason Star Fox 2 came out is because they plan on making a game that would similarly follow Star Fox Zero in a way that Star Fox 2 was to follow the original Star Fox. The only other reason I could see them releasing SF2 was to be like “Oh hey, this is where the Walker is from!” but... it feels a bit redundant because Zero had already been out for awhile.

The game will have Miyu and Fay. They’re fan favorites and with Star Fox 2 being formally released, I think this is just about as good of a time as any to reintroduce them to the modern games.

The Walker will stay in the game. It would be kind of weird if it didn’t, tbh, as the function is built into the Arwings.

There will be different types of Arwings a la Command/Star Fox 2 style. This seems to be the direction a lot of the older developers wanted to take with the series and I think it’s something that will come back because the concept is pretty neat and it adds gameplay diversity. I don’t think these styles of Arwing will necessarily be tied to an individual character but you will have character stats and vehicle stats that interact together to make a variety of gameplay styles that can appeal to a broad spectrum of people.

Dash Bowman and/or Andross will be the main villain. Many people will be annoyed but it’ll happen but will feature a different enough gameplay so there will be less complaining than when Zero got announced. The primary scenario will be Venom vs Corneria. Dash Bowman appeared in SSBU as a spirit that could be collected in World of Light-- which was very, very odd given that even Bill and Katt were not spirits and they’re much more well-known. I think it was a subtle hint that they planned on using that character in the future. Granted, in Star Fox Zero, you face off against a mechanized version of Andross and although the final chase in the tunnel afterwards is very similar to Star Fox 64′s final dash through the tunnel, I kind of question if Andross really died because it... didn’t really seem like it was actually Andross (my opinion, of course, I could be mistaken) that was chasing him so much as just a robot. I think it’s possible we’ll see Andross again in this installation or possibly a vengeful Dash Bowman, since it feels somewhat likely that Nintendo was going to use him as a way to put the 64 timeline back on the course that they wanted, with Corneria fighting Venom.

Katt and Bill will be present. They will function similar to how they did before but will be unlockable pilots in multiplayer.

Multiplayer will be a thing. It will be similar to Assault’s with online functionality. It will be fairly well-liked by fans but probably won’t have many resources built into it. (I’m not saying I want this, this is my predictions, remember.)

There will be a mix of corridor levels and all-ranged mode levels, mixed in with some vehicle hopping. You will be able to choose various vehicles to fly on missions. Sometimes you will have to progress through the main campaign and then go back after unlocking new vehicles. Playing in different vehicles will award different types of medals and getting all the medals will unlock cosmetic stuff like sunglasses for Fox. People will compare the game to a blend of Assault and SF64.

Alternative to the one above: The gameplay will function very similarly to Star Fox 2. The only reason I’m thinking it might not is because of Starlink being so similar to that. I think Nintendo would take one look at that and decide against it to avoid feeling repetitive.

There will be different characters to play as. Another feature coming in from Star Fox 2 and Command. You will have a select group of characters to pick from, with certain ones being available for certain missions (Fox will be playable at all times because he’s main character). Choosing whatever character will give you dialogue alterations and different banter.

The game will feature the actual destruction of Andross and his Empire as well as Andrew and Pigma being booted from the Star Wolf team. People really love to hate these two (for some reason, I don’t get it) and Nintendo is notorious for doing obvious bad things to their “obviously bad guy characters” so I see that happening probably at the end as some comic relief. I actually think that they’ll bring Panther back at some point, but not in this game. This will set up for a similar scenario as Assault where Wolf and Leon are the only two remaining original members. Panther will be brought back later on. Andrew will probably be reduced back to meme status and made into a secondary villain, similar to Pigma. I will be sad at the wasted character potential but will be happy because at least we got a new Star Fox game. And I will probably make posts about it.

The game will have throwbacks galore, which will annoy some people and make others happy. Said throwbacks will be mostly returning enemies. I feel like Goras has a pretty high chance of coming back-- just a gut feeling. I was pretty surprised when it didn’t make it into Zero and we got the Dune reference instead.

Krystal... will at least be referenced, if not make a minor appearance. I’m actually kind of iffy on this and could see it going either way. I could see her showing up as an easter egg or even as a side character for a level, just to get fans hyped because it’s pretty obvious she’s well known and well loved (even though she has all those haters, she has oodles and oodles of fans too). I could also see them waiting to reintroduce her until later but I kind of question that at this point since it’s been ages since she’s been in an actual game (and she’s popular) and they don’t seem like they’re in a rush to make SF games.

The game will take place fairly immediately after Star Fox Zero, with a gap to fill in where Starlink could’ve possibly happened. I’m really torn if Nintendo will acknowledge Starlink as canon or not. I’m leaning towards the idea that they will just “no comment” when asked about it and just wave it off as “if you want it to be, sure”. There will then be another war about what even is canon anymore. Nintendo will shrug and take our money because we’ll all buy the new SF game anyways.

We will see the standard planets along with some “new” planets. I definitely see Corneria, Venom, Fichinia, Titania, and Fortuna making a return but I could also see them adding back in some SF64 planets like Aquas and Katina. I wouldn’t be surprised if they threw in Eladard or even Papetoon, too, just to add a new location. Sector X, Y, or Z also mysteriously comes back and we never talk about the random nebulae from Zero again and people get confused but it’s okay because what even is consistency lmao

Someone will inevitably change eye color again and my money is on Wolf.

That’s about all I have for predictions. I got inspired to do this after listening to a few Youtubers try to predict Nintendo’s 2020 announcements. I thought maybe a SF prediction list would be kind of fun? If you have any predictions/theories, don’t hesitate to share! I love hearing stuff like this.

#star fox #starfox #predictions #theorizing #speculation #long post

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k-popscenxrios · 5 years

Text

Didn’t Ask For This Pt 3 (Roommate!JK x OC)

A/N: So I have a whole lot more written in this than I realized so I thought I would make another post!

Summary: “I didn’t know you hated me so much,” he spoke as he grabbed my wrist and once again turned me around to face him, “and quite honestly, I don’t think I’ve done anything horrible enough for you to hate me to the degree that you do.” “You say that like the hate isn’t mutual,” I remarked as he shook his head. There was a bitter smile on his face as he took a deep breath, “I think you are quite honestly one of the worst human beings I’ve had to come in contact with.”

6.9k words | drama ✞ | fluff ♡

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Finale

⇨ Masterlist ⇦

Walking into the apartment was incredibly awkward as I was met with Jungkook and Taehyung getting ready to boot up a game on their xBox. It was a game that I had no interest in, of course, and I wasn’t complaining since I was dying to just wall myself up in my room again.

“Hey Ari, how was work?” Taehyung asked as I just rushed through the living room.

“Fine,” I spoke as I walked through the hallway and closed the door to my room very violently. It wasn’t exactly my intention to slam the door, but it happened and I couldn’t do anything to fix it. I knew the slam was going to prompt Taehyung to come back here and try to talk to me…

“Ari?” I heard him knock on my door before opening it slightly, “What’s wrong?”

I sat down on my bed and took a deep breath. I didn’t want to bother Taehyung about the drama that I caused at work, and I certainly didn’t want him to bring Jungkook in here whether it be to apologize or not.

“Nothing. I didn’t mean to slam the door,” I responded as I started to gather a change of clothes, “I’m going to change. You go have fun with your game.”

I looked over at Taehyung as I noticed the worry in his eyes. He didn’t voice anything out loud as he just nodded and slowly began closing the door behind him.

“Okay, tell me about it when you’re ready to, then.”

My door closed as I felt my heart twist in my chest. Taehyung was always the best older brother. He always listened when I needed an ear and he was always standing up for me in school when things would get out of hand. He was thoughtful most of the time, and even when he made selfish decisions, he tried to make it up to me.

I didn’t like the fact that I wasn’t talking Taehyung’s ear off like I would have been if Jungkook weren’t here. Why does that guy have to be such a confusing jerk? One moment he’s just a jerk who loved teasing me, and the next moment he’s throwing real and hurtful insults my way. He was very good at the hurtful insults, and my soft side seemed to always fall apart at what horrible things he’d say to me.

I was not going to just let myself sit in my room and sulk over the fact that Jungkook had been slowly ruining my life in a million different ways, and I felt helpless in being able to stop him.

I just wish we could hate each other in silence. I would much rather never talk to him rather than bickering all day long.

I could hear Jungkook and Taehyung laughing in the living room as I took a deep breath. Why couldn’t Jungkook be tolerable? I would kill to be the one laughing and having fun with my brother…

I feel like such a grade schooler when Jungkook’s around. Why does he bring out such an immature side of me? Does he just know how to push all the wrong buttons?

I took a deep breath and felt sudden confidence and determination hit me. Jungkook and Taehyung had been here less than a week and I was not going to let this misery continue. I was going to force myself around the two of them and try my hardest to have fun.

I might have a huge grudge against Jungkook, but I had to accept the fact that he was a part of my life for the next few months. If I just… pretend to get along with him than maybe that’ll make this summer go by quicker.

I found myself opening my door as I walked slowly into the living room. I may have been determined to come in and try and get along, but the thought still terrified me.

I walked into the living room and sat down on the smaller couch as Jungkook glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes. The two stayed focused on the game to make sure that they didn’t lose, but there was no question that they noticed my sudden and silent appearance.

I got myself in a comfortable position as I laid down the best I could and watched the TV. They were playing a multiplayer shooter, but I couldn’t tell you what game it was.

Taehyung yelled in anger as Jungkook shouted in excitement.

“How did you know I was there?!” Taehyung cried as he turned to Jungkook and knocked him in the shoulder. Jungkook just shrugged and laughed, not saying a word in reply.

“You’re screen cheating,” Taehyung glared as Jungkook just laughed and shook his head.

“Where’s your proof?” he raised his eyebrows as Taehyung just sighed and popped his neck.

“Oh you’re on, Jeon.”

I felt myself smiling at how serious Taehyung looked as the two of them continued on with their game. I may have not been involved, but it was nice to be present. Spending the last few days walled up in my room to be away from Jungkook wasn’t fun in the slightest.

“Gotcha!” Taehyung laughed in excitement as he dropped his controller on the couch and wrapped an arm around Jungkook’s neck, “I can definitely cheat better than you can.”

“Debatable,” Jungkook laughed as I noticed his eyes glance my way for a few seconds. Was I making him uncomfortable? Why does he keep glancing my way? “Should we play something else?”

Taehyung sighed and nodded, “Yeah, This game is only so fun for so long.” He glanced at me as he took the disk out the the console, “Do you want to play Ari?”

“Oh, no,” I shook my head as both boys were looking my way, “I’m fine.”

Jungkook continued eyeing me curiously, and I was holding back a smile. I like how confused he seemed to be at my actions.

“Suit yourself,” Taehyung spoke as he pulled out his selection of games, “Jungkook, did you forget to pack Overwatch?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jungkook grimaced as Taehyung frowned, “I didn’t bring my xBox stuff down here so I didn’t think about putting it in your bag.”

“Well shoot,” he mumbled, “I might just drive up there to get it…”

“Seriously Taehyung?” I laughed as I pulled my phone out to scroll through my feed, “You’d make a four hour drive just for a video game?”

“Overwatch is fun, okay?” Taehyung laughed as I shook my head. He wasn’t actually going to drive and get that game. He would just buy it again before he’d waste his time like that.

…

I got up from the couch to grab a drink as I heard someone get up from the couch and follow me into the tiny hallway of a kitchen. I turned to see Jungkook, and he looked almost uncomfortable. He seemed like he was trying to say something, but he never actually did.

