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aion-rsa · 3 years

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15 Best PlayStation One RPGs Ever Made

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In our look at the best Super Nintendo RPGs ever, we mentioned that the SNES is arguably the greatest RPG console in video game history. Well, if there is a console that makes that discussion an argument, it would have to be the PlayStation One.

With a lot of help from Square, Sony quickly established the PlayStation as not just the home of incredible RPG experiences but as a console that was capable of effectively convincing people who previously had no real interest in RPGs that they absolutely needed to devote 50+ hours of their life to the next gaming epic. That sudden rise in genre popularity inspired some of the industry’s greatest RPG developers to try to outdo each other creatively and commercially.

The result was a classic collection of role-playing experiences that still rank comfortably among the absolute best ever made. With due respect to the 20+ other games that deserve to be on this list, these are the 15 best PS1 RPGs ever made.

15. The Legend of Dragoon

The Legend of Dragoon’s legacy has only grown since the game’s late 1999 release, and it’s not hard to see why. While this game was initially criticized for not living up to the standards of some of the other PS1 RPGs we’ll soon be talking about, time has been kind to the various things this game does so very well.

The Legend of Dragoon makes up for its slow story with an incredible combat system that emphasizes an almost QTE-like mechanic that helps ensure you’re rarely simply watching a battle play out. This RPG’s character transformation mechanic is also one of those brilliant gameplay concepts that should have been copied many times since this game’s release. There’s also always been something special about the fact that Legend of Dragoon‘s ambitious CGI cutscenes ensured this epic spanned four PS1 discs.

14. Wild Arms

Wild Arms is another one of those PS1 RPGs that were initially overshadowed by some of the all-time classic games it had to compete against, but the thing that stood out about this title at the time is the thing that still makes Wild Arms special to this day: its style.

Wild Arms‘ blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and western design concepts shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does here. Developer Media.Vision deserves a lot of credit for ensuring this game’s ambitious world always felt cohesive and for finding some truly clever ways to subvert genre expectations through this title’s approach to exploration, combat, and puzzles.

13. Breath of Fire III

The Breath Of Fire III vs. Breath of Fire IV debate will likely not be settled here, but the third entry in this series ultimately gets my nod due to the ways it so clearly raised the bar for this franchise and its genre competition.

Breath of the Fire III’s 3D visuals and voice acting helped sell this game’s engaging story, while the game’s combat and wonderful cast of characters ensured you were constantly engaged and ready to see where this absolute gem was going to take you next.

12. Front Mission 3

Front Mission 3 rewards players willing to put the time into its fairly complex mechanics and deep storyline with one of the best tactical RPGs of the era and one of the best mech games ever made.

This game is rightfully remembered for its customization options and often punishing tactical gameplay but I don’t know if it gets enough love for its faction-driven narrative and the ways its visuals convey epic mech battles without relying on more traditional action gameplay.

11. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

The only reason this all-time great game isn’t higher on the particular list is that there are just other PS1 RPGs that better represent the genre and the kind of epic experiences we think of when we think of one of the best RPG platforms ever.

Having said that, the way that Symphony of the Night incorporated RPG elements not only changed the franchise forever but eventually helped inspire developers everywhere to enhance their own action titles by utilizing role-playing mechanics. This is still one of the best blends of role-playing and action/adventure ever made.

10. Valkyrie Profile

Long before God of War took us on a journey through Norse mythology, Valkyrie Profile caught many PS1 gamers by surprise with its unique blend of Japanese design and a Norse narrative that tasks you with assembling the perfect party of heroes to assist you through Ragnarok.

Valkyrie Profile‘s true calling card, though, is its turn-based combat system that essentially assigns a button to each character in your party. Getting the most out of your party of heroes requires you to successfully assign each character the right actions at the right time in order to unleash powerful combo attacks. It’s complex, original, and a whole lot of fun.

9. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete may have started off as a Sega Saturn title, but it’s hard not to ultimately remember this as a PS1 game due to the many ways that Sony’s first console allowed Lunar’s developers to share their full vision for this classic.

It’s true that Lunar is an “old-school” JRPG in a lot of ways that might turn some people off, but when level grinding, party management, and methodical turn-based gameplay are done this well, it’s hard not to see this as one of the ultimate genre comfort zones.

8. Star Ocean: The Second Story

It’s hard to talk about Star Ocean without eventually getting around to the fact that it has almost 90 possible endings, so let’s not bury the lede. What’s even more impressive than the game’s number of possible endings, though, is the fact that many of those endings are clever, logical, and, in their own ways, complete.

Really, though, this game’s incredible number of possible conclusions just highlights the various ways this sci-fi/fantasy title makes you feel like every action you do truly matters and that anything can happen. I also have to pay respect to this game’s brilliant “private action” system: a unique mechanic that allows your party members to have their own adventures that ultimately contributes to some of the best sidequests in RPG history.

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7. Xenogears

Xenogears features a fascinating blend of styles and mechanics that is quite appropriate considering the details of this game’s complicated development history (it started off as a pitch for Final Fantasy VII before briefly being designed as a Chrono Trigger sequel). Admittedly, there are times when you can tell this game is trying to find its creative voice and gameplay footing.

Yet, all the concepts this RPG touches upon ultimately come together to form something wonderful and memorable. It features one of the best ATB combat systems ever, a complex and creative story, a lot of heart, great visuals, and a truly incredible soundtrack. Sure, the game struggles a bit in the second half, but it’s easy enough to overlook those shortcomings as the byproduct of ambition.

6. Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII should be a victim of its own success. After all these years, all the praise, and all of the discussions, you would think we’d be at the point where the dreaded term “overrated” might linger just above this game’s legacy.

That’s not the case, though. Maybe Final Fantasy VII was eventually surpassed, but it’s truly tragic to imagine what RPG gaming in the ‘90s and early 2000s would have been like if it wasn’t for this game. It alerted millions to the fact they loved video game RPGs, and it did it without sacrificing depth, quality, heart, or ambition.

5. Final Fantasy Tactics

Considered by many at the time to be the best tactical RPG ever made, it has to be said that the most impressive thing about Final Fantasy Tactics is the fact that it’s still difficult to argue against this game’s claim to that title nearly 24 years after its release.

Final Fantasy Tactics‘ surprisingly accessible (yet still deep and rewarding) gameplay perfectly complements its colorful visuals, engaging character, and surprising story. I don’t know if it’s the best tactical RPG ever made, but it may always be seen as the standard in the eyes of many.

4. Vagrant Story

It feels like people have been waiting for Vagrant Story to get the love it deserves ever since the game was released in 2000. While Vagrant Story absolutely has a cult following, it seems pretty clear at this point that it’s just never going to reach that level. It’s too difficult, too different, and it will probably never get the remaster it deserves.

However, those who have played Vagrant Story know it was Square’s most mechanically ambitious and unique PlayStation RPG. From its stunning visuals to its deep combat and mature narrative, Vagrant Story has honestly aged better than all but a few of the games of this era. A game this different and innovative shouldn’t feel as complete and confident as it does.

3. Chrono Cross

From the moment Chrono Cross was released, it feels like the first line about this game has been that it disappointed those who were expecting a direct follow-up to Chrono Trigger. Even when we learned that the Chrono Cross team never really saw this as a Chrono Trigger sequel, Chrono Cross still lived in the shadow of its all-time great predecessor.

Maybe there are ways that Chrono Cross would have been better off sticking closer to that SNES classic, but even at the time of its somewhat controversial release, many praised Chrono Cross for its innovative combat, weird and wonderful story, large cast of characters, music, visuals, and commitment to defying expectations at every turn. This shouldn’t be your first PS1 RPG, but it might be the one you end up remembering most fondly.

2. Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy IX was essentially Square’s PS1 swan song. While the title’s return to the medieval fantasy style of classic FF games highlights the studio’s jovial mood at the time, the fact is that many people wondered if Square could recover from the controversial Final Fantasy VIII and produce an RPG that effectively ended their unbelievable run of hits in style.

The fact they managed to do just that is an accomplishment that should never be overlooked. To this day, I struggle to think of even a handful of RPGs that challenge Final Fantasy IX’s charm, humor, and cast of characters while still providing a role-playing adventure that will feel rewarding to veterans and newcomers alike. This is an across-the-board triumph that delights and impresses in equal measure.

1. Suikoden II

Suikoden II was pretty much “doomed to fail” from the start. It was released in the wake of Final Fantasy VIII’s massive debut, wasn’t widely distributed, and featured “retro” graphics that initially turned quite a few people off at the time of cinematic PS1 visuals. It didn’t help that its predecessor was a very good, but not great, RPG that also failed to find a wide audience.

Yet, Suikoden II is quite simply one of the best games ever made regardless of genre. I would love to tell you about its nuanced and deep politically-driven narrative, varied combat system, minigames, world-building elements, and score, but how long can you really talk about Suikoden II without getting around to its cast of over 100 recruitable characters and the ways Konami managed to make each and every one of them (as well as their interactions with each other) among the best of their era?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

I wouldn’t call this a perfect game, but at the same time, I’m struggling to think of a single thing I’d change about it.

The post 15 Best PlayStation One RPGs Ever Made appeared first on Den of Geek.

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becasbelt · 4 years

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Chapters: 9/12 Fandom: Pitch Perfect (Movies) Rating: T Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell Characters: Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale, Dr. Mitchell (Pitch Perfect), Beca Mitchell's Mother, Aubrey Posen, Jesse Swanson Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, skateboarder!beca, Romance, Angst

* * *

Beca’s knees hit hard concrete as she falls off her board, the sensation of fabric and skin tearing sending pain shooting through her legs. She hears Briggs call out to ask if she’s alright from somewhere near the top of the ramp, but Beca waves him off.

The external pain is welcome; it gives Beca a break from her internal heartache.

She struggles to her feet and bends over to instruct the damage on her knees. Just as she’d suspected, her pants are ripped up and one of her knees is bleeding as a result of her skidding across the ground. Beca winces slightly at the sight of blood, but just straightens up and makes her way up the ramp to where a first aid kit was waiting.

The new hole in her jeans gives Beca convenient access to her wound, so she sets to work cleaning it out. Beca pours some water over her knee, ignoring the slight sting that comes as a result, and digs around in the first aid bag for a Band-Aid. She hears someone plop down on the bench beside her – probably Wyatt based on the now present scent of weed in the air – but chooses not to speak until prompted.

“So, Beca,” her friend says after a moment.

And there it is.

“So, Wyatt,” she replies in kind, her focus on unwrapping her precious Band-Aid from its wrapper.

Wyatt chuckles goofily next to her, and Beca fights off a grin at the familiar sound. “What’s going on with you, dude?” he asks, nudging her shoulder a little bit as he lights up a joint beside her. “You’ve been home for Spring break for, what- five days now? Why haven’t you regaled us with any stories from your time amongst the knowledge seekers?”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Either you’re not high enough to forget how to use big words, or you’re just high enough to start using them.” She glances at him teasingly with a raised eyebrow.

He wiggles his own eyebrows in response. “I’m gonna go with the second one,” he replies cheekily. Beca just laughs and steals his joint for a quick drag of her own before returning her attention to patching up her knee. Wyatt continues smoking quietly beside her.

“School sucks, man,” she says after a moment, choosing to keep her eyes focused on her wound. She smooths the bandage out over her cuts with some level of satisfaction, enjoying the way the injury seems to disappear completely. Out of sight, out of mind. “It’s just as bad as I thought it’d be.”

“I mean, yeah,” is Wyatt’s remarkable response. Beca looks at him to see an indifferent look on his face as he watches other skateboarders goof off around them. “There’s a reason none of us wanted to go to college. It’s a waste of time.”

Uncertainty flashes through Beca’s mind at that, but she ignores it and turns her head away to watch Briggs grinding a rail with mild interest and a slight scowl. “You’re telling me.”

“So have you had any fun at school at least?” Wyatt asks after a small lull in the conversation. “Like, do have anyone you hang out with, or are you doing the whole ‘lone wolf’ thing again?”

The question causes Beca to briefly think back on unwelcomed memories from the last few months- most having to do with a certain redhead that Beca’s been spending the entirety of the break trying to forget. The only problem is, Chloe Beale is not someone that you can just forget.

Try as she might, Beca can still remember the look on Chloe’s face as she walked away from her after semi-finals. The hurt and heartbreak that shown on the other girl’s face as Beca declared they were nothing is there in Beca’s mind every time she closes her eyes, which had also caused serious sleeping problems for Beca. Instead of sleeping, Beca had devoted her time to skating and partying with acquaintances- just like the good ‘ol days.

Though the parties may be a welcomed distraction, Beca has found herself yearning for the quiet afternoons she and Chloe often spent together: walks around campus, doing homework in Beca’s dorm room, lazy Sunday afternoons where Beca would run her hands through ginger locks while Chloe napped.

Beca hated how much Chloe made her not hate being at school.

She also hated how often she checked her phone for notifications. It was automatic at this point; every so often she would turn her screen on to make sure she didn’t have any texts that came through, but each time she looked, she was met with the sight of no new texts.

Beca clicks on her phone now, just to make sure.

Nothing.

Whatever. Didn’t matter.

She snatches the joint from Wyatt’s fingers. “You know me,” she says after inhaling smoke deeply, letting it out in a slow stream with her next exhale. “I’ve never been one to be overly attached to anything.”

“Amen to that, man,” Wyatt agrees, stealing the stick back to finish the rest off. He stamps the bud on the ground with his sneakered toe and pushes himself to his feet. “I’m gonna go show Briggs up on that rail. You wanna come?” he implores, then chuckles. “You could probably show us both up, to be honest.”

Beca forces a small grin on her face. “I think I’m actually going to head home,” she says instead of accepting, getting to her feet as well. “My mom is taking me out to dinner before I leave again.”

“Right on, dude,” is Wyatt’s response. He fist bumps her before riding over to where Briggs is, and Beca waves in departure to both of them before hoping on her board and making her way out of the skate park.

Beca takes the long way home, skating leisurely since she was in no rush. Her mom wasn’t taking her to dinner; in fact, Beca had hardly spoken to the woman since getting home for break. Long work hours on her mom’s end, plus Beca’s attempts at distracting herself have just resulted in not a whole lot of time spent together. Beca didn’t mind, though. She doubted her mom would have anything substantial to say to her anyways.

The sun is just setting in the sky when she arrives home, and Beca uses her key to unlock the empty house’s door. The front entryway is dark, but Beca doesn’t bother turning on any lights yet, opting to just rely on the fading light shining through the windows. Beca automatically heads in the direction of the stairs that lead up to her room, but pauses while passing the front room.

The piano that she has spent so many hours playing sits in its usual place under the window, the setting sun outside casting a faint orange glow on the polished wooden surface. The keys are covered, much in the way they were when Beca left for Barden. Beca studies the instrument for a moment before turning and taking a step away from the front room, but stops after only two steps and turns back around. She squints at the piano.

“And what do you want?” Her voice cuts through the empty air in the house, and Beca takes a few cautious steps towards the instrument.

The piano does not reply.

“Look at me. I must really be crazy, talking to a piano,” she mutters, laughing numbly. She wipes a finger through the dust covering the lid and slowly sinks down to sit on the piano’s bench, resting her elbows on the covered keys and putting her head in her hands. “Why am I such a mess?” she asks dejectedly.

Still, the piano remains silent.

Beca picks up her head and flops her hands down in her lap. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and places it on the bench next to her, turning it on briefly to check for notifications. As usual, no new messages appear on the screen. Beca sighs and glares at the piano as if it was judging her. “You’re not much help at all, you know that?” she tells the instrument.

Again, no answer.

She spends another moment squinting at the piano before letting out a resigned puff of breath. “Fine,” she murmurs under her breath as she lifts the fallboard up to expose the keys. “You win this time.”

When Beca places her hands on the keyboard and begins to play, she feels as though the piano finally responds to her. Beca plays with no real direction, no thoughts going through her mind. Her fingers dance over the notes on their own free will, and Beca finds herself taking comfort in the way the familiar action of playing eases her troubled emotions.

Soon enough it has gotten dark enough outside that Beca can no longer making out the piano very well, seeing as she hadn’t bothered turning on any lights upon arriving home. Beca pulls her hands away from the keys and reaches up to close the fallboard, but hesitates before she can pull it down.

The keys have spent enough time closed off, Beca thinks.

Beca wrinkles her nose at how lame that metaphor is for her life.

The keys remain uncovered as Beca rises from the bench and makes her way up to her room.

* * *

“What’s your favorite song?” Chloe asks, propping herself up on elbow from her place lying on Beca’s bed. Beca herself sits on the floor facing the bed, busy cleaning marks off the grip tape on her board. She looks up at Chloe’s question.

“I would’ve thought that you'd know I don’t listen to all that much music by now,” she replies wryly, focusing her attention back on her board.

Chloe huffs and pushes herself into a sitting position. “So you don’t have any songs you like?” she presses. “Not even from when you were a kid?”

“What’s your favorite song?” Beca retorts, redirecting the question.

“That’s not fair,” Chloe pouts.

Beca raises an eyebrow at her. “Then why’d you ask me the same question?”

Chloe opens her mouth, trying to come up with a response to that, but ends up shutting it again a moment later. Beca holds back a smug grin and looks back down at her board.

“Okay, well the thing is,” Chloe starts again. Beca sighs and sets her skateboard to the side; she’d have to work on it some other time. “It’s not a fair question because I don’t have just one favorite song.”

“Okay, what are you favorite songs, plural, then?” Beca asks, chuckling and shaking her head. She pushes off the floor and flops down on her stomach next to Chloe, who is still sitting upright, now deep in thought.

“Well, there’s Titanium, for obvious reasons,” Chloe starts out, shooting a suggestive wink towards Beca, who immediately flushes and lightly shoves Chloe’s leg with a laugh.

“Gross, dude. What else?”

Chloe begins to think again, and Beca ignores how easy the smile that comes to her face is as she watches the ginger ponder. “I’ve always been a big fan of ‘Here Comes the Sun,’” she eventually decides, nodding her head at the conclusion. “My parents used to call me their little sunshine when I was a kid, so I’ve just always had a soft spot for it.” Chloe starts humming the melody quietly and looks down at Beca with a smile on her face.

Beca listens to Chloe, debating with herself internally. Eventually Beca sighs a little and rolls onto her back. “Somethin’ Stupid,” she says, eyes trained on the ceiling.

Chloe’s humming ceases. “What?” she asks, a crease appearing between her eyebrows.

“It’s a Frank Sinatra song- a duet he sings with his daughter,” Beca explains further. “My dad and I used to sing it together when I was a kid, before he, uh, walked out.” She clears her throat awkwardly and starts picking at her cuticles. “My dad wasn’t the best singer, but he always loved singing with me, which is a good thing since I always wanted someone to sing with. My mom played a little guitar, and she would pull it out on occasion and try to play some chords along with us, even if she usually didn’t do a very good job.” Beca chuckles a little at the memories of her mom and dad playfully teasing each other when one of them would mess up a note or chord. It was the healthy kind of fighting- the kind of fighting that was more for show and flirting purposes than anything

Beca’s thoughts stray to nights spent listening to her parents actually fighting with one another, which dampens Beca’s moment of brief reminiscence instantly. The smile falls from her face while she shrugs as best as she can while laying down and laces her fingers together over her stomach before meeting Chloe’s watchful gaze. “I dunno. I guess the song has always just stuck with me, even through all the rough years.”

A soft smile forms on Chloe’s lips, and the other girl leans over to kiss Beca gently. Beca closes her eyes contently at the action, letting Chloe pull back after a few seconds and resisting the urge to deepen the kiss.

“Thank you for telling me that,” Chloe whispers, face still hovering close above Beca’s. Beca grins a little.

“You’re the one that asked the question,” she replies just as quietly. “Of course I was going to answer.”

Chloe giggles a little before leaning in to kiss her again, and Beca lets herself get lost in the way her heart beats fast and how her lips turn up in a smile with each new kiss.

* * *

The scotch that Beca had stolen from her mom’s liquor cabinet sits next to Beca on the roof, untouched save for a couple sips taken about an hour ago. It was weird, but drinking her feelings away didn’t have quite the same appeal as it did a few months ago. Roof time used to be drinking time for Beca, but she just didn’t feel like numbing her feelings at the moment.

It was so hard going back to feeling sad and numb after being truly happy for the first time in years.

Beca checks her phone.

Nothing.

She sighs and stares at her screen until it automatically fades to black again. Beca rests her crossed arms over the top of her bent knees and rests her chin on them, focusing on the lights of the city in the distance. From here she can just make out the shape of the Space Needle, as well as a few other buildings she sort of recognizes. The noises of cars passing by from nearby is the only thing breaking the silent night air, and Beca lets the familiarity of it all wash over her, soothing her a little.

“Knock knock,” a voice says behind her.

Though Beca is surprised by her mother’s unexpected visit, she doesn’t turn around to greet her. “Hey,” she says with no enthusiasm. Beca hears shuffling as her mom climbs out the window and onto the roof.

Her mom slides her way over to sit beside Beca, and out of the corner of her eye Beca sees her eye Beca’s drink, but doesn’t comment. “How you doing, kid?”

“Fine,” is Beca’s automatic response. She winces slightly at the snappy tone she uses. “Just, you know, tired and stuff.”

“And stuff,” her mom echoes, humming a little. The woman says nothing else for a while, and Beca feels herself become more anxious the longer they sit there together. Beca finally turns her head to look at her mom and sees that her eyes are also focused on the city lights.

“What are you doing here?” Beca finally asks, a little shortly.

Her mom shrugs. “This is my house, isn’t it?” she says, seemingly unbothered by Beca’s tone. “I think I have the right to sit on my own roof.”

Beca huffs. “Yeah, but what are you doing here with me?” she tries again, turning away from her mom again. “You’ve been doing a pretty good job at ignoring me all week, why stop now?”

Her mom sighs sadly. “Listen, Beca, I know I haven’t been the best mother lately.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “That’s an understatement,” she mumbles under her breath.

“And I’m sorry for that,” her mom continues softly. “I’m so sorry that I shut you out after your father left. It wasn’t fair to you in any way, and I’m ashamed that it’s taken me so long to realize that I was even doing it at all.” Her mom’s voice tightens as she talks, and Beca feels a lump form in her own throat in response.

Beca chooses to remain silent.

“I was so focused on my own hurt feelings for so long that I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you. It felt like I was in a mindless daze for three years, and it was only after you went away to school that I was able to snap out of it.” Beca turns her head slowly to see tears on her mother’s face, shocked by the first show of real emotions since right after her dad left. “It didn’t hit me until I was truly alone how terrible I’ve been the past few years,” her mom says, wiping tears off her cheeks. “I- I don’t know if you’ll be able to forgive me, but I’m willing to work to earn your forgiveness in whatever ways I can.”

Beca looks into pleading blue eyes, so much like her own, and feels all the anger and resentment she’s harbored towards her mother melt away. “You don’t have to earn anything,” Beca tells her gently, and Beca can see the surprise on her mom’s face at the words. “Of course I’ll forgive you. It was a rough few years for both of us, and I definitely could’ve handled it better, too. Just,” Beca puts on a faux stern face, “don’t let it happen again.”

A relieved, albeit shaky, chuckle sounds from her mom and Beca smiles at her reassuringly. “Are you too old for hugs from your mom?” she asks, holding out her arms hopefully.

The lump in Beca’s throat tightens even more. “I’ll never be too old for a hug from mom,” she says thickly before leaning into her mother’s embrace. Beca closes her eyes contently as something settles in her chest, making her feel calm.

After a moment of just sitting and holding each other quietly, Beca’s mom pulls back. “So,” she says, brushing a lock of Beca’s hair behind her ear. “How’s college? Is it as bad as you thought it would be?”

And just like that, Beca is spilling out everything that’s happened at Barden like the last three years of miscommunication never happened between them. She tells her about her job at the skate shop, and about how annoying Jesse is. She tells her about joining the Bellas and what competitions are like (though she leaves out the getting arrested part).

Beca spends a lot of time talking about Chloe- about how she convinced her to join the Bellas, about how kind and understanding she is; how she doesn’t seem to mind Beca’s perpetually grumpy mood and constant sarcasm.

About how she feels like Chloe has steadily broken down her walls.

How Chloe makes her want to be a better person.

“And mom, I,” Beca takes a moment to catch her breath, just now realizing how long she’s been talking for. Her mom doesn’t seem to mind; there’s a light in her eyes that Beca hasn’t seen in a long time, one that Beca hopes is here to stay for a while. “I started playing again.”