I turned to him and took a deep breath. “Do you want a gatorade? Blue or orange?”

“Orange,” he replied as I pulled one out of the fridge and handed it to him. He hesitated to take it as I just looked at him with a raised brow.

“Did you want two?” I asked as he looked away and just shook his head. He fled the room in silence as I just felt a sense of satisfaction. It felt better to be the bigger person. Bickering was so immature…

I noticed that if I didn’t initiate any arguing then neither did Jungkook. It was hard to accept the fact that I was the problem between the two of us, but that just meant it would be an easy fix. Maybe I should just be indifferent to him from now on. It’s kept him quiet like I was wishing in the first place.

This was the way we could silently hate each other. It was a nice, civil, and mutual hatred.

…

The rest of the night was fairly civil as we all sat around the same dinner table and seemed to get along. I had made some spaghetti for the three of us while the two of them sat in the living room playing one of their games.

The table was mostly silent until Jungkook broke the silence, “Hey Tae, how was your shift today? That was today, right?”

Taehyung nodded as I moved my eyes to him. “I didn’t know you started your new job today!”

“It was pretty awesome, actually. I’m working with one of your old girlfriends from high school, Jennie. She’s still as hot as ever,” Taehyung smirked as I rolled my eyes. Jungkook smiled and leaned toward Taehyung at the mention of Jennie.

“Is she?” he seemed genuinely interested as I found myself growing less and less interested in this conversation. “She’s probably the only ex that I don’t regret dating. I’d date her again, actually.”

“Too bad she dumped your ass,” Taehyung smiled as Jungkook sent him a deadpanned look. Taehyung just cleared his throat before looking down at his food, “Sorry, Kook. I won’t flirt with her or anything.”

Jungkook sighed and shook his head before glancing my way for a split second. I was not about to give any input into this conversation. If I said something, it would spark an argument that would go all night long…

...But at his little glance, I felt myself dying to say something in response. I was having a very hard time keeping my rude comments to myself.

Even Taehyung looked my way before Jungkook finally spoke up in response. “No, you can flirt with her. It’s been a few years and I’m over it. Just don’t go rubbing anything in my face.”

“But really. Tae,” I found myself giving in to my urges. I just couldn’t help it; the opportunity was screaming at me! “Why would you want anyone that this guy has dated? Knowing him, he’d coax them into his bed when you’re not around.”

“I’m not that kind of person,” Jungkook jumped to his own defense. He definitely seemed ready for any insults I spat out because of how fast he had the response out of his mouth.

“For some reason, I can’t really believe that,” I sent him a look of fake confusion, “I wonder what would lead me to doubt you?”

“You really like blowing everything out of proportion, don’t you?” Jungkook creased his eyebrows, a look that made him look slightly angrier that he already seemed to be.

“I have to agree with that statement,” Taehyung chimed in as I snapped my eyes in his direction. He immediately held up his hands and sent me a nervous smile, “But I mean it out of love.”

“Well I can safely say that I don’t.” Jungkook shoved his plate away from himself, “Also, this spaghetti is horrible. The sauce is like water. Didn’t you just get this out of a can? How do you screw up canned spaghetti sauce?”

“I think my spaghetti is fine!” I defended as I looked Taehyung’s way, “Right?” Taehyung stayed quiet as my jaw dropped. The spaghetti tasted fine! What was their problem?!

“I could make better spaghetti in my sleep,” Jungkook added as he moved his plate more into my space across from him, “You can eat the rest of my portion. I can’t stomach any more of this.”

“No, I will not take anything that has touched your mouth in any way. You’re going to eat your food like the rest of us.” I snapped back as Jungkook just stared me down with an intensity that sent chills down my spine.

All I had to do was not say anything and none of this would have happened.

“I’m just gonna heat up some pizza rolls,” Jungkook mumbled as he got up from the table and walked into the kitchen. I looked over at Taehyung and he was looking down at his food sadly.

“Is it really that bad?” I felt my insecurity getting the best of me as Taehyung looked up at me with slightly wide eyes.

“No, no,” he shook his head and reached out to grab my hand and softly run his thumb along the top of it, “It really tastes fine. I just think he’s pissed over your comment.”

“I don’t understand why,” I mumbled so that I was sure he didn’t hear me, “He just seems like the cheating type, whether he’s the one cheating or sleeping with a girl who’s cheating.”

“It’s just a sore subject, Ari,” Taehyung sent me a sad smile, “When it comes to his sex life, just stay quiet about it, okay?”

I felt my face heat up as I looked away from Taehyung, “You make it sound like he’s traumatized or something.”

“Just,” Taehyung took a deep breath and sighed, “Just don’t bring it up, okay?”

I swallowed and looked down at Jungkook’s plate that was only half eaten, “I’m not going to listen to you unless you tell me why.”

Taehyung was silent for several seconds before I looked over at him with curious eyes. His mood had shifted significantly as I noticed his strong discomfort. What exactly happened?

“Tae…” I spoke softly as he squeezed my hand without looking at me.

“I don’t want to tell you just yet. If I promise to tell you when I’m ready, will you stay quiet about it?”

I wanted to refuse his proposal because I do not have any patience when it comes to Jungkook… but something told me this wasn’t just about Jungkook. Judging from Taehyung’s body language and words, this situation also had a lot to do with him.

Did Jungkook hurt Taehyung somehow? Maybe he slept with a girl Taehyung liked?

I felt myself sighing and nodding. I couldn’t believe that I was giving in, but Taehyung made it really hard to be persistent.

“Alright,” I nodded in agreement as Taehyung sighed and sent me a smile.

“Thanks, Ari,” he released my hand and picked up his fork, “Honestly, I really like this spaghetti. I feel like it would be restaurant grade if we both tried to make the sauce from scratch next time.”

I felt a smile form on my face as I bit my lip excitedly. Any chance I get to spend with Taehyung I would gladly take. He’s the only person who’s kept me sane all these years.

“I would really like that,” I nodded as we both went back to eating the food in front of us. Only seconds later, Jungkook walked back into the living room/ dining room hybrid and to my surprise, he actually came back to sit at the table with us. Everyone was incredibly silent as we all ate the food in front of us.

I held back the urge to glare at Jungkook over the whole spaghetti issue, and he pretended like I wasn’t even at the table any more.

“Jungkook, where is it that you’re working?” Taehyung broke the silence as I felt my stomach drop to my feet. “I don’t think you ever told me.”

“Oh,” He looked up and I noticed a hint of a smirk on his face, “I started at the movie theater today.”

I looked over at Taehyung as he processed what Jungkook had just said. At first he was nodding in understanding, and it wasn’t long before his eyes widened a comical amount.

“Of all places, you’re working at the movie theater?” He sounded almost upset, but I knew better than to think that. Taehyung hasn’t gotten angry at Jungkook the entirety of their stay, so why would this make him mad?

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” I commented as Jungkook sighed. He still didn’t look my way, and I could tell he was trying his best to ignore me.

“They’re the only place that called me back,” Jungkook defended, but Taehyung didn’t like his answer.

“But why did you apply to the theater? I told you not to,” Taehyung started to get upset and I couldn’t help but feel very confused. Why was this the line that Taehyung had set? He can insult me in my own home and fill my fridge with all kinds of junk, but the minute he works the same job as me, it’s crossing a line? Am I missing something?

“I couldn’t remember where you said she worked, so I ended up applying anyway. It didn’t occur to me until last night when I asked you where she works.” Jungkook explained, but Taehyung wasn’t having it. He rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand, and I could tell he was trying to calm himself down.

“Ari, could you give us a minute?”

I felt my eyes widen as I looked at Taehyung. He had a scarily serious look on his face as I reached out to grab my plate.

“Uh, sure…” I picked up my plate and slid out of my seat, “I’ll just go eat in my room…”

Of course I was definitely going to eavesdrop on their conversation from the end of the hallway. I ran and sat my plate down on my bed before going into the hallway and leaning against the wall to make myself comfortable.

“What the hell are you doing?” Taehyung asked as Jungkook was quick to respond.

“Look Taehyung, I know this looks bad but I swear that I didn’t realize your sister worked there when I applied. I don’t want you to get any wrong ideas-”

“Jungkook, I want you to look at me right now and tell me that you aren’t trying to make any moves on my sister.”

“You know damn well I’m not-”

“Jungkook, I know you. I know how you are around girls you like and don’t like, and I hate that I can’t figure it out when it comes to Ari. I’d rather you hate her than have any feelings for her.”

“Tae, I swear I don’t like your sister. She’s an insufferable bitch, but she’s a whole lot of fun to tease.”

“So there’s no underlying feelings behind the teasing?” Taehyung sounded relieved as I felt myself right alongside him. Jungkook liking me? That was hysterical! It must have been delusion that made Taehyung see anything other than hate from that guy.

“There isn’t. I won’t touch your sister, okay? I may have done some scummy things to you in the past, but I wouldn’t dare touch your family.”

“You did sleep with my cousin two years ago.”

Which cousin?! Now I was dying to ask, but I wasn’t supposed to be hearing this conversation… My curiosity is going to kill me… Either that or I’ll end up blowing my cover by asking Taehyung later on when Jungkook isn’t around.

“...Sorry. I forgot about that.”

“I wish I could forget, but it’s kinda hard when I heard the two of you doing it.”

Oh my God! That would have scarred me for life if I had heard anything like that.

“I know I’ve been a terrible friend, Taehyung. You don’t need to remind me.”

“I just want to make sure that you realize how much you owe me.” Judging from the soft laughs I heard from the two of them, Taehyung’s last words were more of a joke than anything.

I heard chairs being moved as I was quick to rush into my room and swing the door to be slightly cracked. I grabbed my plate of food and ate as much of it as I could to make it look like I had been eating this whole time. I also scrambled for the remote while battling some noodles into my mouth, and I was quick to turn the TV on and open the Netflix app. I didn’t pay for cable, so Netflix was pretty much all I had to watch.

“Ari?” Taehyung knocked on my door a few times as I hurried to start an episode of one of the shows I was rewatching. I swallowed the large bite of noodles and reached for the water bottle I had thankfully left there from the night before.

“Hmm?” I responded as I took a few sips to help the food safely go down.

Taehyung pushed the door open as I looked his way. He stepped inside and then closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door as I looked at him curiously.

“I’m sorry. I’ve forced Jungkook in your life against your will, and now because of me, you not only have to see him at home, but at work as well.” he started with apologies, but I didn’t want them. I wasn’t upset at Taehyung… I could never be truly upset with him. I spend so little time with him anymore, and I can’t waste any of that time wallowing in distaste for him.

“Don’t apologize to me. I don’t need any apologies from you,” I shook my head as his eyebrows creased.

“Well you’re not getting any from Jungkook, so you might as well take mine,” he sadly smiled before walking to sit on the edge of my bed, “I could try to get him a job where I just started so that he’ll be working with me instead of you?”

“Don’t do that,” I shook my head and put my plate of food on the dresser beside me, “I wouldn’t want you risking the job you just got because of me. Jungkook’s a pretty lousy employee.”

Taehyung laughed and shook his head, “He’s really not. If he were that bad, he wouldn’t have been promoted to assistant manager at his last job.”

“Well he’s lousy where I work. He tried to order me around all day and even threatened to go to my boss just because he didn’t like something I told him to do,” I explained as Taehyung smiled and shook his head, “There was another new hire that I trained today as well, and the poor guy had to deal with us bickering back and forth all day. Though, he thinks Jungkook and I are ex’s, and thanks to Jungkook, he’s entertaining the idea.”

Taehyung’s demeanor completely changed yet again at my words as I felt myself regretting telling him those details. I could have left those out and everything would be fine.

“So he’s letting everyone that you work with believe that the two of you used to date?” he asked as I reluctantly nodded. I thought that Taehyung was done with this scary, protective older brother attitude, but here I am forcing it out again.

“W-Well, my friend Chaeyoung knows the truth… so it isn’t everyone,” I mumbled, but I knew my words weren’t helping anything, “Look, Taehyung, you don’t need to worry about me. I can defend myself against his asshole nature.”

At my words, a smile broke into Taehyung’s features. I was more than relieved to see him relaxing more. I didn’t like the scary atmosphere that he was just carrying.

“I love you, Ari,” he wrapped an arm around my shoulders as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“I love you, too, Tae,” I closed my eyes as I just sat in Taehyung’s arms for several seconds. He placed a soft kiss on the top of my head as I sighed and smiled.

Taehyung pulled away from me and stood up from my bed, “I’m gonna hit the shower before bed, so I’ll see you in the morning.”

I nodded and slightly waved him out before grabbing my food that was getting really cold, “Goodnight, Tae.”

“Goodnight,” he opened the door and turned to me one more time, poking his head through the door that he was about to pull closed. “Also, the cousin was Hyomin.”

My eyes slightly widened in confusion before my cheeks heated up. He sent me a wink before closing the door, leaving me in silence. He was a lot more intuitive than I gave him credit for.

The next morning was incredibly silent as none of us said anything to each other. I didn’t have to work until 6:00 tonight, and unfortunately for both Jungkook and I, he had the same shift as me. To make everything even better, Taehyung had a morning shift, so he was getting ready to leave in the next few minutes. This would be the first time Jungkook and I were alone while at home…

It’s not like we couldn’t stay walled up in our rooms all day, but the thought of trying to avoid him was so exhausting. I’d rather have it out with him all day, honestly.

“Please don’t kill each other today,” Taehyung called as he was on his way out the door. I rolled my eyes and waved his way.

“No promises,” I smiled as he disappeared behind the door. I turned around after Taehyung left and was met with a wet-haired Jungkook. He was wearing his usual lounge outfit, a white t-shirt and sweatpants, and he was still trying to dry his hair with one of my towels when I spotted him.

His eyes met mine, only to break away a few seconds later. I noticed his eyes shamelessly run up and down my body as I felt my face heat up. Why was he checking me out?

“You should probably wear more clothes. You’ve gotta remember, you live with two guys.” He nonchalantly spoke as my jaw dropped.

“What, are you trying to say that you’re tempted to make a move on me?” I raised an eyebrow, “Because I thought you found me revolting.”

“I do,” he scoffed and threw the wet towel he was using at me, “Which is why you need more clothes on. I don’t want to see that much of you.”

I felt my face turn red, and I couldn’t tell if it was out of anger or embarrassment.

“Be careful, Jeon, insult me one more time and I’ll strip down to my underwear and walk around like that all day.” I threw the towel back at him as his eyes widened. I noticed him stiffen as I felt my confusion written all over my face. His face started to flush as he tightened his grip on the towel I had thrown his way only seconds ago.

He turned in one fluid motion as he grumbled and stormed off into his room. “Please don’t bother me,” He spoke before slightly slamming the door behind him. I felt my curiosity get the best of me as I walked toward the door. Why’d he run off so quickly? We were literally mid-argument!

I couldn’t hear anything except for shuffling as I took a deep breath and shrugged it off. It’s not like I wanted to argue with him, so why was I being so curious?

I pushed myself away from the door and walked toward the bathroom slowly, still keeping my eye on the door to his room. Maybe it was best for me to not figure out what made him so eager to run off.

I stepped into the bathroom that he had just finished using as I decided now would be a good time for a shower. It should help get the last few moments out of my head…

I turned the water on to the shower and took a deep breath and started stripping down. I started playing my last words to him through my mind, and the more I thought on them, the more embarrassed I became. Did I really threaten him by saying I would walk around practically naked?

I was just asking for a horndog like himself to jump me for something meaningless. Why did I say that? Now I’ve put thoughts in his head that I would kill him for having thought of on his own.

I shook my head and turned around to look at myself in the mirror. There’s nothing wrong with the way I look… why was Jungkook so offended at my shorts and tank top? And it wasn’t like I wasn’t wearing a bra under my tank top!

“Stop thinking about it,” I mumbled to myself before finally stripping the rest of my clothes off and hopping into the shower to wash away all the thoughts that I wanted out of my head.

…

I opened the door to the bathroom after getting ready for the day, and I slightly jumped when I spotted Jungkook standing in the hallway. He was mid-step when he paused to look my way. I felt the tension hanging in the air as I took a deep breath and looked away. I walked out of the bathroom and started searching for what I could eat for lunch.

Jungkook walked past the kitchen and I heard him plop down on one of the couches in the living room. He turned on the TV and I could hear the sound of the Wii menu music coming from the TV.

I walked out of the kitchen and poked my head into the living room, jumping when Jungkook’s eyes met mine.

“Where you wanting to play?” His eyebrows raised as I felt skepticism take over my thoughts. Why did he decide to play the Wii over his xBox games?

“I’m just surprised is all,” I mumbled before rushing back into the kitchen to continue with my food hunt. If he was trying some cheap tactics to play some cruel trick on me, I wasn’t about to just walk into it.

I grabbed one of my salad trays that I had picked up from Walmart several days before. I like fresh salad much better, of course, but I was too lazy to make it myself.

I took the tray with me to the dining table as I took a deep breath. I needed to try my best to ignore Jungkook’s existence, but hearing the Wii Sports theme coming from the TV was making it very hard for me.

How did he know I really liked playing Wii Sports?

I continued to watched him from the corner of my eye as he started a solo game of bowling. I couldn’t help but remember what Taehyung had said about Jungkook being really good at bowling in real life. Surely I’d still be able to beat him at Wii Sports bowling… I’ve been undefeated among all my friends and family.

Jungkook looked my way every once in a while; and every time, he caught me staring. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was any good or not!

“If you want to play, just say so,” Jungkook slightly smirked as I took a deep breath and angrily shoveled some lettuce into my mouth. I didn’t justify him with a response as he just looked back at the TV and continued smiling.

“Yes!” He cheered as I snapped my head in the direction of the TV. He had gotten a strike on his second frame. He didn’t waste any time to look my way, catching my interested and surprised look. The smirk once more appeared as I glared at him and stood up from the table, leaving my salad to be forgotten. It really wasn’t that good, anyway.

“Put me in,” I spoke as Jungkook just laughed and quit his game so that I could play.

“What has you so worked up over this game?” He asked as I made sure to stand as far from him as the Wii sensor would allow me to.

“I just want to prove that I can beat you,” I responded before glancing at Jungkook from the corner of my eye. He was watching me carefully as I sighed and turned on my Wii Remote.

“I don’t know about that,” Jungkook remarked with an amused smile. I just ignored him and finished selecting my mii with the bowling pro status. “Oh, you’ve played this so much that you’re a bowling pro?”

“Do you have a problem with that?” I raised my eyebrows and looked over at him, “Taehyung used to play this with me all the time, so I’m a bowling pro and he’s a tennis pro.”

Jungkook looked back to the TV as we started the game. He was the first one to go as I made sure to watch how he bowled. Not only did he have the perfect stance even for just playing a video game, but he lucked out on getting a strike on his first frame.

“Good luck,” Jungkook winked at me as I scoffed. He’s just trying to start off strong to make me think I don’t have a chance. Well, he’s not going to best me.

“I don’t need it,” I spoke as I swung the remote, watching the virtual ball on the screen. I felt a satisfied smile appear on my face as I also knocked every single pin down. “Looks like you’ve got yourself some competition.”

Jungkook’s eyes slightly narrowed for a few seconds before a smile broke through, “Right back at you.”

…

I swallowed nervously as I looked at the last frame. Jungkook had just finished his last frame with a score of 207. In order for me to beat his score, I would have to get at least two strikes and hit at least 7 pins on the very last frame. I could feel my nerves taking over me as I realized my undefeated record was seriously on the line. No one had come this close to beating me.

Granted, I didn’t play a very good game this time… I’m normally getting 220-250 when I would play with Taehyung…

I held my breath and took my first shot…

Strike!

I took a deep breath as I felt Jungkook’s eyes studying me. I tried not to let him get to me as I glared at the screen. I focused completely in on the TV and swung the Wii remote, glaring daggers at the TV screen.

…

9?!

“No!” I cried as Jungkook started laughing. This wasn’t funny! I lost! Even if I hit that last pin, he still got 4 more points than me!

Did I really just lose? I just lost to Jeon Jungkook?

I finished out the game with a spare, but I still lost. Jungkook actually beat me…

“You’re not that bad,” he spoke, but I refused to look his way. I was getting more and more upset over this stupid situation. Why did it upset me so much that he beat me at a video game?

“Yeah, whatever,” I mumbled as I struggled to get the safety band of the Wiimote off my wrist. When it finally slid off, I dropped the controller on the couch and turned around to grab my salad.

“You don’t want to rematch?” He asked. I could tell that he was so proud of himself based on his tone. I didn’t want to be in this room with him any longer.

“And lose again? No thanks.” I snapped.

“So you already know that I’d beat you again?”

I spun around and glared at Jungkook, and he just looked as smug as ever.

“I mean, why wouldn’t you feel that way? I do get an average score of 240 when I go bowling for real. I’d just beat you over and over.” he crossed his arms across his chest as I just stood there and glared at him.

We stood in mutual silence as Jungkook eyed me carefully. I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to run at him and punch him in the gut or just walk away and pretend that he never said anything to me…

“You know what? Fine,” I spoke as I walked back over to Jungkook. This time, I stood as close to the middle of the TV as possible, which is also near where Jungkook was standing. He slightly stiffened at my sudden boldness.

“If you stand any closer to me, I’ll end up hitting you when it’s my turn to bowl,” Jungkook mumbled as I rolled my eyes.

“Fine, then we’ll take turns standing here. Who ever is up to bowl will stand in the middle.” I looked over at him and slightly jumped at how close we were. I looked away and took a step away from him, sitting on the couch to wait for my turn.

…

The game finished out with Jungkook at 221 and my final score was…

“230 baby!” I cheered as Jungkook stayed silent. I turned to him and smirked, placing both my hands on my hips. “Suck on that, Jeon.”

“Don’t get such a big head,” Jungkook grumbled as I continued to smile in satisfactory, “You did lose the first game.”

“I don’t care because in this game I scored higher than the both of us did on the last game. My score even trumps your winning score!” I bit my lip to try and contain some of my excitement. This was a double win in my book.

“Let’s see how you do in actual bowling, then,” Jungkook remarked as I laughed and shook my head.

“I never claimed to be good at real bowling,” I took the Wiimote off of my wrist again and placed it on the coffee table, “I’ve actually never bowled in real life.”

Jungkook stayed silent as I sat down on the couch and turned the Wii off. I looked up at him after he stood still for a little too long, and he just looked down at me. He suddenly plopped down on the couch next to me as I took a deep breath at his close proximity. His cologne was almost suffocating me, and I tried to ignore how much I liked it. I’ll have to sneak through his stuff to see what smell it is, because I would love to have my future boyfriend smell this good…

“Taehyung and I are taking you bowling before this week is over,” he stated with a serious look on his face, “It’s a crime that a bowling pro on Wii Sports hasn’t actually been bowling.”