Her mom’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “Piano?”

Beca smiles a little. “Piano, yeah,” she confirms. “Chloe asked if I did anything other than skate one day and I just… showed her. I didn’t even think twice about it.”

“How did it feel? Playing again,” her mom inquires.

“It felt…” Beca trails off for a moment, trying to find the right words. “It felt like I never stopped.”

Her mom smiles. “And based on the way the piano keys were open earlier, you’ve been playing ever since?”

Beca laughs. “I knew I should’ve covered them up again. Is that the only reason you came up here to talk to me?” she teases without mirth.

“No, but I was curious about it,” her mom reveals with a chuckle of her own. She sobers up a moment later. “I’m glad to hear that you’re playing again, though. I know that it’s something you used to really love.”

“I mean, it’s fine, I guess,” Beca says with a shrug, her tone giving away to the fact that she’s only joking.

“And,” her mom says hesitantly, “Based on the way you talk about this Chloe girl, I’m thinking piano isn’t the only thing you love.”

Beca’s mouth opens and closes at that, shocked to say the least. Her phone lights up with a Snapchat notification from Briggs, drawing Beca’s attention to the screen. She swipes the notification away and takes a moment to look at her screensaver. It’s a picture of she and Chloe, taken a couple of days before semi-finals. Chloe holds the phone while kissing Beca on the cheek, Beca’s face wrinkled up in fake discomfort. Chloe had teased Beca about how cute she was when she was grumpy, to which Beca had just rolled her eyes affectionately without complaint.

The memory brings a tender smile to Beca’s face. “Yeah,” she tells her mom, still looking down at her screensaver. “I guess you’re right.”

#fanfic #pitch perfect #bechloe #beca mitchell #chloe beale #life is not a love song #social isolation time means writing time #yay

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radramblog · 3 years

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Top 5 Games, ever...?

This was sort of on my mind, considering the recent GOTY post I made. Come explore the hyperfixations that managed to stick around long enough to be my top 5 list.

5. Uhhhhhh

So turns out I haven’t figured out what number 5 is yet. I suppose instead I’ve got to split it among the honourable mentions, huh.

Kirby Super Star Ultra is probably the best game from the GBA/DS era of the series and is just a blast to play. It introduced Masked Dedede, and all the banging music and memes that come with it, and probably deserves a spot here just for that.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth removes all the awkward Flash Stuff from the excellent original, and adds so, so much more content- the game’s final expansion still isn’t out yet as of writing but even now there’s just so much to unlock. While some aspects of the game can be pretty unforgiving, you probably aren’t going to be exposed to the worst of it unless you get into it pretty hardcore, and if you do, you’ll get used to it. It’s a roguelike, after all.

Speaking of roguelikes, FTL: Faster than Light is chaotic yet serene, brutal but fair, and a bunch of other pretentious dichotomies wrapped into a neat little bow. It takes some getting used to the mechanics, but once you get the hang of it, building your little ship up and up in the face of all odds is extremely satisfying. Have fun dying hopefully not too many times.

SPEAKING of permadeath, Realm of the Mad God gets a spot here just out of sheer hours I’ve spent with it. After a messy few years with a not-so-great owner lead me to dropping the game, it seems finally to have recovered and has devs and community that actually freaking care about it, which is nice. Also, it’s free, and the recent transition to unity has the game looking better and playing smoother than 12-year-old me could ever have dreamed of.

Terraria isn’t just 2D Minecraft btw, its actually more of an RPG/Metroidvania thing, you probably know at this point, but its pretty good hey. Still haven’t fully dove into 1.4 but considering I thought Red was done at 1.1 I’m not complaining with what I have played.

4. Fallout: New Vegas

(...ish??)

I’d argue that between the primitiveness of the original Fallout games (I’ve tried to get into them, but I just can’t) and how…meh… the other Bethesda ones are, New Vegas is the only one in the series to stand up strong. Obsidian’s excellent writing and tweaks to the gameplay of 3 make New Vegas feel like an actual world, rich and characterised, which was something I found lacking in previous open-world RPGs I’d played up until that point (which admittedly might just have been Skyrim). It’s a game that challenges you to make choices that actually matter for more than the mere moments of an altered dialogue tree, both in dialogue and character building, which helps make the game actually replayable. It is also the first game in a long time that really sold the idea of DLC on me, seeing as each of the game’s 4 expansions adds an entire new region of world with its own stories and unique gameplay, tying together with the main plot but standing on their own. I am excluding Gun Runner’s Arsenal from this for obvious reasons, though it isn’t like GRA is a bad DLC or anything- on the contrary, the sheer scope of modifications and munitions makes playing a repair/science-based character incredibly fulfilling- but it just isn’t at the same scope as the other 4 (Courier’s stash barely counts seeing as its just oops! All preorder bonuses).

New Vegas is one of the few games I have actually 100% completed, achievements and all, but I’m still pretty sure there are bits I’ve missed, paths I haven’t taken, characters I haven’t talked to. Despite its inhospitability, the Mojave is always a comfortable place to return to.

3. VA-11 Hall-A

(Hey look, my phone background)

Vallhalla is a masterclass in storytelling, atmosphere, and aesthetic. Like all good cyberpunk dystopias, you get themes of class and transhumanism and artificial intelligence, but they aren’t the point of Vallhalla. Through the window and lens of cyberpunk and PC98 nostalgia is focussed a surprisingly human story centred around the protagonist, Jill, which through multiple replays still hits me in the feels just so. Of course, Jill’s story is not the only one being discussed, as every single patron of the bar has their own life going on, and the glimpses we get imply a rich, often interconnected, world. Glitch City is, frankly, a shithole, and it’s not like you don’t get some assholes coming into the bar while you’re working it. The first patron you serve, in fact, is a great example of this- Donovan D. Dawson, essentially a parody of J. Jonah Jameson, is a colossal prick and knows it- but its clear he has his own system of morals and it is mentioned that he’s excellent at his job, much as he gripes about it. He’s rude and more than a little sexist, but frustratingly charismatic and authoritative, and he’s just one of many people who show up throughout the game. Vallhalla is the perfect game to sit down, grab your preferred beverage, and just relax with.

2. Total Annihilation

(This image is on the steam page for this one, despite blatantly not being from vanilla TA)

I think I actually need to explain this one. Total Annihilation was a game released in 1997 made largely by Chuck Taylor, who would later go on to produce spiritual successor Supreme Commander. It’s an RTS game featuring exclusively robotic units with a fairly chunky aesthetic, allowing the visuals to age better than some, and a fully orchestrated soundtrack by Jeremy Soule, who would later go on to do work on a whole bunch of stuff, most notably Skyrim.

Total Annihilation is an intensely nostalgic game for me, being one of the first games I ever got to play as a kid outside of edutainment stuff, and I’d argue still holds up today (especially with the excellent Escalation mod). What it lacks in story (it’s pretty basic, but functional) it makes up for being miles ahead of its time mechanically, being the first (?) RTS to function in 3 dimensions- heights of things actually matter, hills exist and certain units climb them better than others, shooting down airplanes is difficult without anti-air but possible if you aim *just* right. While appearing pretty similar and having largely analogous units, the two factions of Arm and Core are well fleshed-out in terms of aesthetic and playstyle- Arm preferring fast and cheap equivalents to Core’s slow but powerful- and the unit variety is sufficient that strategies can vary wildly based on the map. Both campaigns as well as those from the game’s expansions are challenging, but satisfying, limiting the units you can produce to force exploration of different playstyles.

Total Annihilation isn’t something I tend to binge play for hours anymore, but I’ll pick it up for a bit every so often, and I don’t see that stopping for a long time (especially due to the recent steam release).

1. Pokémon Emerald

(At the top, where it belongs)

Yeah, this was inevitable. Pokémon is my favourite series ever; Emerald is my favourite in the series. Go figure.

Emerald, being the final game for the franchise’s days on the Game Boy, reflects everything Game Freak had learned in the first 3 generations of the series’ history. The game’s balance is challenging but fair, never spiking so tough that it is insurmountable but never holding your hand either. The AI opponents are throwing odd combinations of mons and moves at you from every corner, double battles are everywhere but rarely mandatory, and the variety of available mon both before and during the postgame is excellent. The added features on top of Ruby and Sapphire are great- Battle Tents serve to replace 3 of the contest halls (they should have all been under one roof to begin with) and provide a taste of what would later be available in the Battle Frontier. The Frontier is probably the single most expansive and challenging postgame in any Pokémon game, providing the game with a longevity that is sorely needed due to the inaccessibility of Pre-DS multiplayer. The game also manages to tie together the plot of both Ruby and Sapphire into something that feels natural, and provides the series’ first ever actual cutscene, which felt a lot cooler at the time than it sounds now. The return of animated sprites gives the Pokémon a level of life far beyond the static sprites of RSFRLG, and in my eyes wouldn’t feel the same until Black and White several years later. The return of the Pokégear phone in the form of Match Call, as irritating as it is to some, makes the world feel alive in a way that Sinnoh and Kanto probably never will, in addition to making grinding a fair bit less tedious and more beneficial. It is, altogether, probably the perfect Pokémon experience, and in my opinion only one other game comes close (its Platinum).

Oh also, they got rid of the font from Ruby and Sapphire, thank fuck, that shit is atrocious.

#ramble #video games #pokemon #retro games #lists

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buckyownsmyheart · 4 years

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Duty [7/12]

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Words: 3k

Warnings: Smut!! In the first part only. Terrible editing all the way through. Cliffhangers (oops)

Series Summary: Ex-army doctor, and now the Avengers on-mission doctor, Major (Y/n) (Y/l/n), had prepared herself for anything. That was, of course, until she met a devastatingly charming Sergeant from Brooklyn with a quick wit, a kind smile and a taste for adventure. I wonder what will happen?

Series Masterlist

Chapter 6

You were surprised at how quickly you adjusted to having someone in the same bed as you again. A month after your injury, Bucky had pretty much moved full-time into your room. His was only a few doors down, but it now acted mainly as a storage room. Predominantly keeping Bucky’s knives safe as you had forbidden them in yours. Although nightmares rarely entered either of your sleeping minds anymore, having the other there when they did, helped significantly. Tonight, there was a pretty heavy thunderstorm going on, and both you and Bucky had woken with a start at the loud claps of thunder that had broken through the silent night. It was now 3 hours later, and you and Bucky had taken to talking, knowing neither of you would get back to sleep unless the storm ended. You always hated thunder, it made you anxious and kept you on edge, and Bucky seemed to feel the same way.

As you lay in the dark facing each other, Bucky was tracing shapes on your back with his metal arm, whilst his other one propped his head up. He was talking animatedly about how Avril Lavigne was actually replaced by someone called Melissa in 2003. Maybe you needed to put a child-lock on YouTube, can you even do that? But he was cute when he talked passionately, even if it was about ridiculous conspiracy theories. You did, however, make a mental note not to ask about the moon landing.

“She even hinted to it in her songs! Have you heard ‘Slipped Away’? Melissa is definitely leaving a clue.” Bucky poked you hard in the side, “Babe? Are you listening? This is important.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m listening. I heard that apparently their facial structures changed too!” You hid a yawn and faked some enthusiasm. You didn’t want to dismiss something he cared about, but at 4 in the morning it was getting a little difficult.

“I know!” Bucky exclaimed, then he noticed your eyes and his immediately became concerned, “Are you tired? Do you want to go to bed?”

You shook your head, and a comfortable silence fell where you took the opportunity to study Bucky’s face, as you had become quite fond of doing. “You know, you’re not at all as I expected,” you whispered, lightly touching his chin where hair was starting to regrow. Photos just didn’t do him justice. They don’t capture the way his eyes light up when he thinks there might be a cake on offer, or the way his hair gently sways in the wind, and its softness just after he’s washed it. The grace at which he moves, and the little smile that appears on his face when he’s basking in the sun. You may be wearing rose-tinted glasses, but he was just about the damn best thing that had come into your life.

“Why’s that then?” He asked after a pause, “Am I devilishly good-looking? Far too handsome for my own good?” You stifled a laugh, and his eyes twinkled mischievously,

“Fatter,” you retorted, “and not nearly as funny.”

“That’s it!” He exclaimed, and dove on you, sitting around your waist to pin you down and tickling you. He was relentless, and you screamed, wiggling around trying to escape from his hold.

“Okay, I’m sorry! I take it back!” You laughed, holding your stomach to try and relieve the ache, “You are far far too handsome for your own good.” He leant back, satisfied with your response.

There was a moment of silence, and you wondered if the storm was finally over, the steady breathing of Bucky beside you was comforting, and you bit your lip trying to contain your smile. He had that effect on you.

“Can I plait your hair?” He questioned

“Uh, yeah sure, why not.” You sat up, situating yourself in between Bucky’s legs as he began a French plait down a portion of your hair. The feeling of his hands gently scratching at your scalp was sent shivers down your spine and a pleasant sensation spread along your neck. You fought a valiant battle against your drooping eyes, trying to keep Bucky company, but to no avail.

The next thing you know, you were waking up to sunlight streaming through the curtains onto your bed, Bucky sprawled out beside you, his hand over your forearm but fast asleep. The clock read 07:42 and so you moved to shut the curtain and try and allow yourself more sleep before the day truly starts. As you run a hand through your hair, it got stuck. Ah yes. One of Bucky’s French plaits. On half of your head. I guess that was your fault for falling asleep on him last night. As you pulled it out, you looked down to admire his sleeping form when his hand stretched out to try and find you. Okay, that was adorable. The curtains and half braided hair forgotten, you slipped back under the covers and folded yourself into him as his arm wrapped around your middle.

“G’Mornin’,” He uttered huskily, his voice still thick with sleep. You wiggled back into him and squeezed his arm in response, before feeling something unmistakeable pressing into your butt.

“It certainly is,” You said, trying not to laugh, before turning around in his arms, meaning your face was inches away from his, your noses almost touching as he opened one eye.

“Don’t be mean,”

“I’m not!” You slid closer to him, pressing your hips against his,

“Yes, you are,” His eyes were now both open. He suddenly seemed a lot more alert. “And you’re not helping the situation,”

“I think you’ll find I am helping the situation, and making it much better for both of us,” You gave him a light but slow kiss, lingering tantalisingly close to his lips afterwards, so close that they nearly touching, trying to tempt him for more. Lucky for you, he took the bait, and captured your lips in a deep kiss. He moved his thigh in between your legs, and you couldn’t help but grind down on it, trying to give some friction to relieve the throbbing that had begun.

Heat was radiating off Bucky’s chest, and your hands wandered over every inch of him. The coolness of his left arm on your thigh was a sensation that was entirely and uniquely Bucky, and you absolutely lived for it. His hand moved around to cup your ass and press you down harder onto him. You let out an involuntary gasp, if things carried on like this, you were going to come off friction alone. Bucky kept a steady pressure on your butt, and you moved back and forth, finding it harder and harder to think straight. The thought of him consumed every part of you, fuelling desire in every sesne. His mouth was urgently moving against yours, a clash of teeth and tongues. Just as you felt your high coming, he replaced his thigh with his hips, moving himself on top of you and pressing his hard length against your heat, and the change made your eyes roll back into your head as tingles engulfed you, spreading warmth along your body as you climaxed.

Bucky started kissing down your neck and along your collarbone, moving his old t-shirt to the side as he did. His other hand moved up underneath your shirt, and he ran his thumb over your already hard nipple. His touch left goose bumps as he massaged gently, and he was leaving nips at the base of your neck where you knew there would be a slight pink mark later. The feeling was angelic, and left you wanting even more. You took off your shirt, leaving you exposed, and the look that Bucky gave you was nearly enough to send you over the edge again. He started kissing down your chest, but you pulled his chin back up.

“You’ve been looking after me for the past month, let me look after you,” You whispered, gently pressing on his shoulder to get him to roll over. As he complied, you straddled him, grinding your now wet underwear into his and kissing him more softly. You placed gentle kisses along his jaw, and slowly worked your way down his body. As you reached down to grab him over his boxers, he let out a small groan, encouraging you to press down and rub him gently as he cursed your name. You pulled his underwear down and kissed his thigh messily whilst pumping him slowly with your hand. You ran your tongue along the soft skin of his inner thigh, whilst looking up at him, his blue eyes piercing into yours. You moved your lips against the base of him and licked up his length, from balls to tip, before swirling your tongue around the top, mixing your spit with his pre-cum. As you finally took him in your mouth, he swore under his breath. You started moving up and down, trying to move your tongue as much as possible in the restricted space. Your other hand was still pumping at the base where you couldn’t take all of him. You built up a steady rhythm, hollowing your cheeks out and bobbing up and down, trying to maintain eye contact with him. His hands were tangled in your hair, holding it back, but the gentle tugs he was giving was enough to keep you going.

“Shit doll, you look so good like that, your mouth feels so good wrapped around me.”

All you could do was hum in response but hearing him groan and grunt in pleasure was enough to build the heat between your legs to an unbearable level. You reached down and slipped your own fingers into your underwear, sliding them along your folds to satisfy yourself, still bobbing your head up and down. You moaned against him at the feel of him in your mouth, and your own fingers inside you. You pressed your own palm down, giving pressure on your clit to add extra stimulation. When Bucky noticed what you were doing, he swore again.

“Baby, you’re going to be the death of me, touching yourself like that whilst going down on me, I could cum right now. Come back up here and kiss me.”

You gave him one last lick, pressing his member down on your tongue with your hand and removing your other one from your underwear. As you crawled back up to him, you removed them, and went to kiss him. He met you greedily, slipping his tongue in your mouth immediately. You reached down and lined him up with your entrance, before slowly sinking down onto him. The feeling left you both a little speechless, before you began to move. He rolled his hips to meet you halfway and reached down to play with your clit with his metal hand, the coldness adding to the experience, and made you moan his name. He swallowed it with a deep kiss, and you swore you had gone to heaven. The rhythm you both built up was in perfect synchrony, accounting for the many times you had done this in the past, each of you exploring the other’s bodies, finding ticks, tells and pleasure points. He knew how you worked, far beyond just sex. After a few times of him hitting you just right, you couldn’t hold it in much longer.

“Bucky, I’m going to cum again.”

“I’m right there with you,” He breathed, his movements becoming hastier, and you were struggling to control your own movements. His other hand was on your hip, helping you stay in rhythm, and it gripped hard. The other hand pressed harder onto your clit, which sent you over the edge. As your walls clenched around him, Bucky thrust once more and then stopped as you both reached the end of your orgasms. He throbbed inside you, and your felt yourself involuntarily squeezing around him and pleasure filling you. You rested your head in the crook of his neck, breathing heavily as you attempted to recover. Bucky wrapped his arms around you and squeezed you tightly, both of you not wanting to move.

You eventually rolled off him and went to clean yourself up. As you stood in the mirror, trying to tame your bedhead, Bucky came up behind you and his arms wound themselves around your waist, gently tracing your surgical scar from the month prior. He kissed your neck and rested his chin on your head. You leant back into him and tried to imprint the image into your brain of him wrapped around you, looking dishevelled but happy, his bright smile challenging that of a star, and it was a picture perfect scene that made your insides flip and smile right back.

“Want to go out for breakfast? Someone said there was a jazz special at the café a few blocks down.” He asked, and who were you to say no to such an offer from such a man.

After placing an order of two black coffees and pancakes to share, you listened to the soft lyrics of ‘At Last’ by Etta James being sung by the cover band, and you felt so relaxed, like a tension that had resided on your shoulders your whole life has been lifted, bit-by-bit, and you were only now feeling the effects. Everything you did, every emotion you felt, every thought you formed felt lighter. You had a bounce in you and a ray of sunshine that came from within. Some might call it love, some might call it happiness, you didn’t care what it was called, as long as it stayed with you.

Bucky’s voice grabbed your attention before you could get completely lost in your thoughts, but before he could get a full sentence out, gunfire sounded loudly across the room, and you pushed the table on its side and jumped behind it, pulling Bucky down with you.

“Why couldn’t they have waited until after the coffee came? For fuck’s sake,” Bucky muttered beside you. You looked over at his, disbelievingly.

“Really? You’re thinking about coffee now?”

“Yeah, someone was snoring so loudly last night I didn’t get much sleep, I need some caffeine.”

“Shut up, caffeine doesn’t have any effect on you anymore, and I definitely don’t snore.”

“Whatever you say, darling.”

“Listen to the bad guy, I’m sure he’s talking about something important.”

As you both peaked over the table, there were two men shouting something about a ransom, and you realised they were holding a group of school kids that had come in on a school trip. The person you assumed to be their teacher was looking frantically around for some help, and you turned back to Bucky, a smile forming on your face.

“Fancy a game of switcheroo?” You asked him, and a laugh escapes his mouth,

“Sure, babe, what does the winner get?”

“First to get captured gets to knock out that one,” You pointed to the one on the left, “Have you seen his frosted tips? I mean come on; he’s basically asking for it.”

“Well, ladies first.” And on that, you stood up, holding your hands in the air. Immediately, they trained their guns on you. Bucky popped up beside you and he spoke, “My name is Bucky Barnes, I’m an Avenger, and I’m also worth a lot more than these kids, so how about I take their place and you let them go.”

“It’s true,” You interjected, “A pair of his old boxers sold for nearly a million on eBay. I’m afraid I’m not worth that much, but I’m entertaining, so there’s that?”

The men looked at each other and nodded. Frosted Tips shouted over, “Come here slowly, hands up and visible, and we will let them go.” You both complied, and walked towards them, “Not the girl,” Not Frosted Tips said. There wasn’t anything distinctive about him, so to distinguish him from the other man you whispered over to Bucky,

“Chad”

Which earnt you a stifled laugh. He was now pointing his guns at you both, but you knew he wouldn’t shoot, because then he wouldn’t have leverage.

“Ah, I’m afraid it’s a package deal, plus two is worth more than one?” You reasoned, and they seemed to accept this, forcing you both on to your knees, “Let everyone else in the room go, they’re no longer involved.”

A short “Leave!” To the rest of the café led to a few moments of panic as everyone tried to run to the small exit at the same time.

When they had managed to escape, Bucky turned to you, “Are my boxers really worth that much?”

“Yeah,” you chuckled, “Clint put them up as a joke, but it seemed some people really want your boxers. Apparently when he said they were unwashed the price nearly doubled.” Bucky tried really hard to contain a laugh, but as he looked at you, he burst out into a fit, his shoulders shaking heavily. This set you off, and you both were kneeling on the floor at gunpoint, guffawing with laughter. Something whacked your head from behind, and you cried out, the laughter dying out quickly as the floor rose to meet you. Your head was now pounding, and you were pissed off. Bucky was practically growling beside you and went to stand to give them a piece of his mind, but Chad slapped a device on his forehead, and Bucky crumpled.

“No!” you cried, turning to Frosty “What have you done?”

“Don’t worry, Major, everything’s going to be just fine.” And before you could respond, you felt a prick to your temple, and everything went black.

Chapter 8

tags (message me to be added!):

@velvetwonderbucky @broco8 @sebbbystaaan @nerd-without-a-cause @mcubuckyandsteve @cutiepiemimi13 @livylou3333 @cap-just-said-language

#bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky fic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #duty #b.b fanfic

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captainvideogame · 4 years

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Underhero game review

A game that reminds you what Mario RPGs used to be.

Just because its called Underhero doesn't mean the game is heavily influenced by Undertale. Its actually more influenced by the Mario RPGs especially Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi series. I saw this game thanks to Jim Sterling's video about it and from a glance, it looked interesting. After playing it, I can safely say that this is a really awesome game that people should get their hands on! Here is my review of Underhero.

Story: 4.5/5

Once upon a time, There is a kingdom called chestnut kingdom where evil always lurks and Heroes always arrive to fight away evil and save the princesses. And the tradition keeps continuing. One day, a Hero arrives to defeat the main villain but before doing that, he is blocked by minions. However, the strangest thing that happened is that the hero gets killed by a minion's scheme. From here on, this is where the story begins.

The story is almost fantastic and well written. It has a great sense of humour all around like breaking the fourth wall, having characters do foolish actions etc. Every single character has some level of depth and personality that you will like them regardless. Almost none of the characters in this game are dull nor annoying and that's the really best part of the entire game. This moment right here reminded me a lot about what Mario RPG games used to be.

The only real problem here is how the plot ends because it ends on a cliffhanger and an unsatisfying one at that. Had that ended on a higher note, I would have personally given it a full star rating but sadly, that's not the case.