“It’s not that big a deal,” I looked away from him as his cologne was all I was thinking about. He must have put too much on… But if he did, then why’d I have to get so close to him to smell it? Regardless, I really like the smell…

“You could bring a few friends. It could be fun,” He slightly nudged my elbow with his as I took a deep breath. This was weird. This felt weird in every sense. Jungkook and I weren’t just having a civil conversation, but we were sitting suffocatingly close to each other? What has the world come to?

“I don’t know,” I shook my head, but I found myself liking the idea. I could bring Chaeyoung and maybe even Yoongi…

“Think about it,” he looked my way as I found myself looking in his direction. I don’t know why I felt the need to look at him, because the second our eyes met, I felt my stomach churn. The smell of his cologne once more overtook me as I found myself growing addicted to the smell.

“Maybe it doesn’t sound so bad…” I mumbled as Jungkook smiled and reached up. He placed a hand on my head as I felt my eyes widen and my heart leapt into my throat. What was he doing?!

His hand knocked my head away from his before he stood up and walked in the direction of the kitchen. “You were getting way too close to me.”

“Excuse me? You’re the one who sat down next to me!” I defended myself as I stood up and followed behind him, “I didn’t get any closer to you than you got to me.”

“Oh please,” Jungkook shook his head and opened the fridge, “You were about pressed up against me for some reason.”

“That reason is because you sat down very close to me!” I continued to defend. Jungkook was being ridiculous by trying to pretend like I was the reason that we were that close.

“Why would I do that? I don’t even like standing next to you, so why would I sit next to you? You’re the one who scooted closer to me.”

I stomped up to Jungkook and grabbed his shirt by the back of his shirt collar. He spun around and closed the fridge to glare at me, but even his glare didn’t make me back down.

“Why are you lying? There’s no point in lying to me about something we were both there for.” I glared, intentionally getting up in his face, “The only time I’d get this close to you is if I was mad at you for blatantly lying.”

I tried to ignore how good he smells as he just glared back at me, pushing me away by my shoulders.

“I’m not going to argue with you when I know I’m right,” he spoke, turning back around to continue rummaging through the fridge.

“You’re such a liar,” I mumbled as I gave up. I wasn’t getting anywhere with him, so I might as well leave it where it is.

“I don’t understand why you have to call me a liar when you’re the one lying.”

I took a deep breath and just ignored his words. It was about time for me to keep away from him until I’m forced to be around him later tonight. If I have to spend all day around him, I might lose my mind.

A/N: Kinda an awkward end but I’m literally falling asleep while writing this. What you see is what you get!

⇨ Masterlist ⇦

#jungkook #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fluff #bts #bts fanfic #taehyung #taehyung fanfic #taehyung fluff #bts fluff #jeon jungkook #kim taehyung #jimin #park jimin #jimin fanfic #yoongi #min yoongi #yoongi fanfic #suga #suga fanfic

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audiogrizzly · 4 years

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Top 5 Games of 2019

It was a little tricky to construct a top 5 for this year, though there have been a couple of surprises. I wasn’t expecting the year to be a bit crap as we are no w on the cusp once more of a new generation. But 2012 wasn’t all that bad of a year (PS4 and Xbox One would release in 2013) and at the moment, everyone is doing alright. PS4 has sold through over 100 million systems, Nintendo are definitely on an “on” generation with Switch, Xbox has been able to get back into peoples good books with things like Game Pass (on both Console and PC, their PC side they seem to really be turning around), there’s even interesting things happening in the mobile space with Apple Arcade.

This won’t be the last year where my top 5 games are full of current gen titles, I am expecting the new systems to drop in around November, last time it was hard to find a top 5 specific to PS4 (as I listed each platform separately back then). It IS however, another list of mostly AAA tier games. If you want to know what smaller more “interesting” games I have been playing, check out my honourable mentions at the end.

Also, follow me on Melee. It’s this new image blogging service from Imgur which you can download now on the IOS App Store (its just on iPhone at the moment) and it has seemingly been built to help people share gaming related clips and images off of places like Twitter and Instagram (and err, here on Tumblr). I posted a couple of daft clips of me failing in Modern Warfare and Destiny 2 and it didn’t take long for them to amass a few likes and comments.

That sounded like a sponsored advert but ain’t nobody paying me for this. Let’s get into my top 5

5. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

I was about to select Gears 5 to be my number 5 until I saw sense and cast my memory back to when I started playing Jedi (all the way back in November. I was impressed by its intense action, impressive visuals and great characters. I especially enjoyed the 4 armed pilot who always complains. I did feel that towards the end I got sick of managing large groups of enemies so I dropped the difficulty to get through it, but I still haven’t achieved 100% of activities on all planets so I can still go back to it one day.

4. Borderlands 3

We all knew this was coming but not even I had any idea that we would have been actually playing it in 2019 way back at the start of the year. For me, I look at the game. I don’t care about weird magicians or their insane sounding legal woes, all I’m interested in is the work of a team who deserved better for their last title, but am still glad returned to what they do best, looting and shooting. I enjoyed rejoining these characters I have followed over the last 10 years, all the referenced to older games, cameos from characters from Tales From the Borderlands and The Pre Sequel and was sad to see some people go. I still have about a year of extra content to go through and I really appreciate the efforts they have made to make the game last longer than just one playthrough through in the Proving Grounds, Circle of Slaughter and Mayhem modes. Though I have always tended to stick to Borderlands games and create builds for each and every vault hunter, so I will be doing that.

3. Mortal Kombat 11

It’s been a while since I last put a fighting game into my end of year round up. And I HAVE fallen off MK11 a little bit, but this entry reminded me of how impressive it is for Nether Realms to pack their fighting games with some many things to do and keep people playing outside of just going into matchmaking and fighting others. The Vault this year is basically another little adventure full of exploration and puzzle solving and the Towers of Time give you plenty of challenge and direction of many months to come. You also have to give the developer credit for never backing down on the brutality of the game, they must have all got their heads together after DC Universe vs. and vowed never again to make watered down versions of Fatalities. It is a game that keeps getting better and better.

2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare

I was debating whether or not to include this years CoD. I always get the same type of enjoyment out of it each year, people complain that it never changes but I’m glad it sticks to a formula. Of course they are not identikit games, there are new maps, new modes, new ways of building your loadout and new touches, like how in this year you can snap to edges to stay in cover while you shoot, there’s the new special equipment system where you can drop ammo or reduce your footstep noise. Having doors you can either peek through or smash open adds another level of strategy, there have been times where I have been able to escape being under fire by closing a door, re-positioning and then wasting whoever just wanders in.

The campaign this year, good to see it back, but whatever, the co-op mode is Spec Ops again, like it was back in MW2 and 3 but on a much larger scale, I have yet to complete one of these btw. But as always, it’s the multiplayer that does it for me and Modern Warfare deserves credit for being what must be the first AAA game to feature cross platform play, not just launch with it. I know that games like Fortnite are popular, but I don’t see that as a AAA title, it doesn’t have the full package, it’s just a mode and it started off small. Call of Duty is expected to be big each year, has a lot riding on it and allowing for cross play is a big step. I especially appreciate being able to play with a keyboard and mouse on PS4 and being able to matchmake only with people playing with controllers on PC, in fact, I have never really given the game much of a shot on PC before as I know people just fall of it, there has often been low player numbers reported on the PC versions of CoD and it looks like it won’t have that problem this time round due to cross play.

Modern Warfare still has to contend with Destiny 2 and Overwatch for my time as my main multiplayer game but it’s still as fun as ever.

1. Control

Put this down as my main “surprise” game of 2019. A game which was not on my watch list, though I was aware of it as you can’t ignore a game from the makers of Max Payne (I did skip Alan Wake and didn’t care much for Quantum break though). Bought it at the last minute before its release, downloaded it and was wowed by the sinister nature of the environment you run around in. This weird fictitious US government agency which looks into paranormal activity which you seem to have become in charge of because you picked up a mysterious weapon from the deceased Director while searching for your brother. What then follows is about 12 hours of wacky powers and odd video clips as you unearth what has been going on in this strange ever morphing building.

I especially loved how the game never holds your hand too much, the map of each floor is vague enough that you also have to rely on in-game signposting to move around, as well as a bit of memory work. There is also great humour involved too in some of the PSA posters on a lot of the walls, the antics of the caretaker and the videos you find of Dr. Darling throughout the game.

I did have a few weird technical issues with the game throughout playing, but still found it to be visually pleasing, there was this weird hitch that used to appear after coming out of the pause screen that always threw me, it would be followed by a few moments of low performance before getting back into the smooth action. But this didn’t stop me from having a great time with Control. Perhaps the game that will be the most prominent in my head when I think of 2019.

So there you have it, control is my best game of 2019. But let’s look at the other new games I played throughout the year in my honourable mentions:

Gears 5

The Outer Worlds

Days Gone

Apex Legends

Far Cry New Dawn

Trover Saves the Universe

Concrete Genie

Devil May Cry 5

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

And also a special mention to these old games that were rereleased/remastered/repackaged etc in 2019:

Borderlands Game of the Year Edition Remastered

Halo Reach

And now, a look at the games I have on my watchlist for 2020:

Cyberpunk 2077

Last of Us Part 2

Ghost of Tsushima

Halo: Infinite

Watch Dogs Legion

Phantasy Star Online 2

Gods & Monsters

Doom Eternal

Overwatch 2

Diablo IV

Minecraft dungeons

Marvel's Avengers

Carrion

Streets of Rage 4

Will they all even come out? Let’s find out, happy new year!

#mortal kombat #modern warfare #control #star wars #melee #borderlands

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professorprophetess · 5 years

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Analysis

Why “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” worked where other video game themed movies fell short”

Jumanii: Welcome to the Jungle was not met with any sort of optimism whenever the sequel to the beloved Robin Williams movie was announced following the actor’s death. Yet despite all misgivings this movie turned out to be better than one might expect it to be, even standing its own and paying many moments of homage to the prior film. It managed to be a video game movie that actually worked, and that mostly comes from how it embraced its concept whereas other game movies tend to try too hard to take those half-real incoherences out of the equation and it more often than not weakens what is being attempted. In contrast I’ll be referencing these other movies: Spy Kids 3: Game Over and Ready Player One as well to compare and contrast how well each films handles their game elements.

First a few definition of terms might help those who are not as versed in the terminology as I am or as other game scholars might be. Whenever I say Incoherence, I am of course referencing Jesper Juul’s Half-Real. In it, these things are basically those parts of video games that are non-diagetic but are part of gameplay. The UI, the menus, the rules, the loading screens, the world maps, etc. It’s one of those reasons straight video game adaptations have such a hard time because a large part of what is going on with the game is those non-diagetic elements (Juul 121-162). I may also refer to certain games as MMO, MMORPG or just RPGs and while I know many know what those abbreviations stand for, I’ll spell them out right now. An MMORPG is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game whereas MMO is just to refer to any large game that is online. RPG is simply a Role Playing Game. Any game that has classes to choose from and the party system are generally RPGs. There are other types of abbreviations for games but for the games being discusses, these are the three most pertinent. The final abbreviation is VR or Virtual Reality.