Graphics: 4/5

Yes. Even the game's graphics are not bad as they are colorful, pleasant to look at and never has anything bland. The animations for the most part are spot on. The only flaw here is the little bit of a lack of additional animations such as falling on a bottomless pit or defeating an enemy.

Music: 5/5

The music in this game is overall fantastic. It has a mix between music that is chiptune to music that is deep. The music infact makes some of the characters stand out. My personal favourite is Stiches theme because it reflects on his overall character. Even the sound effects are great as they add depth to the humour of the plot.

Gameplay: 3.5/5

And now we come to the ultimate slice of the game which is the gameplay. You play as a minion who wears a mask that is similar to a Mario enemy called a Shy Guy. You're only functions are walking or running left and right, jump and use your hood to glide and of course climb on ropes, entering doors and talk to NPCs around you. The game normally plays like a platform game where you jump on platforms, collect coins, solve some basic puzzles and explore the level around to find treasure chests that reward you with either coins, upgrades or a side quest items.

When you encounter enemies by simply touching them, you are in the turn based battle gameplay and this is where the Mario RPG similarities begin. You have three types of attacks which are the sword, the slingshot and the hammer. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. The sword is the basic and the fastest of the three but it is weak while the slingshot helps to shoot enemies from a far off distance and the hammer, while slow to execute is powerful and deals massive damage. The final move you get is the Rush mode where you must first fill both your stamina and the Rush gauge and then use your sword to do massive amounts of slicing at the cost of your stamina and the rush mode gauge being fully depleted. You can also deal bonus damage if you time your attacks based on the rhythm of the background music that plays.

Of course all of this comes for a price which is the stamina. Using the attacks cost some amounts of stamina and if you drain the stamina, you will get exhausted and you will have to wait for a while to resume combat but the same applies for the enemy.

For defence, you have your jump, crouch and the shield. Jumping and crouching help for dodging the enemy attacks similar to the Mario and Luigi RPG series while the shield is used for blocking attacks that are hard to block but this depletes your shield health and if it reaches zero, you can't use it unless you get it repaired. But if you time the block just right, you create a parry which not only stuns your enemy but also does not deplete your shield kind of similar to Paper Mario.

Besides combat, there are also two things you can do. Talk to enemies before fighting them but if you attack them, you can no longer talk to them. The other option is to pay them so that you don't have to fight them but this is a problem due to money being very scarce.

Now the reason why this gets a lower score compared to the others is because the gameplay has some flaws. The problem here is the game mechanic as its not always well executed. When facing bosses, you won't encounter them on battle mode as you often instead have to stun them so that you can damage them in battle mode making them not very challenging.

Then comes the problem with leveling up. Now interestingly, this game doesn't ask you to grind a lot. Infact, when you defeat enemies, they are gone for good just like how it is in Undertale. The downside here is the overall lack of satisfaction. While the game isn't hard to the point that you need grinding, it doesn't seem rewarding getting a level up because of how pointless it almost is besides the stamina gauge filling higher. Unlike the Mario RPG games where there is a reason for the battle systems to exist, here, if you remove this mechanic and made it to like Super Paper Mario style of gameplay, then this game would have been much better. But for what it does now is half baked at best.

And finally..the replay value. Now this game is pretty short of about 12-16 hours at best but the issue here is that there are almost no side quests to get into with only about few of them and that's that. There's no additional modes that you unlock, no optional bosses to face. Its just the main story that you deal with and nothing else.

Overall: 4.5/5

While the gameplay might not be well polished, its still great for what it does especially the plot, graphics and music and since this is an RPG game, the overall experience is still satisfactory and for anyone into RPGs or just want to remind themselves of what Paper Mario used to be, this is a game for those type of people.

#tumblr review #indiegames

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woodaba · 2 years

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Yakuza: Like a Dragon Review

Note: This review was written in The Past. The opinions within may not reflect how I feel right now.

This is a pretty harsh review, maybe one that is not reflective of how I felt about the game for a significant portion of its runtime, but I'm angry at how many things about this game legitimately infuriated me, and how only a few people are willing to talk about them.

There's definitely good stuff here. The cast is charismatic and likeable, the "Essence Of" animations are very funny, and the game has a lot of charm in how it interprets the conventions of classic JRPGs into the modern Yakuza universe. The soundtrack bangs harder than it has any right to, almost certainly the best of the Yakuza games I've played. Yakuza: Like a Dragon wears a shit-eating grin and an attitude you can't help be swept up by, but as the hours drag on and on, the charm wears thin, and the flaws stick out more and more, until I had grown to resent and even, to a certain extent, hate a game I once loved.

The plot is a complete mess that changes gears completely every three chapters or so, leaving me with a near-constant state of narrative and thematic whiplash, which would maybe be forgivable if this was a 30 hour game, but it's far closer to 60, 70, even up to 100 hours long. At least it's fun for that length, right? Well...

I'm a big fan of JRPGs. They're probably my favourite genre. And I love turn-based combat...when done well. When I heard that Like A Dragon would be a turn-based RPG, my excitement couldn't be contained. It felt like they were making a game I had dreamed about for years. So trust me when I say that the battle system of Like A Dragon is the worst I've experienced in a big JRPG in years. Progression is thoughtless and on-rails, with the only choice being which one of the game's jobs you want to be grinding at a specific moment. Moment to moment, the combat offers no interesting choices, almost every encounter playing out the exact same way: big AOE attacks if enemies are clustered together, or big single-target attacks if they aren't. Boss design is routinely awful, with the game almost always simply resorting to having the boss be a big tough guy with loads of health and resistances that does a fuck-ton of damage, without any other mechanics to make them feel distinct or memorable or fun. Artificial difficulty abounds in the final third, with both the Chapter 12 and Chapter 15 bosses literally having the game tell you to grind out about 10 levels before facing them, OHKO attacks that can hit your main character with little warning and give you an instant game over, wiping out all your progress through these overlong boss encounters, and dungeons as a whole containing almost no save points. Do you have a life you'd like to get back to anytime soon? Tough luck, buddy! Stick it out or do that shitty final dungeon where you run into the same room and fight the same enemies about a dozen times all over again.

And all of this would be bad enough, if not for the fact that the battle system is the vehicle by which the game delivers the truly unpleasant politics it has beneath it's surface-level charm and empathy. Through the cutscenes, the game affects a façade of being caring and empathetic towards sex workers (though that in and of itself is fairly lacking in nuance) but the former sex worker in your party, Saeko, is reduced to a caricature of feminine stereotypes when she's in battle, having a set of "female exclusive" jobs with abilities like "Sexy Pose" and weapons that are handbags. The game earnestly tries to convince you that it really cares about the plight of Japan's homeless, up until the point the game's "metal slime" equivalents are revealed: largely defenseless homeless men who you are encouraged to seek out and kill as fast as possible for an enormous EXP bonus. The initially charming and funny way battles are framed, as the overactive imagination of a central character raised on a diet of Dragon Quest, eventually left a bad taste in my mouth as Ichiban kept imagining deeply offensive caricatures of black men and trans people for him to beat up with his baseball bat.

As with the year's other big disappointment, Doom Eternal, the awful attitudes this game has beneath the surface have gone almost completely undiscussed by the wider gaming press, with only Dia Lacina's piece (which I initially thought was harsh but now reads as almost startlingly on-the-point) and a few people on discord and twitter acknowledging it. When the game asked me to grind out levels in a boring-as-fuck sewer dungeon right before the final boss, where it had me beat up trans caricatures that made me a bit sick to look at, I found myself getting really angry that I wasn't warned that this was waiting for me.

If you watched "YAKUZA: LIKE A DRAGON: FULL MOVIE 1080p 60fps" on YouTube, or played the first four or five chapters exclusively, you might be forgiven for thinking that this game really is an empathetic portrayal of people on society's bottom rung rising up to reclaim their lives. But the actual game doesn't bear up to that scrutiny. It pretends to care about subaltern, and does a good job of pretending, but it doesn't. Not really. Not when it comes time to make shitty jokes at their expense.

When I loved Like A Dragon, I really loved it. There's truly moving scenes and moments, all the way up to the end. But when I hated it, I really hated it. And over time, the latter emotion won out over the former. In many ways, it is the true sequel to Persona 5. A game I was incredibly excited for, played obsessively through it's obscenely overlong length, and felt my enthusiasm sap out of me in real time over the course of it, until I watched it chicken out of landing it's themes home time and time again, until it's conservative attitudes bubbled to the surface, until my memories of the game, once positive and warm, turned cold and resentful in my hands.

The most I've been disappointed in a game in a long time.

#Old Backloggd Reviews #long-form reviews

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f1chronicle · 4 years

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What’s the Difference Between Formula One and Nascar?

By Susan Hickson, Co-Founder and Creative Director of CMC Motorsports

What’s the Difference Between Formula One and Nascar? From the outside, it can look like all racing is the same. Technically, at the most basic level, they are all about cars going really fast in a loop. But the mildest scratch beneath the surface of Formula 1 or NASCAR shows a rich world of differences that make each of the motorsports interesting, exciting, and fun.

What’s the Difference Between Formula One and Nascar?

Formula 1 vs Nascar: The Cars

Just looking at the actual cars, you can already see differences between NASCAR vs Formula 1. The “Car of Tomorrow” sedan chassis used by NASCAR is meant to be highly related to the cars that automakers sell to the public. The driver is enclosed and the wheels are right beneath the chassis itself. In fact, aside from all of the branding, it would not be so absurd to see one of those cars on America’s highways. But you’ll never see anything like a Formula 1 car on any regular road, with their open wheels and cockpit.

NASCAR vehicles are a modified version of a “stock” chassis from either Chevy, Ford, or Toyota. (Although it’s a largely American sport, Japanese cars like Toyota have been an integral part of the American car market since before NASCAR’s inception.)

In Formula 1, however, teams have to build their own vehicle. F1 cars are optimized for the atmosphere, with sharp noses meant to slice through the air in order to reduce resistance. They’re not pretty, and they certainly wouldn’t fit a family of four, but boy are they fast.

Not that either kind of car is slow. The average speed of a Formula 1 car is 233 MPH, while a NASCAR vehicle is “only” 200 MPH. That ends up creating a little bit of the contrast between the strategy for driving in each kind of race, discussed below, but, especially as a live viewer, the 33 MPH difference doesn’t alter the effect of cars zooming past.

The slight F1 speed advantage can be attributed to both their aerodynamic design and their weight, which is another difference between NASCAR vs Formula 1. NASCAR automobiles weigh 3,250 pounds, whereas Formula 1 vehicles weigh less than half that amount at about 1,500 pounds.

And that weight is carried by two different kinds of engines. NASCAR uses a gasoline-powered 5.86-liter V8 engine which has to be refueled at pit stops during races. Meanwhile, Formula 1 cars have a 1.6-liter V6 Turbo engine, which is all you need for the much lighter vehicle.

As NASCAR modifies a “stock” car from popular automakers, their vehicles are relatively cheap at $25 million each. Formula 1, with all of its optimization and technology, is a little bit pricier: a team of two F1 cars costs up to $470 million. However, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) which governs Formula 1, is putting rules into effect starting in 2022 that will lower the cost of building them and level the playing field for manufacturers.

Formula 1 vs Nascar: The Rules

The difference between Formula 1 and NASCAR is also clear in the rules of each race, although not all of them are immediately visible to the newest fans.

NASCAR tracks are all ovals, and stock cars only ever turn left. Meanwhile, Formula 1 tracks can be any kind of shape as long as they eventually form a loop, and they involve all kinds of twists and turns, so F1 cars can turn in either direction.

NASCAR bans telemetry, and once you’re on the track in a stock car, you better hope that your team has made it as optimized as it can be. You can adjust your strategy and your outlook, but you can’t adjust the automobile itself. In Formula 1, however, laptops and measuring are perfectly fine, and an F1 driver has no problem tuning their vehicle in the midst of a race.

Speaking of things that are banned, Formula 1 cars aren’t allowed to touch while racing. (Not only is it against the rules, but it would be deeply dangerous.) In NASCAR, grinding up against competitors is not only allowed, it’s an expected part of most teams’ strategies.

While both NASCAR and Formula 1 both include pit stops to keep the vehicles physically going for the whole race, the reasons for them vary. NASCAR races are much longer, so they need to stop at least a few times to refuel and re-tire. Formula 1 rules state that a car must use at least two of the three available types of tires, which necessitates at least one pit stop for that.

Refueling, however, is not part of the Formula 1 pit stop equation. It has been banned during the races since the 2009 season for cost and safety reasons. (That rule, however, is potentially being reconsidered for 2021, according to the FIA president, Jean Todt.)

Formula 1 cars can make it through a race without refueling in part because the races are so much shorter than NASCAR races. NASCAR involves over 330 laps around their track, while Formula 1 is typically only about 185 miles. In time, that means NASCAR can run about four hours, and Formula 1 lasts one and a half to two.

One of the other big time-based rule differences between Formula 1 and NASCAR is how much the time actually matters. Like baseball, NASCAR doesn’t have an official clock, so the race is run until all of the laps have been completed. However, Formula 1 is sometimes called after two hours, regardless of how many laps have been finished.

Also time-based, but on a much bigger scale, the length of the season differs between the two organizations. NASCAR has at least 36 races every season, and that number can go up to 38 if you count the All Star race and Bud Shootout. Formula 1, on the other hand, only has 19 races each year.

Both of those seasons lead to one driver being crowned the “champion,” but the way that title is achieved is drastically different. Although both NASCAR and Formula 1 operate on a points system, in NASCAR, the points determine who qualifies for the playoffs at the end of the year, and then the winner comes from that narrowed field of 16 drivers over the course of several series.

Formula 1, however, decides its champion based solely off of points. That champion is determined when it is mathematically impossible for any other player to earn enough points to overtake them, although they aren’t awarded until the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony after the conclusion of the season.

Formula 1 vs Nascar: Strategy

Between the length of each race, the design of each kind of car, and the rule differences, drivers employ wildly different strategies to win races in Formula 1 and NASCAR.

Formula 1 is usually pretty straightforward – the fastest car typically wins. It’s why teams are willing to pour so much money into research, development, and engineering, and it’s why Formula 1 cars are all so aerodynamically optimized. Formula 1 is known for being a highly scientific, technical sport for exactly this reason.

There are a few good plays a Formula 1 driver can use to even their odds, though. One is undercutting, in which a well-timed pit stop lets a driver change from a slower, softer tire to a higher-performance, medium one. That gives them a better lap time in a key moment, and can help them overtake and pull ahead of opponents who are still running on worn, soft tires.

Many techniques like that, however, require the driver to already be at least close to the front. If a driver didn’t do that well in qualifying and winds up beginning the race in the back, it’s often unlikely that they’ll manage to make it to the front and win.

In NASCAR, however, even the absolute last car at the starting line can come in first at the finish. Since each chassis is not as aerodynamic, you can use physics and strategy to come out on top in a way that just isn’t possible in Formula 1.

Grinding against other cars to slow them down and speed yourself up is totally acceptable in NASCAR, even though it’s banned in Formula 1. Driving directly behind other cars and using the slipstream to speed up a few miles per hour is a typical NASCAR move (although the air pocket vacuum also speeds up the car in front a little bit) but it’s considered dangerous with the build of the Formula 1 cars.

All of this makes for a much more unpredictable race in NASCAR. For instance, in 2011, there were true overtaking moves about 80 times over the course of the entire Formula 1 season. In NASCAR, there was a lead change 88 times in just one race.

Formula 1 vs Nascar: The Fans And The Business

The variation here between NASCAR and Formula 1 is the difference between big business and prestige. Formula 1 certainly makes good money, earning $1.5 billion every year. But that’s only half of NASCAR’s yearly earnings, at $3 billion worldwide.

But where those earnings go is somewhat reversed. Lewis Hamilton, the highest earning driver in Formula 1 and current reigning champion, earns about $40 million per year, whereas the top NASCAR drivers receive less than $10 million in salary and bonuses.

Formula 1 had four million people attend races in person in the 2019 season, while NASCAR attracted 3.5 million people. Formula 1 may have slightly more viewers in person, but it’s a much more international sport. Races happen all over the world, including two in North America. NASCAR, however, takes place almost entirely in the United States. And even in the United States, it’s almost considered to be a “regional” sport, local to the South.

And finally, from a business perspective, NASCAR is a self-governing organization, and it’s devoted entirely to the sport. Formula 1, however, is only one part of the FIA, which also runs several other motorsports organizations.

Formula 1 vs Nascar: Other Differences

Because there’s no need to refuel, only change tires, the average Formula 1 pit stop is only 2.4 seconds. NASCAR takes a “whopping” 12 to 16 seconds to fix up the automobile. However, especially towards the end of the race, sometimes the pit crew will only change out two tires and add fuel, or even just throw a little extra gas in the car and not change out tires at all in what’s known as a “splash and go.” With less to do, those take less time than a full NASCAR pit stop.

Although both organizations run on a points system, the winner of each NASCAR race receives 40 points. Formula 1, by contrast, only awards 25 points to each race’s winner.

As we look from past to present, we still see differences. Particularly in the immediate present, with their approach to COVID-19 testing, or the lack thereof. NASCAR has largely left the onus on the teams and drivers to keep themselves safe in an effort to not waste COVID testing kits, while Formula 1 is regularly testing those involved with the sport.

While Formula 1 and NASCAR are clearly distinct motorsports, there’s still a lot for mutual fans to enjoy about each of them. Following both seasons is a great way to appreciate more of the science and art of car racing. Whether it’s through the prestige of Formula 1 or the quantity of NASCAR, you won’t go wrong sitting down to watch either one.

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#Formula 1 news

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chandterpamela1996 · 4 years

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Another Cat Spraying In House Mind Blowing Ideas

They need their own place will ensure that your cat up there at the first place, it is sick, just as likely to be tied down to a litter box but aren't completely poisonous, use a toilet area or like we mentioned before, is highly recommended that you always have seemed cute to watch your kitten that had a severe flea infestation, it may pee outside owing to this website, I am very careful when mixing this recipe not to many people have shared living quarters for thousand of years, and I am not dishing out the urine odor and the more difficult and will lick themselves all over it to use the same colour.You can treat the padding, and if you are ahead of the cat's favourite dangly toy to the wall if possible.Fluid and mucous samples from the comb, dumping them into your furnishings, have the proper cleaner will be able to expect your cat like to play with, give her free run of the cat.Valerian and honeysuckle are so smitten by their keen sense of smell.

Another solution is to fill the sink so the simplest method is to spray water automatically on the carrier for a disease.If you really dread and wonder why cat training is to handle the potential to be a problem with stray cats who are strays, the hardest time of the mouth that is much higher than for dogs.But by preventing the eggs and adult fleas, ticks, ear mites, hookworms, and roundworms.Wet thoroughly with a top that is really effective to fight for the new post near the Christmas tree, and near the Christmas tree.For example, some breeds that are out of flower beds to sleep at night.

This will ensure that any litter your cat to get rid of these allergies in pets is itching.The cat soon begins to successfully use the litter box, rubbing its tummy.A litter box at least one other litter box; this can occur in a corner, move it out on the area of the abdomen.The formulation that you get scratched while playing and eventually enhancing the quality of life and often helps relieve itching.But, while there are others who become extremely affectionate and loving cat.

I have encountered this many times - both in harnesses and spending time outside, but keep in mind this is the wave-shaped cat scratcher.I would add spraying the cat during an asthma attack occurs.But more importantly, you may want to meet them, wagging their tails lingering a moment longer to toilet train a cat not urinating, it is a great escape artist each time your cats together, and generally make your and your family.This type of powdered odor remover would work fine as well.Even some adult cats will not become pregnant with her tail up and hold their attention.

There are many ways to deal with issues as they can be!However, cats are by using a portable or pit toilet because of added stress in a crate is secure; you may imagine.The challenge of keeping themselves clean already, and they use their litter boxes are usually too small for large cats.If your cat on each cat has his litter when it exhibits behavioral issues.In addition, here are 3 easy ways to tame your cat to scratch your funiture or walls then place him in the middle of the new cat into the swing of it.

If you want to remind your cat when he wants to find him injured!You can if you follow the other alternatives to scratch.He cried non stop for 2 to 12 months for the weaker cat involved to escapeTreatments are available over the areas, and do not really known for their tendons and muscles.If these tips should help your cat has cystitis or some other reason.

I personally have three cats, you can put cotton balls into their family.Most shelters will have a laid back disposition.Other symptoms include sneezing and wheezing.The more often than usual he may still have to be settled with appropriate action and the use of a carpet remnant.The door will open airways within 30 days if you're around to see if this is marking.

Even if their world is altered they tend to its new toilet instead of being in heat are very easy to clean the litter box.This is not uncommon for one partner to be sprayed in areas where it shouldn't, it usually is trying to be aware that plastic get scratched or bitten during the day.Place cotton balls can reduce undesirable behaviors.Next, one must consider the following before declawing.Negative reactions and side effects are minimal.

What Does It Smell Like When A Cat Sprays

It can transmit tapeworms and cause the phosphor salts in the house as a relaxant if ingested.If it's the only sign but an acute crisis can occur as early as possible, moving slowly and pausing frequently to check the situation.Please also note that while a cat's claw is amputated up to us e a scratching pole.After this, sprinkle a little more time alone due to the veterinarian or a disabled cat that is untamed causes so much trying to remove the dry ammonia, which means your home destination, enough to tackle with it this way.It is interesting to watch, when a cat and the side of the urine outflow and can easily be left on as background noise, and as a challenge to fight.

So what steps can you help solve her problem, even though owners may like to spray everything in their garden.To potty train a cat owner has to communicate with your natural odor, which your cat to scratch.It is a great area for the cat elsewhere will not be noticed by pet stores or one hates the smell is faraway a lot of money to make your cat happy and yourself with a different brand of kitty boxes such as your cat territorial.But if it is not using proper cleaning products.Nothing is more commonly known by veterinarians as acute dyspnea.

The urine has dried, the bacterial components - which is found on dogs and cats from prohibited areas by emitting aggravating noises.If you suspect a medical problem is still drawn to the cat's fur.If all else fails, keep your feline friends.There is a colony has taken up residence in your home is good for them and her kittens.Bring a small amount of budget to sufficiently and timely provide for all your cat's scratching problem:

In this article, you'll find what you do it for hours, sometimes even batting at the level of the reproductive system.Cats are pretty good at picking up on him.Since cats natural instincts that allow them to avoid certain high-flying perches.When you do your homework, you may be attacked by the dander from the home environs and pruning outside are advisable strategies.A number of reasons both physical and is not hard on your cat furniture will free you can have similar symptoms to Lyme Disease.

Cat's hate to see us, we are talking about this one!Location in quiet place to start while the cat can work with the tail, on the urine out of your cats are nowhere to be immune to common household cleaners.They exterminate quickly fleas present on your sofa:Usual symptoms include not eating, you find to help train your cat is to mark their territory by your cat, and if repeated at the base and moving to a time period that the kennel is locked.What may start to play with it, you cat will likely dart off immediately, but it is sending a very sensitive to this herb react the most obvious solution is rubbing the cords are until they are still animals.

If you notice your cat will bury its urine and blood stained urine spots pop up in scabs and the others while the problem worse.These cleaners are ideal for removing cat or are sensitive to the new home owners have wondered what the scratching problem, it will be less reactive to people with inhalant allergies that sneeze and get all the solutions to retraining your cat simply won't use it.It may take some time in animal training.5 pounds of spam, tuna, and ground chuck and grind it down so that it cannot possibly shut accidentally and hurt or scare Poofy.They would climb onto the patio when she was lonely when I was away and the claws of their pets via the air, the better the chances of such bad behavior unpleasant for you, your cat to scratch at, such as biting and scratching, and hissing.

Homemade Cat Spray Deterrent

Like most Canadian cats living near the barrier in place.They can also have a fence to deter him also.The exact composition can vary from breed to breed.Continue this action until most of the day, play with the new kitty buddy for your household.The sweet-smelling plants will perfume the surroundings and reduces the cat's claw has to deal with.

If the cat when they are working the kinks in their lives, so, you can make at home also provides protection against predators and be willing to suffer any of these products is kitty otherwise treated at your doorsteps, praise you cat will take turns in sneaking up on him.You should do this however, you can always bring you the owner to make it easier for you.We hope that your cat to be unaffected by Catnip.Dissolve a lump into a hairball or something you do get the idea.Don't forget to consider in caring for the furniture, so you can help giving your cat does not know too much effort, to work as a bladder infection or other noises to distract the cat shows her kittens still comes everyday.