I will start with the oldest film of the three: Spy Kids 3: Game Over. Its central conceit is child spy Junie Cortez had retired from spy work because he was feeling inadequate and just wanted to do something else with his life. Then the maker of a new VR MMO game turned out to secretly be an evil mastermind. They had sent another spy kid into the game but her mind had been trapped by him somewhere in it. Since the other spy kid is his older sister Carmen, Junie has no choice but to enter the game world and go after his sister and save the world while he was at it. In the end, the villain is stopped by Junie and then the virtual monsters somehow end up in the real world with the climax being that the mecha monsters are stopped by Junie and his family (Spy Kids 3). As far as video game adaptation movies go, this and the other films don’t technically count since the games in their plots aren’t real. However, Spy Kids 3 doesn’t also seem all that concerned as to how its central game’s rules work. Sometimes they’ll throw in the gaming concept of mini-games to advance —the robot fights, the racing game, the duel, I can only think of a few times where they faced monsters. Only three times did their life points count—the robot fight, the duel, and when the guy got blown up—. Emails are mentioned but it’s never shown how they exchange them aside from an awkward mimed handoff. Then there is the power up the bad guy gives Junie’s Grandpa AKA his old friend. These items, and the few elements of game play rules are there but they’re not really anything other than a plot point here or a beat there. They’re not central to how the plot is resolved nor how the story is playing out beyond a few bumps in their path to the climax. In fact the film version of incoherence AKA breaking the fourth wall plays more of a role with the climax as the 3-D glasses are used to see the monsters once they get into the real world. They’re not called those in the film but it is very clear with how they look that they are 3D glasses. Still, while it doesn’t resist the incoherences, it merely accepts them as a fact of a game movie and moves on (Juul 121-162, Spy Kids 3).

The next film I’ll look at is Ready Player One. Unlike Spy Kids 3, Ready Player One’s VR world isn’t actually an MMO. The OASIS is actually an internet interface that has many gameified elements to it (Ready Player One). In this film, the inventor of the OASIS died without any heirs about ten years before the start of the main plot and then added an extra gameified element to the OASIS. He left behind an Easter Egg Hunt for the whole of the OASIS’s user base to find. Winner takes the whole OASIS for themselves. This set off a bunch of people pouring over the things he loved in his life to see what kind of Easter eggs he hid to find the clues to get to that final prize. The hero, Wade, is a major Halliday—the OASIS creator—fanboy and finally manages to crack the code to get through the first challenge. From there, the race is on against his fellow gamers and Sorento the menacing head of a company that—should they get control—would make the VR world of the OASIS a pop-up filled nightmare. For the most part the rules of the game are not as important as the rules of the real world, as Sorento being the generic corporate villain that he is uses in game data to find the offline ID’s of the leaderboard to threaten them or, in one case, kills Wade’s not-all-that-lamented Aunt and Uncle as well as a bunch of innocent people who also lived in his trailer house stack (Ready Player One). Item inventories and passwords play a large role in the movie’s outcome as well as an extra life and the rules of the various mini games and challenges the players go through, but beyond that, I wouldn’t say the incoherences are ever used to anyone’s advantage beyond a plot device moment with that extra life Wade got from the Archivist (who turned out not to be just an NPC but an actual user avatar after all: the ex-best friend of Halliday) (Juul 121-162, Ready Player One). Ready Player One was far more concerned with pop-culture references than it was anything else. This doesn’t detract from things but it is what it is.The gameified OASIS of the movie with its customizable avatars is interesting but doesn’t seem particularly efficient for anyone just trying to use the internet for data sharing or business. In fact it seems like it has a lot of wasted features to look cool instead of be functional. If it were a straight up VR MMO, that would make sense but here it creates more issues. Ultimately, the incoherences are there but not super important more than item collection—the keys and Wade’s 1-Up—,the moment where they steal Sorento’s password, and the chase scene at the end where the real-world jerking about it making it hard for Wade to get to his goal. Never once do they seem to be anything anyone—except the bad guys—can take advantage of and even then it was more by accident than design (Juul 121-162, Ready Player One).

I saved Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle for last. In the original film, Jumanji was just a board game. A possessed board game but a board game none-the-less. Yet, its rules affected the whole plot of that first film. That first film ends with two of its Protagonists, Allan Parrish and Sarah Williams, throwing it into a river for it to get washed away in the year 1969 (after having been adults in 1995 for most of the film’s plot). There is a post credit scene where two girls speaking French come across it on a beach (Jumanji). Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opens with a man jogging along a beach and finding the game in the year 1996, one year after a majority of the plot of Jumanji took place. He picks it up, takes it home, and tosses it on his sleeping teenage son, Alex, who remarks “who even plays board games anymore?” While he plays his vaguely Atari 2600-esque console, the game magically changes into a cartridge version of Jumanji. Alex picks it up and puts it in. The next that is seen is a flash of green light. The movie jumps ahead and now it’s 2017. The movie introduces our four new teenage protagonists as four types of teenagers: the wimpy nerd, the lazy too-cool-for-school jock, the introverted awkward girl, and the self-absorbed, selfie-obsessed, popular, pretty girl. Also, the father of the Alex is re-introduced and the consequences of his disappearance have made him a wary, angry man. The four kids all get in trouble and land in detention; pretty girl Beth for being on the phone in class, Awkward girl Martha for mouthing off, and the boys Nerdy Spencer and Jock Anthony “Fridge” are in trouble because Spencer helped Fridge cheat on his homework. They find the old-quasi Atari console with its very Nintendo looking controllers and decide to turn it on to play Jumanji. It is shown to look like it’s an old school RPG for four players that can each choose from different characters to play. After pressing start, they all get sucked into the game and become their characters. Spencer becoming the handsome Dr. Bravestone, Fridge becoming the comically small “Mouse” Finnbar, Martha becoming the sexy Ruby Roundhouse, and Beth becoming the male Dr. Shelly Oberon (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle). The first instance of game incoherence being part of the actual plot is when they get into the game and Beth dies but comes back because the extra life system. They meet a helpful—to a point—NPC named Nigel who fills them in (enabling a flashback cutscene) which is even explained by Spencer to the others. He gives them the item they need to finish the game as well as warnings about the bad guy they’re running from/racing to the center of Jumanji and drives off repeating his voice lines. A nice touch, as after they’re done with any sort of major speaking, NPCs do repeatedly say the same thing due to programming (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Juul 121-162). The next incoherence is ability UIs that can be displayed by pressing their names on their outfits, and that Bethany being the character who is the cartographer is the only one who can use the map-item. Along the way, Fridge’s back-pack is an inventory for weapons that shouldn’t reasonably fit in it and the group has special attacks they can activate once conditions are met, like Martha using Ruby’s fighting skills or Spencer using Bravestone’s weapons(Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Juul 121-162). Other touches where the game incoherences are woven into the plot are when NPC’s only talk to Spencer’s Bravestone, shortcuts across the whole world from the bazaar to the jungle house of Allan Parrish, and the NPC guardsmen whom Martha has to distract with a radio that conveniently is there for here to use her character’s dance fighting with. Then there is the scene where Alex, who has been in the game since 1996, is almost game-overed permanently but Beth transfers an extra life to him. Finally, there is the climax of the film where Martha as Ruby uses one of her extra lives to get to the top of the giant Jaguar mountain where the stone needs to go to win Jumanji, because characters respawn in this world by dropping from the sky. She purposefully uses her character’s weakness to snakes to get to the sky and she slaps the stone into Spencer’s hand so he can end the game(Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Juul 121-162). This leads to them winning once he yells Jumanji and the kids are free to go. They leave school and see that Alex was sent back to 1996 and his family’s house is no longer the dilapidated mess but is now warm and full of life. The kids move on and the movie ends with them at school the next day smashing the console with a bowling ball and the credits roll. At no point were the rules of the game they were in ever ignored and as mentioned the characters of the movie were even able to use those rules to their advantage whether it be getting through the world faster via a shortcut or using how the characters respawn to get around the bad guy. It wove these in well and that is why, of the three films here, it implemented its game aspects the best. There were still moments where the movie deviated—since we would see what the villain was up-to from time to time—but otherwise it stuck to keeping the rules consistent (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Juul 121-162).

Jumanji: Weclome to the Jungle was a film I had very low expectations for and not only did it exceed those expectations, it very cleverly used parts of gaming that other films ignore —unless they have to deal with them—to their full advantage for the plot line. Spy Kids 3 and Ready Player One didn’t ignore these aspects per-say but they did not fully embrace them as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle did. By doing things the way they did, the writers of Jumanji were able to side-step a lot of the problems movies with video games in them could run into while attempting to make an engaging video game based narrative. The other two films attempted this same tactic but with varying levels of success. Video games are hard to adapt, and that is just a consequence of their inherent interactive status. The player’s interactivity affects how the game is to them. Adaptations take this out and lose part of the game. What Jumanji ultimately did that the others didn’t was make it feel like this was a game someone could play and showed how it would be played. The others did not. That was why they fell short.

Sources:

Jumanji. Directed by Joe Jonhston, performances by Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, and Bradley Pierce, TriStar Pictures, 1995.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Directed by Jake Kasdan, performances by Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart , and Jack Black, Sony Pictures, 2017.

Juul, Jesper. Half-Real. MIT Press, 2005. pg 121-162.

Ready Player One. Directed by Stephen Spielberg, performances by Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and Ben Mendelsohn, Warner Bros, 2018.

Spy Kids 3: Game Over. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, performances by Daryl Sabara, Alexa PenaVega, and Antonio Banderas, Dimension Studios, 2003.

#academic paper #jumanji 2017 #jumanji #spy kids 3 #ready player one

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okamidensetsu · 5 years

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2019 VG Journal 3

Three years running! New year, more games old and new to waste my unlimited potential on! Once again the goal is to play 52 games before the end of the year. 52 games to average a game a week (since you know...there are 52 weeks in a year). But due to being a busy human being with adult responsibilities, a social life, pets and mostly not having it together all the time the one bone I throw myself is “Big (unbeatable) time sinks.” A great example of this is the game I’ve already been playing obsessively at the start of this year: Animal Crossing New Leaf. That game does not have a traditional beginning, middle, and end. In fact it just keeps going and going and there is no end. If I put over 10 hours into game like that or an online multiplayer only type game - then it’s counted at the end of the year as on of my 52 games. For instance I already put 20+ into ANCL for the start of this year -.-...so yeah...it counts. Here we go! I hope my 2019 is better than 2018 and I hope the games are even better!

*This list will be edited and redone as the year goes on*

Here is a list of games completed in 2018 [US releases unless marked otherwise]:

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (PS4 Pro)

Resident Evil 2 (PS4 Pro)

Devil May Cry V (PS4 Pro)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4 Pro)

Darkwatch (PS2)

Amplitude (PS2)

Red Faction (PS2)

Everywhere Road Trip [Choro Q HG 2] (PS2)

BloodRayne (PS2)

Boogie (PS2)

James Bond 007: From Russia With Love (PS2)

Mortal Kombat XL (Xbone X)

Mortal Kombat 11 (Xbone X)

What Remains of Edith Finch (Xbone X)

Grand Theft Auto V (Xbone X)

Outer Wilds (Xbone X)

Control (Xbone X)

Mechwarrior 2 (Xbox)

Katamari Damacy REROLL (Switch)

Dragon Blaze (Switch)

Mother Russia Bleeds (Switch)

Jettomero (Switch)

Metal Slug 4 (Switch)

Tiny Metal (Switch)

Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch)

Mario Aces (Switch)

Diablo III (Switch)

Sayonara Wild Hearts (Switch)

Daemon X Machina (Switch/Switch Lite)

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch Lite)

One Night Stand (Switch Lite)

Ape Out (Switch/Switch Lite)

Untitled Goose Game (Switch Lite)

Beatmania GB (Gameboy Color)

Beatmania GB2 Gotcha Mix (Gameboy Player/Gamecube)

Christmas Nights into Dreams (Sega Saturn)

Florence (Pixel 2 XL)

Kids (Pixel 2 XL)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (PC)

Tetris Effect (PC)

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PC)

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unkown (PC)

Halo: Reach (PC)

Resident Evil 2 (PC)

A Short Hike ((PC)

Big (unbeatable) time sinks:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Welcome Amiibo (3DS)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)

Tetris 99 (Switch Lite)

Gudetama (Gudetama Tamagatchi)

Digimon (Digital Monster Ver. 20th)

Tamagotchi On (Tamagotchi On/Pixel 2 XL)

Call of Duty Mobile (Pixel 2 XL)

Games I’m currently playing or need to start has been moved to my 2020 list because holy shit that is getting tooooooooo loooooooong!