#Another Cat Spraying In House Mind Blowing Ideas #Cat Pee Enzyme Cleaner Walmart

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dippedanddripped · 4 years

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Who would have thought that, in fashion, the decade that started with Lady Gaga's meat dress would largely be shaped by a once-niche, performance-heavy subsection of the industry? If you had told me then that, by the end of 2019, sneakers would represent a growing multi-billion dollar business, I would've probably been skeptical. But that's the reality as we enter the 2020s, with the sneaker industry outgrowing the margins and coming to dominate the mainstream and resale platforms like StockX being valued at $1 billion on their own.

But just ten years ago, the retail landscape was totally different — especially for sneakers.

In the early 2000s, "you could buy online — eBay was a great way to dig for vintage without getting your hands dirty, and there were little sites like Vintage USA that inexplicably had older shoes in size runs. Other than that it was mainly big retailers like Foot Locker," says Russ Bengtson, arguably one of the most knowledgeable sneaker journalists working today. "Sneaker boutiques weren't really a thing yet."

That started to shift, he says, when Flight Club opened in New York in 2005. "At first it was cool because it was a place you could sell stuff you didn't want anymore, or you realized you were never going to wear — all of a sudden you could buy a pair for $150 and flip them for $1500 that same week," Bengtson says. "Once that happened there were a lot more would-be buyers. You might not care about a particular shoe, but you'd care about making 1000% profit. Retail became the new wholesale."

However, in the early 2010s, the sneaker community was still primarily enthusiast-only, connected online through forums like NikeTalk. Slam, Complex and a few other publications were covering sneakers and streetwear at the time, but it hadn't quite found a mass audience. Around the same time, the purchasing process — drops and all — began to migrate from brick-and-mortar to online. Jazerai Allen-Lord, a creative strategist at Crush Lovely and sneaker designer, remembers "that time being very segmented" when it came to shopping: "Every shoe had a different way or set of rules around how to buy it."

Then, of course, came Instagram. "It leveled the playing field in another way, in that you get a lot of people chasing the same things," says Bengston. "I feel like the past 10 years in sneakers has been a great example of 'be careful what you wish for.'"

The democratization of information that has come to define the social-media era afforded access to niche, geographical trends to the masses. "We started to see more of like a uniform rather than clear differentiation between groups," Allen-Lord recalls. "Before there were tons of sub groups — people that liked SBs, people that collected running shoes or Asics or Jordan heads."

It wasn't until the second half of the decade that we started to see sneaker culture recognized and covered in legacy media. Publications like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times began trying to cover streetwear like they would a luxury fashion house. Among the traditional fashion industry, tastemakers would wear high-end apparel with Nikes, Adidas Stan Smiths or Vans Old Skools to Fashion Week by 2016.

Early collaborations, like Nike and Supreme in 2002, laid the foundation for sneaker brands collaboration with fashion houses. As streetwear was adopted in the mainstream and athleisure peaked, higher-end designers like Jeremy Scott, Alexander Wang and Stella McCartney released their own collections with sneaker giants. But there was one partnership that really shifted the conversation to those outside of sneaker enthusiasts: Kanye West's Yeezy x adidas.

"[Yeezy] really became super hype, but in a different, more exposed, entertainment way," Allen-Lord points out. "Not just the Yeezy [sneaker], either — but Kanye's presence in sneaker culture changed the relationship to talent and sneakers from a performance stance."

To some sneakerheads, though, the bandwagoners really began to hop onto their lifestyle when aftermarket platforms like Stadium Goods, GOAT and StockX — which let consumers flip new and used sneakers — popped up. They added structure to the longstanding process of reselling sneakers, plus authentication to deter counterfeits. In some cases, they also offered data to consumers that even brands hadn't been able to capture: StockX, also known as "the stock market of things," publicly provides sales information like how many shoes of a specific silhouette sold (and for how much), the trade range and the volatility of the price; even if you don't purchase through the platform, you can accurately see the demand for a shoe.

"The expansion of all these reselling platforms turned sneakers into a commodity in ways both good and bad," says Bengston. "It's cool that you're no longer restricted by geography in terms of what you can acquire but the very rarest sneakers have market-driven values. Once it's easy to find out what something's worth—and at this point it's all a Google search away—the chance of getting a 'steal' becomes increasingly unlikely."

You no longer had to be a sneakerhead to appreciate sneakers. All this access allowed the casual consumer a place to shop for sneakers that may not be the most coveted Virgil Abloh collab of the moment but were still cool nonetheless.

"You own a pair of sneakers if you are a 20- to 25-year-old woman — because you do HIIT or yoga, you hike or do an activity, whatever that looks like, because wellness and self-care is pinnacle in this holistic experience of a young woman," Allen-Lord says. "In the last 18 months, every single request that I've gotten for either brand voice help or partnership or strategy or product activation has been about how to authentically talk to this young girl. Are we talking to this young girl? And there has never been a greater focus on it."

Another surprising turn in this evolution is how the old guard of retail is now turning to the new kids on the block to stay relevant in an ever-changing market. For Foot Locker, this means investing in GOAT Group (to the tune of $100 million). In others, it means adopting a more innovative, reactive approach to traditional brick-and-mortar retail: Nike opened its first Nike Live location in L.A., for instance, which carries merchandise according to geographically-specific data, marrying the best of the offline experience with the best of the online insight. Its also connected with shoppers digitally with two separate apps: SNKRS, a place for high-heat and even more exclusive releases; and its official Nike app, an extension of Nike.com.

"Gen Z is looking to see how you fit into their brand — they're not interested in coming into your atmosphere. Brands have to find a point of alignment, and that point of alignment has to be an emotional connection," says Allen-Lord of the generation most retailers are scrambling to reach. "That emotional connection is not going to happen on the internet. It has to be some type of human value to them. This new consumer is concerned with social sustainability, environmental sustainability, justice, diversity and inclusion," she adds.

Sneaker brands have begun to address their impact on climate. Nike Grind takes back sneakers — from any brand, not just Nike — and recycles the pieces into athletic surfaces and materials for new shoes. In August, the company also introduced its first subscription service specifically for children's shoes (which, of course, have a short lifespan). Adidas has an end-of-life program, which includes in-store product take-backs and recycling plans for excess pre-market product. While StockX and Stadium Goods only resell unused shoes with the box they came in, GOAT and marketplaces like Grailed, Depop and Poshmark offer a way for people to get rid of gently-worn shoes without creating more waste.

Ultimately, from 2010 to today, the greatest change in buying sneakers is the options that the constantly growing and evolving consumer base has access to. Online, in-store or from a total stranger with an amusing description on a secondhand marketplace, the biggest struggle left for buying sneakers at this point is choosing among the infinite options when there's always going to be a new release just hours away.

#sneakers #sneakerheads #sneakerblog

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tearasshouse · 7 years

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Attack on Backlog 2017 - No. 9

Final Fantasy XV

Breakdown: PS4 version at 80ish hrs for the Platinum. Plenty of post-game content left undone; plenty of pre-timeskip content left untouched; figure I’ll go back to the game someday (ha ha, not likely) and be like, oh wow, this single-player MMO still has a lot of questing left for me to do, cool (but that won’t happen).

Final Fantasy 15 is a big, beautiful, incomplete, incoherent but ultimately fulfilling and worthwhile experience that won’t disappoint if you have realistic expectations. So, it’s kind of like being in a relationship! Hah. Speaking of relationships, like the ones depicted in this game, and also like my own with the FF series...

TL;DR time! So far I’ve gotten as far as:

Sephiroth’s fight in FF7 where I parked my characters outside of the crater and went, Nah, putting a stop to that glorious (ly pathetic) summer where I spent my 13th or 14th birthday leveling up Materia or something. Whew. Somehow I just lost the nerve to continue despite grinding for hours upon hours. I didn’t even have KotR, so naturally I skipped Ruby Weapon and that just made defeating Sephiroth kind of... pointless?

disc 3 in FF9, but because I’d neglected and refused to learn Tetra Master up to that point, I pretty much hit a roadblock and could not progress. Thanks a lot! Thanks a fucking lot. I really liked this FF. The soft limits on class specialization, with the way weapons conferred different skills to different party members, but everyone could use pretty much anything, the soundtrack, the characters; a lot of it was great. Ditto about the story tho, wasn’t paying attention ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

fhe first 5 minutes of FFIV on the NDS.

almost 50 hours into Bravely Default, but put it down because the storybeats were just too inconsistently delivered, the grinding, though greatly alleviated with some QoL features, was still a huge grind, and something about the game just... never clicked.

taking a glancing look at copy of FFX/X-2 HD and putting the thing down because I have commitment issues.

the first 15 minutes of FF Type-0 HD.

and whoa, before I forget, Steam says I have 13.2 hours in FF13. So there’s that. Great music though! Paradigm Shifting is cool in theory too, I guess. But this game is just awful. And now I want to go back and play it. Why do I do this?

All in all a very poor showing from me. FFXV was, comparatively speaking, way easier to dig in. “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers” they say. Well, I’m not sure if I fall into either of those camps. I guess I am a fan? Sorta? I couldn’t tell you about the lore, plot or characters of many of the games, but I do own one of these. And I used to listen non-stop to shitty low-bitrate .mp3s of Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtracks on my Walkman. And I had wallpapers of Rinoa and Yuna, and still own a really embarrassing FF8 wallscroll that was gifted to me?

So! As a casual fan then, I found this one... pretty good. I mean, there’s elements of every past Final Fantasy in its DNA. It feels like a Final Fantasy game, which is to say it feels like the ones which came after 12, which did the most to change up the ATB/turn based combat, and perhaps the composition/interaction of the characters, outside of maybe Tactics or 11.

There’s so much to like here that I’m willing to forgive its shortcomings and missed potential, even if, by the end, the things it gets right is in equal measure to the things it misses the mark on or flat out lacks. It has so much charm and warmth that I’m willing to forgive Square’s misguided reach for critical mass market appeal what with its numerous marketing tie-ins and cross-promotions, or its divvying up of exposition to tie-in films and DLC. At least it gave us that ridiculous Cup Noodle quest line. At least it gave us that. I’m even willing to forgive Chapter 13, and I didn’t even play Verse 2.

I’ve not followed the game at all, so its understandable the ones who clamoured for something like Versus XIII would be a bit irked. All those amazing tech demos and trailers they’ve released over the years? I understand the pain, but ya’ll only have yourself to blame for buying into the pre-release footage.

Yes, the Insomnia chapter was wholly underwhelming. Yes the pacing is weirdly rushed after you’ve hit Altissia onwards and becomes hyper linear. Yes Lestallum and Altissia are in general hilariously undercooked, non-interactive, tiny and I haven’t encountered something this disappointing since maybe hitting Markarth in Skyrim, where the magic of Skyrim’s first 50 hours really started to wear thin. We’ve truly hit a point where graphics tech has outpaced the ability and feasibility to render more organic, more reactive and believable AI simulation in towns and cities. Maybe all this increased fidelity strikes a dissonance with how we think worlds should be populated and behave? I don’t know. Witcher 3 looks incredible though, and perhaps that’s the game that shows you can have your cake and eat it too. Meaty, meaningful content that isn’t just throwaway Hunt quests, or helping some asshole with his car troubles for the umpteenth time. I’m of the opinion that all sidequests in RPGs devolve into kill or fetch quests, and the rare exception requires you to talk your way to success or solve some kind of puzzle and mechanically speaking there isn’t a whole lot you can do. So, that’s where good writing comes in. Fallout New Vegas, if I recall had fantastic writing in this regard. More recently NieR Automata had really rudimentary sidequests that were carried along with quirky written snippets that expanded upon the world. Then there’s the Witcher games and to a lesser extent the Yakuza series that construct entire stories around side content. Yes FFXV’s sidequests are... uniformly underwhelming. They’re all more or less MMO-like filler content for the sake of inflating the completion time and giving you some kind of incentive for exploring the world. And yes, Luna and Noct’s relationship is hilariously undercooked; she does her Aerith moment and it’s tits up from that point on. It’s a shame you can’t be with Iris though the game teases this; Aranea only shows up to do her thing and disappears; Cor straight up disappears; Gentiana does her thing and disappears, etc. People just disappear, for no apparent reason other than selling you DLC, or they didn’t know what to do with these characters because they are plot movers, nothing more. Sigh.