January 6, 2020 - The 2019 Recap:

Without getting too much into 2019 itself - WHAT A GARBAGE YEAR FOR LIFE IN GENERAL. Glad that’s over. AS for the video games, it was a great transitional year for me to be able to catch up on a lot of stuff and continue to push off other titles I should be finishing before the end of the generation -.-. Not counting my big unbeatable time sinks, I was able to complete 45 games across 10 different platforms. More interestingly is it was actually 12 different platforms as I played a gba title on my gamecube, and got the switch lite (transitioning from the Switch). I am pretty happy I was able to get my hands on so many consoles this year. This marks a new a record for myself! Of course this was no coincidence. Though it took significantly longer than expected we did move to a bigger place over here in California. This is not permanent or even where we want to be in the next year or two but I made sure to make this a comfy place for me where I have easy access to my stuff.

My handhelds, and most video games are now easily accessible. The current generation systems funny enough are the games that are the most difficult to reach at the moment, but I digress.

I made a conscious decision to try and play less online focused games or games that didn’t have an end in sight. And I accomplished that goal by cutting that list almost entirely in half. THAT said...the Call of Duty that came out at the end of this year basically ruined that for me. For the first time in the history of me doing this list, I was on track or ahead this whole year. I was actually genuinely averaging almost a game or two a week! Then I got my new computer.

Then I started playing Modern Warfare. And I spent so much time in that game I almost considered putting it on my list twice. I played so much multiplayer that I almost didn’t reach 52 games this year! At the last minute I almost ruined my streak! But we made it. And I’m good for 3 years in a row now.

I usually don’t do this but before I end this I just want to say my games of 2019 were Ace Combat, Outer Wilds, Resident Evil 2, and Devil May Cry V. Outer Wilds and Ace Combat are necessities. If I made a proper list - they would both be number 1. Please go out and play these games!

And with that! Fuck this decade, let’s hope the next one is better! Welcome 2020!

#ps4 #nintendo switch #psp #xbox #gaming #ps1 #playstation #gamecube #video games #3ds #ds #vg diary #the daily #california #sunnyvale

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kaleidographia · 5 years

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[Review] Tales of Vesperia: The Brightest Star in the Night Sky Doesn't Shine as Strongly as I'd Hoped

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Warning: Contains allusive/thematic spoilers.

The day is finally here! Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, containing content previously unseen outside of Japan, has finally been released, so that us English speakers and/or non-PS3 owners can experience the new storylines, characters and features for the first time! Alas, this isn’t a post about that, firstly because this post is going up day-of-release and I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, and secondly because I am writing this from outside of the country and won’t be united with my pre-ordered copy until I return next week, RIP.

Therefore, this post is written from the point of view of someone who has only played the Xbox 360 version. I will try to keep it brief for the sake of not spoiling newcomers to the game, and also hopefully not to complain about things that are fixed (or broken??) in the Definitive Edition.

Tales of Vesperia is a game in the long-running “Tales of” franchise from Bandai Namco, the first one in HD, originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2008, later receiving an updated PS3 version in 2009, exclusive to Japan. Like many older fans, my introduction to the Tales of series was with Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube, and I fell in love hard; I was therefore extremely excited to play the next games, but unfortunately, I never owned the platforms for them until very recently. Along with Tales of the Abyss, Vesperia and Symphonia form the “holy trinity” of games in the series almost everyone loves; find a Tales fan and ask them their favourite game, and the answer will likely be one of those three (note: I’ve heard very good things about Graces and the two Xillia games, but unfortunately haven’t had a chance to judge them firsthand myself). The three games, while not directly related in terms of plot or setting, share a lot of things in common, as they had mostly the same creative team, often referred to as “Team Symphonia” (as opposed to “Team Destiny” which made most other games since then). One notable difference is the scenario writer, Takashi Hasegawa, while Symphonia and Abyss were written by Takumi Miyajima.

The Tales series is known for its reliance on anime and JRPG tropes, often used in a way that plays off cliché expectations only to then layer plot twists and character development and produce a much deeper experience than what would be expected from the get-go. When used effectively, these methods produce a story that is both fun and emotionally challenging. Tales of Vesperia is no different, offering a cast of archetypes that should be highly recognizable to those familiar with the genre, and yet this may be best set of characters in a Tales game. The party has impressively good banter, chemistry and dynamics and several scenes had me laughing out loud or yelling, and I never had a bad time watching their relationships unfold.

Unfortunately, the game spares little time fleshing out backstories or learning more about each individual character outside of the main plot. By the end, I was left wanting, as the cast was so endearing and vibrant, yet I knew next to nothing about them aside from what had been relevant to show onscreen. I longed for more information about where they had come from and how they had gotten where they were, but it is a testament to the strength of the character writing that their storylines reached a satisfying conclusion despite this relative sparse amount of information about them. “Backstory is not story”, Craig McCracken and Frank Angones were fond of saying to fans of Wander Over Yonder, but for a game with the size and scope of a 60-hour JRPG, not providing that window of information feels like a hole in the worldbuilding.

Mechanically, Vesperia builds on the model established by Symphonia and refined in Abyss, where combat takes place in a 3D arena and the player can run around, hit enemies and rack up combos fighting game style (the franchise calls this “Linear Motion Battle System”). While Symphonia was in 3D, it restricted the player to a single side-to-side corridor of action. Abyss added the ability to run around in 3D space by holding down a button, a feature Vesperia also has. This makes combat easier and more fun, as nothing is quite as satisfying as avoiding an attack and then running around and hitting the enemy from behind. And, as the game allows up to four players controlling different party members, and I have a player 2 (shoutout to my roommate Opal), Vesperia’s system is the most well-suited to multiplayer. If nothing else, I never felt lost while on the battlefield yelling for backup. The one major flaw is that boss fights come with massive difficulty spikes and I often had to grind and formulate careful battle plans with Opal just to not get continuously massacred by bosses.

Storywise, Vesperia starts off very strongly, sort of peters out near the middle, and then the third act falls apart. At first the theme is anti-authority, with a protagonist who grew up in the slums, neglected by nobles, who became a knight and then quit out of disillusionment when it turned out all they did was squabble about politics, and the inciting incident and early driver of the plot is his quest to “fix the plumbing” as a popular Tumblr text post put it. It’s clear Yuri has all the reason in the world to not trust authority and he even goes full vigilante against unjust abuse of power, but while this thread seems like the most important theme in the story, after a while so many other elements come into play it ends up lost and doesn’t really make much of an appearance except to highlight the differences between Yuri and Flynn’s approaches to life and how they prefer to help people. On its own it’s a compelling idea, but it never gets the follow-through it deserves, and my expectations were certainly subverted—but in a bad way.

It’s hard to talk about the third act without spoilers so I will probably come back to it for a proper analysis at a later date, but its ultimate message was already kind of limp in 2008 and is even more laughable now. For a game whose initial premise was so strongly against authority, the ultimate resolution of the main conflict reads as incredibly daft in light of just about everything that is happening in politics at the moment. There’s a very strong environmental allegory and the comparisons to climate change are not subtle, but the writers probably bit off more than they could chew because realistically trying to solve this problem in the time the story allotted would have been next to impossible; I still would have hoped the implications of the given solution had been actually explored instead of settling for an “oh well, guess everything’s been fixed now”.

I’m being harsh about the plot because to me Vesperia has a lot of wasted potential. Don’t get me wrong: I do love this game. It is in fact up there with the holy trinity as far as my opinions of the series go, but it lands in third place out of the three because it just fails to live up to what its first half promises about the world it created. To put it bluntly, if the story had just ended at the conclusion of the second act, it would have been much stronger. That the game continues for another 20 hours on a completely different track with an unsatisfying, unrealistic conclusion is a huge shame because it brings down what could have been a real masterpiece of tropey anime JRPG narratives. I live for that stuff, there’s a reason I want to play every Tales game, but that’s what makes this letdown the most disappointing. At least the characters themselves get good conclusions; it is unfortunate I can’t say the same for the main plot.

Despite all this I think Vesperia is a worthwhile experience, and one of my favourite things about is its aesthetic sense. Every location is immersive, polished, and the pinnacle of what I want to see in a videogame, to the point I dream of Symphonia and Abyss remakes made in the same style (and every other game in the series, to be honest, but that seems unlikely with the direction it’s taken since then). I genuinely cared about the party and I wanted to see them succeed and I was ultimately happy that they did even if I did roll my eyes a lot. The combat was so satisfying and so fun to play with a player 2 it makes me twice as mad that Zestiria’s camera goes completely wild during multiplayer and prevents me from joining in. I should note that for someone who plays as many games as I do I am notoriously terrible at them so I heavily favour story over mechanics, but Vesperia is a game that reminds me that engaging gameplay can make a huge difference. Yeah, I suck, but at least I’m having fun while sucking. That’s more than I can say for a lot of games.

If you like JRPGs, games that let you run around and hit things, or fun and intriguing character dynamics, you’ll probably like Tales of Vesperia. If you’re looking for a coherent story from start to finish, you’ll probably disappointed, but there’s just enough there to keep you engrossed until the end. Overall, Vesperia is solid, and the parts it fumbles aren’t bad enough to ruin the whole thing, but hopefully the extra content in Definitive Edition helps to smooth it out; I’ll have to find that out for myself.

Aside from how it messes up the voice acting this time around. Oh, Bamco.

#Review #Tales of #Tales of Vesperia #videogames

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wongdson · 2 years

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Social Media and Gaming

In class we stood next to a number on the board that closely matches the amount of time we spent on our screens. While my phone stated that I spend an average of 2 hours on my phone each day, I ended up standing towards the opposite end of the board where I claimed to spend 6+ hours of screen time per day. I think there was some confusion between screen time and time spent looking at social media. While some of my classmates that stood with me do spend hours on social media, I felt that I was there because I spend a lot of time gaming and that social media isn’t the only source that is stealing user attention. We talked about how social media apps have become designed to steal our attention and keep us on the app for as long as possible via methods like infinite scrolling, auto-play and recommendation algorithms, and I think some games are made this way by design as well. When I think back to mobile games I've played, I remember 9th grade, playing on my phone on the bus heading to and from school. At one point I had half-fallen asleep and dropped my phone on the bus and realized that this really wasn't good for me. Being sleep deprived, this time on the bus could've been spent getting some rest, but I had wasted it on my phone. Mobile games send notifications after periods of inactivity, and grab your attention so you can continue playing where you left off. These small notifications get you to click on them and pull you back in when you think you've just finished playing.

One genre of games called MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) usually contain many tasks for players to do when they reach end game. I've played one of these games called Maplestory for seven years in the past, mostly my entire time in middle and high school. Upon reaching end game, you have daily tasks that help strengthen your character. Usually, I spent around 2 hours clearing these each day, but I remember weekends being constantly logged in for hours, and at one point, I spent 14 hours in game at once. I can't remember what I had been doing, but I just know I woke up in the morning and played Maplestory until I went to bed. Since then, I've quit Maplestory and moved onto less time-consuming games, but I think the amount of time games can keep people playing are comparable to how social media has implemented ways to keep people scrolling through posts and watching videos. These daily in-game tasks aka "dailies" may be somewhat short, but Maplestory continuously updated more and more of these to the point where, one character would take 1-2 hours to finish dailies and because a character’s strength benefits from having more characters on the account, people do dailies on more than one character. So, this becomes repeated where 1-2 hours per character adds up maybe 6 hours a day. What starts as a short gaming session easily becomes lengthened by the never ending things to do in game.

While it's true that people should be responsible for how much time they spend in game or scrolling through social media, I think it's hard to maintain that responsibility when games and social media are being designed to keep people online forever. I think being educated about the mechanisms around keeping user attention can help fight against social media consumption, but humans are creatures of habit, and we need someone or something to keep us in check to avoid wasting time that we want to spend elsewhere.

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wazafam · 3 years

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With actors having such busy lives, as they go from film sets to jet-setting around the world for press junkets, it seems like they barely get a minute to themselves. However, of the little spare time they do get, there are a surprising amount of actors who choose to use that time playing World of Warcraft, Halo, or any other first-person shooter or sports game.

RELATED: 5 NES Games That Stood The Test Of Time (& 5 That Didn't)

Some actors will even go to extreme lengths in order to play their favorite games. Whether it’s disappearing off the face of the Earth and moving to South Africa or starting a gaming podcast, these actors will do just about anything so they can be left alone and pick up the DualShock.

10 Matthew Perry

With Matthew Perry throwing himself into the role of Chandler in Friends, the two are very much the same, as they have both shown a passion for video games in the past.

Perry’s favorite games are the Fallout series, as he’s said that he once got carpal tunnel from playing it so much, and when he appeared on Ellen 11 years, ago he presented the talk show host with her own copy of one of the games. And there are even images out there of him and Snoop Dogg playing games together.

9 Will Arnett

Will Arnett has said himself that he’s a gamer at heart, and he loves the communal experience of it more than anything, as he’s often playing multiplayer games online on Xbox Live.

The Arrested Development actor plays mostly sports games and first-person shooters, as he’s a big fan of the FIFA series and Call of Duty. Being such a fan of video-games, Arnett actually had his own podcast called Game Chat, in which he invited other famous gamers as guests on the show.

8 Vin Diesel

Not only does the Fast & Furious series have a video-game series of its own, but Vin Diesel got his very own video game in 2009. Wheelman was marketed almost as if it was a movie. Diesel's name is on the box and the big selling point was how action movie-like the game played.

RELATED: 10 Video Game Adaptations Of Movies That Were Released Decades Later

He wasn’t so invested in the game just because it was another money maker, but because the actor actually has an adoration for video games. But more than any racing game, shoot-em-up, or even any console game for that matter, Vin Diesel is more of a tabletop gamer, as he loves Dungeons and Dragons.

7 Jamie Lee Curtis

Being possibly the biggest gamer of the lot, Jamie Lee Curtis has been extremely active in the gaming community ever since her son introduced her to Street Fighter. The actress famous for Halloween, Trading Places, and True Lies is obsessed with League of Legends and loves the fan worship aspect of it all.

She has also been known to cosplay as her favorite video-game characters and has even auctions off props from her movies to raise money for Twin Galaxies - her company that is attempting to legitimize eSports.

6 Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson has loved video-games for a good few decades. On many occasions, he’s mentioned how much he loves Pong and has an obsession with sports games too (although the latter might a joke).

Jackson is more involved in the video-game world than just playing them, as he’s one of the famous people who voiced a character in Grand Theft Auto: corrupt cop Officer Frank Tenpenny. On top of that, his likeness is even an unlockable skin in Fortnite and he hosted the E3 gaming convention in 2019, and the VGAs on several occasions too.

5 Daniel Craig

It’s hard to believe that Daniel Craig is a big gamer, considering how serious and mannered he comes across both in movies and in everyday life. However, not only has he lent his likeness and voice to a couple of them, but he loves playing them too.

Craig has said that if he wasn’t so busy, he would waste his life away playing video games noted that his favorite ones are those with detailed storylines. In an alternate reality, he would have made a great Nathan Drake in the Uncharted adaptation or even a great Sully.

4 Megan Fox

It’s no secret how much of a gamer Megan Fox is, as she’s always been excited to chat about her love of playing Halo: Reach online. And she told Collider, other gamers online would make fun of her username without actually knowing that it was her behind the controller.

RELATED: The 10 First-Ever Video Game Movies, Ranked (According To IMDb)

She even expressed not just interest but demanded that she play Kitana if there was ever a Mortal Kombat reboot back in 2016. And with the reboot getting released later this year, Fox is unfortunately absent. However, it’s clear that only Martial arts experts were cast.

3 Michael Fassbender

With so many Assassin’s Creed games that revolve around a rich concept with some spectacularly cinematic locations, it was only a matter of time until the hugely popular game series was adapted for the big screen.

In it, Michael Fassbender plays the main role, and though he has admitted to never having played the series before being cast in the movie, the actor confessed to being a huge gamer.

Though he has calmed down in recent years, as he said that he found himself up at 8:30am still playing, Fassbender was always into racing games. However, after being cast in Assassin’s Creed, he has since become a fan of the games.

2 Dave Chapelle

After Chappelle’s Show came to an abrupt end, the actor and comedian reportedly dealt with the grieving process by playing a ton of World of Warcraft. The actor even left LA and moved to a remote location in South Africa so he could play it in peace.

And though it’s a far cry from World of Warcraft, the comedian was even in talks to write the Grand Theft Auto-clone Saints Row for THQ. The developer wanted to take a “Dave Chappelle approach,” but when in talks with him, Chappelle apparently wanted too much control over the final product.

1 Mila Kunis

Besides starring in so many romantic comedies, Mila Kunis has revealed that is a massive gamer. The Family Guy star was introduced to the video-game world by her former boyfriend, Macaulay Caulkin.

The actress has confessed to being a huge fan of both Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, as she was a member of a ton of different WoW guilds. However, she has since given up talking to other gamers as one of them recognized her voice.

NEXT: FPS: 15 Best First-Person Shooters With No Multiplayer Mode

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.2 Fixes Problems You Didn’t Know Existed

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The Cyberpunk 2077 team has revealed the full patch notes for the game’s recently released 1.2 update and all we can say is “wow.”

There’s no use trying to breakdown the entirety of this patch since it contains over 500 updates, fixes, changes, and improvements. I highly recommend that you check out the (mostly) full rundown of the update if you’ve been waiting for that massive Cyberpunk 2077 patch that will finally make the game significantly more playable. This won’t be Cyberpunk 2077‘s last update, but it feels like the first of the game’s updates that are trying to do more than just put out the biggest fires.

If you’re looking for the highlights, though, then I’ve got you covered. Here are the best, biggest, and weirdest patch notes that I’ve found in the Cyberpunk 2077 1.2 update so far.

Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.2 Notes: The “WTF?” Fixes

“Player can no longer cancel fall damage by performing a slide action when about to fall from greater heights.”

If you’re like me, this is one of those things that you didn’t even realize was possible in Cyberpunk 2077 but now desperately want to try. Based on some videos that I’ve seen of this technique, it’s actually possible to survive some insane falls via this method but your survival is based on the specifics of the fall itself and your mastery of the technique. Honestly, they should just turn this technique into an official in-game modification ability.

“It is no longer possible to perform Gorilla Arms finishers against civilians.”

Cyberpunk 2077‘s latest patch notes make it clear that civilians in Night City have it kind of rough. I’m not entirely sure what the basis of this particular change is, but I kind of hope that they put it in there just to give the poor people of Night City a break by not letting you beat them to death quite so easily with your mechanical fists.

“Extending the sliding ladder won’t result in player’s death if they are below it.”

I’ve never actually seen this happen in Cyberpunk 2077, but the fact that it could happen is downright hilarious. Super-powered characters being killed by tiny bumps in video games is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I love the idea of being killed simply because your character is too stubborn to move out of the way of a ladder.

“It is no longer possible to use guns near the arcades during the Raymond Chandler Evening fistfight. // You can no longer pull an Indiana Jones in El Coyote Cojo.”

Ok, I’m actually a little upset by this one. As pointed out in the patch notes, it’s actually kind of hilarious that this was possible as it plays into the player choice element of the game. You could argue that too many of these glitches add up to be more than an amusing annoyance, but I think this one might have been funny enough to leave in the game in some form.

“Fixed multiple issues during sex scenes”

CD Projekt Red doesn’t give any additional details about this patch note, but I really wish they would. Just how many issues were there in these sex scenes? I’ve heard some people say the animations used in these scenes were awkward (which is true), but I’ve also heard reports that players were falling through floors and clipping through objects during those sensual moments. I’m sure fans will waste no time telling us everything that’s different about them when this update hits.

“Kerry’s bathrobe is no longer incorrectly attached to his lower part of the body.”

I had to look this one up, and I’m glad I did. It seems that Kerry’s bathrobe suffered from this strange glitch that made the bottom of it operate independently from the rest. I have no idea what causes it, but it kind of looks like it’s accounting for the proportions of a gentleman with much wider hips. Check it out for yourself:

“Fixed incorrect censorship when playing a copy of the game from a region other than Japan while the console region is set to Japan or language to Japanese.”

This isn’t the strangest patch note, but it’s one I didn’t know about. Apparently, the Japanese version of Cyberpunk 2077 censors some of the sex scenes and a few of the more violent moments. I’m genuinely curious how many people were accidentally playing the censored version of the game due to this issue and didn’t even realize it.

“Fixed an issue where pedestrians could get teleported after being hit by a vehicle.”

I still just want to know where those civilians went from both a design and lore perspective. I’m imagining that there’s a pile of civilian bodies lying around somewhere like at the end of The Prestige.

“In The Pickup, it’s no longer possible to trigger both scenarios at the same time: a peaceful deal with Maelstrom and fighting them.”

Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.2 Notes: The Oddly Specific Fixes

“Fixed an issue where dumping a body in the trunk started the vehicle’s engine.”

Ok, I ran into this one several times during my Cyberpunk 2077 journey and just convinced myself that it was a feature. At the very least, I feel like Elon Musk may make a car that automatically starts when it detects a body in the trunk for the convenience of the evil billionaire with goons on the go.

“The TV in Tom’s Diner can no longer be destroyed. If a player destroyed it before this update it will now be fixed and the news will be displayed correctly to progress Playing for Time.”

I also didn’t know this was possible, but it’s hilarious to imagine a player going around and destroying every TV in town only to find that they can no longer progress through the game as a result of their actions. Honestly, who discovered this one?

“Fixed an issue that caused NPCs to trip over other NPCs too often.”

It’s the “too often” part of this one that gets me. Who determined that the amount of NPC tripping going on was well beyond the acceptable parameters for such a thing?

“Fixed a rare scenario where the painting wouldn’t appear in the drop pod in Space Oddity/Space Oddity no longer spawns multiple paintings blocking the quest’s progress.”

I love the idea of largely useless paintings causing so many problems during one of Cyberpunk 2077‘s biggest missions. You just get the feeling that this is the little problem that made the team realize what a mess Cyberpunk 2077 was at launch.

“Fixed an issue where A Like Supreme could get blocked if player rushed to the toilet to take a pill before finishing a conversation with Nancy.”

This one just brings to mind a million instances in open-world games where you realize that QA testers should consist of trolls and video game speedrunners who are able to find absolutely every little thing you can do to ruin a game.

“Car lights will no longer stay on after the car battery dies in Ghost Town.”

How far down the list was this particular problem? Either this is a sign that the team is ready to move on to more minor fixes or this problem was a particular sticking point with someone on the team.

Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.2 Notes: The Cat-Related Fixes

“Cat food needed to adopt Nibbles can now be bought at several food shops around Night City”

While I actually like the idea of specific items only being available in specific shops in Night City, the fact of the matter is that Nibbles doesn’t have time for such role-playing concepts. Nibbles needs food, Nibbles needs love, and Nibbles needs it on their time, not yours.

“Fixed an issue in Nocturne Op55N1 where petting the cat would play without dialogue. // V will now properly address the cat, even without Misty’s answer.”

You WILL properly address Nibbles, V. Thank you to the Cyberpunk team for fixing such a glaring omission. Clearly, this is the reason why the game was delisted from the PlayStation Store.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.2 Notes: The Welcome Fixes to Strange Problems

“Fixed an issue where V could get stuck in empty buildings when exiting a vehicle parked close to a wall.”

This one happened way more often than it ever should have. This scenario is also common enough to really make you wonder how this problem escaped the testing process.

“Jackie no longer shouts ‘Nice shot!’ when V kills enemies while in stealth mode.”

Truth be told, I actually kind of love that Jackie couldn’t hide his enthusiasm during these instances, but it’s hard to deny that his piercing shouts did kind of ruin the immersion of these moments.

“Collisions will no longer fail to stream in randomly during driving, which could lead to V driving into buildings and falling out of the world.”

I get that Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t supposed to be GTA, but it sure will be nice to be able to collide with something without having to worry about disappearing into the void where those civilian bodies go.

“NPCs will no longer stay blocked on traffic lanes while in fear.”

Cyberpunk‘s poor NPCs will finally be able to move out of the middle of traffic which is good for you, good for them, and good for the city’s cleanup crew who have seen too many horrors.

“NPC hit by a car will now immediately run in panic/Added different animation variations for pedestrians running away from a vehicle.”

Some saw this problem as a sign that Night City’s NPCs just don’t care, but I think these patch notes make it clear that they wanted to run away and just didn’t have the ability to. It’s a real “have no mouth and must scream” scenario.

“V’s hands are now correctly displayed on a steering wheel while driving”

V gets a few animation fixes in this upcoming patch, but this is one of my favorites. I don’t know why it was so difficult to properly animate V using a steering wheel, but I’m glad we’re moving past the days when you’ve got to wonder what the character’s hands are supposed to be doing.

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m39 · 4 years

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History of the Creed - Part 2: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood; the game that is a mission packed sequel and is somehow better than its predecessor… at least that’s how I think… and many other people.

ASSASSIN’S CREED: BROTHERHOOD (The original PC release in Europe: March 18, 2011)

youtube

PLOT

We begin our story where the last game ended up. Ezio just beat up the Pope and received a message that doesn’t understand because it’s for Desmond. So he comes back to Mushroom Ki- I mean his villa to finally take a rest from the Templars. Shame it was a bad idea, since Rodrigo’s son, manchild that he is, decided to wreck our shit with his papal army and, to add more salt to injury, kill uncle Mario. I HAVE WASTED DOZENS OF HOURS AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FLORINS TO MAKE THIS TOWN NOT LOOK LIKE SHIT! CESARE!! YOU SPANISH FU-

Technical difficulties

What we basically have is a repeat of the previous game: Family member of Borgias ends up ruining Ezio’s life in some way and killing his family member(s) so it’s time to whoop some ass in the old fashioned revenge. I mean it’s not bad but it’s kinda weak to have a story that its foundations are basically the same as the AC2.

Good thing that the characters save the story. Ezio is still awesome as he was in the previous game. Almost all of the secondary protagonists are from AC2 and their characterization is extended in some way (I might also want to add up that even Rodrigo somewhat changed after our last meeting). The new characters (both protagonists and antagonists [asides from Cesare]) are on the same level as the secondary characters in the previous game: nothing great, nothing terrible, just fine. Main villain on the other hand… is basically a large ham. And I fucking love it. It’s the kind of ham that is enjoyable to watch. And the main reason why Cesare is so hilariously enjoyable to watch is his voice actor. Andreas Apergis fucking nails it! He already showed some talent in Assassin’s Creed 2 as Francesco de’ Pazzi and Checco Orsi but this game is when he showed of his talent. The fact that he ended up as a main villain in modern times and as your closest companion in the newest game proves this.

GAMEPLAY

So this game is basically the same as Assassin’s Creed 2 but with few changes. While the parkour is still the same as it was before, the combat got some new stuff. For instance there are kill streaks now. How does it work? After killing an enemy you can aim at the next target and attack them, or in other words, kill them in one shot kill. Also there is a kick. You can kick the enemy in the nuts to make them vulnerable for your attacks.

You thought combat was too easy in the previous game? Well, with this two new addons the enemies are now a complete joke. Even the toughest bastards asides from Borgia captains and bosses will die like a little bitch once you smash their balls off and/or kill streak them.

Speaking off enemies, there are two new types of them. There are Papal Guards who are the amalgamation of all previous enemies. In theory, they are very tough. In practice, kick ‘em in the nuts and they are done. There are also previously mentioned Borgia Captains who will either run away on your sight or fight you, which, in latter’s case, are immune to counters and kill streaks.

…

Oh yeah, you can also hold attack button to do a special attack based on what you have in your hand. That (mostly) useless shit exists.

There is also some upgrades to your arsenal. You can fire your hidden gun much faster. You can fire poison through the shootable darts (when you buy it out from Leonardo). You can use heavy weapons like the ones used by brutes (when you buy heavy sheath). And of course, the god’s gift: The crossbow.

heavenly noises

Imagine your hidden pistol being silent and have up to over twice the ammo. That’s crossbow in the nutshell. Overpowered? Yes, but still satisfying to use. It may cost a fuck ton of florins but it’s worth a price.

Also, you have your assassin apprentices that you can summon to help you kill selected target or kill a group of soldiers with arrows when you have three, filled bars.

Are you sick of walking around the whole 16th century Rome? Well, now you can use tunnels to get faster (providing you renovated them).

There are new mechanics for horses like shooting/assassinating from a horse and stealing a horse GTA style. Oh, and you can also whistle to summon it; I forgot about that.

…

Huh… I believe I said probably everything about new gameplay mechanics.

OH WAIT! That’s right! The beggars are back! Along with bards!! AND THEY MULTIPLIED!!! Thank god for the ability to throw your money to distract them for a while.

Liquid Bogan: M̶u̵l̵t̴i̶p̵l̵a̷y̶e̵r̵.̴

What?

Liquid Bogan: T̵h̵e̵r̷e̸ ̵i̸s̷ ̶a̶l̴s̷o̶ ̶m̵u̸l̸t̸i̴p̸l̵a̵y̶e̶r̴.̷ ̶Y̶o̴u̴ ̴f̷o̸r̶g̵o̵t̴ ̷a̷b̴o̵u̵t̸ ̸i̸t̷,̶ ̷y̵i̸s̵?̵

…

What?

ACTIVITIES

Well it wouldn’t be an Ubisoft game without a fuck ton of side stuff to do, so I’ll try to focus on new things.

While renovations are back, you won’t be able to renovate the building unless you kill the Borgia captain in the region and then burn previously protected Borgia tower. There are also banks spread around Rome so you don’t have to go to one place to withdraw your money like in the previous game.

I mentioned earlier about the apprentices. You can recruit them by helping civilians when they are in danger just like AC1. In return they will join the brotherhood and you can then send them to different cities to level them up to level 10.

Now you can do challenges for mercenaries, courtesans, thieves and assassins. By doing them you can unlock stuff like (respectively) 50% discount for hiring guild members, 2 new abilities per guild and (and this is the only bonus from assassins) a new, powerful weapon. Personally they are fine but some of them are really annoying and tedious (10 times five people kill streak anyone?!).

Beside challenges, there are side missions, like, a fuck ton of them. We have assignments from thieves and courtesans and assassination contracts that unlock as you go further through the main plot. We have Leonardo’s war machines to destroy, which after doing all of them you will be rewarded with parachutes. We have missions focusing on Templar agents AKA characters from multiplayer. We have Christina missions that unlock every 15% of synchronization up to 75%. There are also 2 DLC packs that are free for PC users: The Da Vinci Disappearance and (since 2017 to my surprise) Copernicus Conspiracy.

Did you liked collecting the flags from AC1? Well guess what? They are back. And this time you can buy expensive as fuck maps after collecting 25 of them.

And now… we came to the big one: Full Synchronization. Basically, most of the memories (either main ones or secondary ones) has additional, secondary objective like not doing this thing, killing someone with specific weapon, don’t kill anyone etc. Personally, I have a mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s cool to give the game some additional challenge. On the other hand, it feels like it restricts the players (and to be more precise, completionists) from playing how they want. Not to mention, some of these objective are very annoying/hard to get (anybody wants some no detection task?!). Don’t like them? Tough shit! We will have to withstand it for… let me see- 7 GAMES AT LEAST!

Also there are 5 hidden artifacts on modern times. Might want to point it out.

But overall, most of these activities were enjoyable to do. Then again, I think I’m some kind of masochist that enjoys doing that. At least I can say that most of them are worth the award.

THE GRAHPICS AND SOUND

The graphics might be where this game has the biggest advantage over AC2. While the buildings and the rest of environment feels like it’s on the same level as the last game, the character models doesn’t give you a feeling of being outdated anymore (at least in 50-70%): textures look sharper, facial animation looks less wonky/over the top, it all looks really nice… except there is one noticeable problem with some of the animations. Whenever you kill someone with your hidden blade, their forearms doesn’t animate, so it feels like you stabbed a dummy with the inflatable arms. Did some of the animators forgot to add the animation?

The sound effects keep the same level as the previous game AKA very good and the soundtrack is still top-notch. Jesper Kyd once again made a damn good job on the latter’s department. When you compare both soundtracks from AC2 and ACB you’ll notice that the latter one (most of the time) has more aggressive/unpleasant experience, which makes sense, you are in the lion’s den which is Italian Templars’ main base, that ain’t Florence/Venice, that’s home of our main villain. Here are some of my favorite tracks:

youtube

And here is the entire soundtrack for you to hear.

STABILITY

Note: Played on the highest setting minus anti-aliasing.

Good news – there were no crashing bugs, nor game breaking bugs.

Bad news – there were more framerate drops this time (especially when it was raining).

So still, the PC version is nicely optimized with a few hiccups. Something tells me I should say more about it but honestly, there is nothing else to add.

SUMMARY

Same foundations for the plot that makes it somewhat boring? Yes. Too much annoying stuff to do? Kind of. Being nothing more but a reheated, mission-packed sequel? Absolutely. But still, this game is the best out of all of Ezio’s trilogy and I would say that even if the boomer fan pointed a gun on my head. It basically takes AC2 but it adds so much stuff that makes the previous game pale in comparison.

And now, the only way to finish this review… is with this:

Cesare, oh Cesare,

A man of great depravity

Believed himself immortal 'til

He had a date with gravity.

intensive clapping

See you all next time.

Bye!

#history of the creed #Assassin's Creed #review #assassin's creed brotherhood #ac: brotherhood

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gfrank-photo-blog · 6 years

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We're looking forward to introducing the new Gladiator Heroes Replace. We have just a few tweaks on authentic game options and built-in a great deal of great new features that we hope you will get pleasure from. The Gladiator Heroes hack permits the gamers to totally refill their useful resource supplies in just a couple of minutes. This enables for much quicker development. Your base can advance and prosper at the fast tempo as a substitute of the normal one.

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