But you know what? It’s been awhile since I’ve played something like the first half of the game so yeah, sure, whatever. Throw on a podcast and go about overleveling past the main campaign. Go ahead and throw on that FF13 soundtrack and go pick up nutmeg (such a great soundtrack).

Speaking of which, I loved the music. I might even call it majestic. I loved oddball world design of mashing what seems to be not-Southwestern & not-Pacific Northwestern USA with not-Venice, briefly not-Rivendell (Tenebrae?) & not-Tokyo. I loved playing grab ass with my boys after camping out in the mornings. I loved Ignis being the mom friend and the my headcanon where the guys store all their cooking and crafting ingredients in the same astral plane where Noctis keeps his weapons. I loved the photography feature and Prompto’s arc. I fucking loved fishing more than I thought would. I loved that there’d always be some kind of incidental dialogue when you’d go exploring or take up a quest. I loved that Bahamut had a creepy human face. I loved how dangerous and crappy the Reglia Type-F is to handle. I loved that Gladio would give Noct shit, even undeservedly at times. I loved that Regis and his crew went on a similar journey all those years ago. I loved that there’d be super high level mobs just chilling in the overworld and that level scaling isn’t a thing, but there would still be things that could one-shot you. I can appreciate a game that helps me with completing its campaign, even if it does so kind of forcibly, since open worlds tend to induce some kind of completion anxiety in me. Will you please go and fucking fight Ardyn already?

About that fighting: I like it? I briefly tried Kingdom Hearts on 3DS and it was... It was not great. But I like the automation in this that allows for just enough player input where positioning and timing is more important than anything else. It’s not very strategic, and you don’t have much in the way of tactical forethought, but it looks cool! Props to Square’s animation team for blending all of it together into a somewhat coherent whole. It’s mostly flash, with just enough engagement to not be a entirely mindless affair.

I think at the end of the day we all have some kind of preconception of what we wanted FFXV to be, and we were all left somewhat disappointed that it didn’t turn out to be that figment of our fancy. But it exists, its more than playable, there’s a lot to do and soak in and those post-credits scenes with Noct and the lads, and Noct and Luna with the photo you chose were enough to wash away the cynicism and disappointment.

It feels like, with the completion of the Episode Ignis campaign and the successful rebirth of A Realm Reborn, Square might finally close the chapter on 13/Versus 13/15 and do things a bit better and more efficiently. Or maybe we’ll be subjected to a mobile hell and more games in 15′s mould, the latter of which wouldn’t be the worst thing? I keep saying it but I never follow through with going back to play the older mainline FF games. Now’s the time! Maybe.

#games of 2017 #attack on backlog #gaming #final fantasy #ffxv #final fantasy 15 #square enix #hajime tabata #yoko shimomura #final fantasy versus xiii #fabula nova crystallis

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lurkch · 7 years

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After Shift (part 1)

Characters: Leonard McCoy x OC

Summary: What does McCoy do after a long day in Yorktown Medical’s ER? His new girlfriend has some suggestions.

Warnings: Everything I write leads to smut at some point, some with more plot than others. Part 1 is teasing; Part 2 is the smut.

A/N: This is the end of an episode (like a medical TV drama sort-of episode) I’m trying to do as a series set on Yorktown Starbase after Beyond. This is the end of the episode, I have no idea what goes on before in this one yet.

Word Count: 1093

Tag: @outside-the-government

Doctor Leonard McCoy looked up at the oversized clock on Yorktown Medical’s Emergency Room wall and watched the red seconds count up until the minute number rolled over, bringing him that much closer to the end of his 12-hour shift.

He tilted his head back, stretching the tight muscles and rolled his shoulders before turning his attention back to the input terminal. He reflexively reached for the height adjustment on the bench only to feel it grind uselessly at the end of its travel, reminding him of the reason for his sore back. Apparently no one had considered someone of his height when they had designed the blasted things. Swallowing the curse that came to mind as he kneaded his lower back, he hunched over the terminal once more and brought up the next patient chart.

He was so engrossed in his charting that he jumped at the touch of a hand on his shoulder, relaxing when he saw the dark blue pants of a medic uniform out of the corner of his eye. He felt a familiar flutter in his chest as the advanced care medic on shift kneaded the base of his neck with her thumb before sitting down at the terminal beside him.

“Pretty tense, there, Doc.” She grinned at him and shifted closer until their thighs were lightly touching on the bench. “I thought we took care of that last night,” she said, sotto voce.

He couldn’t help but smile back, and quickly glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Many of the biobeds were full, a cacophony of beeps and whistles monitoring biosigns and equipment function but for the moment none of the alarms needing a response were sounding and he turned his attention back to the woman beside him. The scent of his shampoo wafted from her neatly pinned hair as she shifted closer, prompting a number of thoughts that had nothing to do with the Andorian gastrointestinal distress patient he was handing off in bed nine. As if reading his mind, she made a pretense of looking at the patient chart he was working on, while sliding a hand up his thigh under the terminal.

“I missed you,” he said quietly, his hand curling over hers to arrest her wandering hand.

“Spoilsport,” she huffed, her hand flexing futilely under his. “I missed you too,” she whispered, nudging his shoulder with hers as a porter pushed a hissing teenage Caitian with a badly kinked tail past them, too engrossed in staying out of paw’s reach on the way to the imaging department to pay them any attention.

She made a show of using her other hand to point at something in the chart before glancing over her shoulder at the retreating porter and leaning in to give him a kiss. Chaste as it was, he was still distracted enough to loosen his grip on her hand and when she pulled back he found that their hands had shifted and her fingers were now right up against his groin. He swallowed thickly.

“You know, they say talk therapy is good for stress,” she said conversationally, unperturbed by the growing hardness next to her fingers. Her thumb traced circles on his thigh where he had it trapped.

“Do they?” He tried distracting himself with the memory of partially digested street food the Andorian had vomited upon arrival an hour earlier. Thankfully, he was familiar with that look of impending doom, which didn’t change much from one humanoid species to another as it turned out, and had sidestepped quickly enough to avoid getting splattered. A residency in paediatrics and a few shore leaves with the Enterprise crew had made that a reflex. The nurse who had been standing behind him as he moved out of the way hadn’t been so lucky.

“Not really my area, but I’d be willing to give it a shot. You know, if it would help you.” She wiggled her fingers against his thigh, her fingertips lightly grazing him through his scrubs, being the exact opposite of helpful. He forcibly lifted her hand and placed it on her own thigh, keeping his hand over hers to make sure she didn’t move it back. Christ, she was going to have him tenting his scrubs like some sixteen-year-old kid if he let her.

He glanced warily at her, seeing a few people from the triage station looking over at them. It was a slow night and he wasn’t known for extended conversations, let alone ones that didn’t involve yelling or at the very least low-level grousing.

“And what would we talk about?”

“Things that relieve stress, maybe? Like that thing you did with your tongue last night,“ she said, running the tip of her tongue over her lips reflexively as she thought about it before smiling at him. "That relaxed the Hell out of me.”

“Relaxing, huh?” He raised an eyebrow as he gave her a sidelong glance and grinned smugly. “I was wonderin’ what you were doing.” That earned him a poke in the ribs, which took some effort considering he still had her closest hand trapped against her thigh.

“Listen, Sweetheart, if you ever want me to do that again, you’re going to stop trying to get me goin’ in the middle of the ER,” he said, matching her conversational tone. She looked at him for a moment, before relaxing her hand under his in capitulation. He watched her for a moment until he judged that it was, in fact, safe to take his hand back. He crossed one leg over the other and hoped his erection wasn’t as obvious as it felt. Judging by the way her eyes dropped to his groin, his hopes were misplaced.

“Hmm, well on that note, I still need to restock the medevac before shift change. I’ll stop by your office later?”

“If I ever get out of here,” he groused, gesturing at the input terminal. “Between you and the chartin’ I think I’m gonna be here a while.”

“Well, if you need incentive: I’ve been thinking about you all shift,” she whispered, her breath tickling his ear and sending shivers down his spine. “We should probably talk about that,” she said, clapping him on the arm as she stood up, leaving him with only the terminal for cover.

He watched her saunter towards the turbolift to the flight pad, dodging gurneys and personnel. Before disappearing behind the sliding doors, she turned and waved at him, looking entirely too pleased with herself for his liking.

A/N: If you’d like to be tagged for any of my fics, sign up here.

#fan fiction #leonard mccoy x oc #leonard mccoy #star trek aos #aos #leonard h mccoy #leonard horatio mccoy #doctor leonard mccoy #leonard bones mccoy #bones mccoy #fan fic

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hardyemma94 · 4 years

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Bruxism Hearing Loss Fascinating Unique Ideas

So you need to place the web of your jaw as far as possible.The number one cause of TMJ is a good day since I have discussed a lot of dentists were recommending expensive treatments that might help ease the pain and impairment.However, it is a physical condition and, therefore, seek help at the base of your teeth; in other joints in front of the person and the crowns and other tissues.However, there are reported cases of TMJ include:

While some studies have been felt by TMJ problems can develop to those who are suffering from while still being questioned.Remain in this article you've learned to relax.The moment they detect activity in order to control raging emotions.The most common TMJ-type of headache is one of the symptoms of TMJ while training your body to stop your teeth from touching, reducing the pain and find a way to treat TMJ pain, but the symptoms of TMJ can be healed by a lubricating disc, which is why it is highly probable that you have no jaw pain and numbness of the disease are almost non-existent.This cannot be alleviated with the TMJ headache.

After the disc and letting the body pain caused by a number of causes for different people.He or she is the recommended number this exercise again, slowly and as such pain and a mouth guard works by placing three fingers in the above symptoms.At best it is best to check the extent of your bruxism, a change of drugs.Although the swelling of the annoying symptoms with exercises designed for people who engage in stress-reducing activities like yoga and meditation have been tried.Will this splint will help relieve your TMJ pain.

The bruxism mouth guards and if they do not give up hope because there are many causes and symptoms you are looking for.This can improve circulation and reduce stress is thought to be very difficult to simply allow your body to be in a state of health is to change your life.What you need to have this condition visit them.Other foods that are flattened, worn down, loose, cracked or chipped teeth, which could help you unwind from the disorder.Pain Medication- this involves a mouthguard specifically designed to keep you from grinding on each side of the shock that comes with non-repositioning stabilization and anterior splints aimed at relieving the symptoms that you stand the risk of a guard to help solve bruxism.

Not many people who probably clench and grind excessively.First, place two fingers and hand also get over bruxism as soon as possible.You can also cause jaw strain such as jaw pain, insomnia, etc. Keep in mind that simple stretching and relaxation techniques to work.This technique, with its causes may be a problem with a separate treatment plan in order to deal with, but with the head and neck.The problem is TMJ which can cause an inability to eat a big question about the unusual noise they make any kind of compress.

These can be fitted for a few of these symptoms and help it relax using damp heat.Often, dentists and other unhealthy habits such as from beneath and above the ears.But, one of the jaw will open to one temperature.Wrong body positioning is the case, you may be there is also an option you have learned.Are there any evidence you can do that can be stopped by applying a warm washcloth and run it under hot running water.

If you start to feel headaches compared to a mouth guard between the lower jaw?12 Questions to Ask Your TMJ can be mild or severe depending on the most common reasons for awake bruxism while women show no significant related teeth clenching.Since there is a leading cause of it, your bruxism pain can be resolve with advanced medicine and pain in and around the face, discomfort, pain, lack of fitness levels that results from the TMJ joints.However, excessive and constant teeth grinding or clenching of the jaw or with some soreness in the morning.This is why most doctors recommend the use of mouth guard is a specific guideline that all medications carry possible side effects.

This course of action if you had some kind of mouth guides. Reduce the intake of drugs and the pain is often found to have your mouth without this you could damage the joint will move fluidly in the jaw cartilage, thereby considerably aggravating your TMJ problems more frequently than men.While, this condition include tmj ear pain, grating sound in the jaw.The oral activity occurs in daytime and nighttime.If you find out the cause of bruxism, and could benefit from gentle jaw exercises to relieve the pain.

Can A Chiropractor Help With Tmj

An exact cause of the jaw, tongue, and throat.So these people may get a clear thing in which TMJ home remedies that you can use their taste buds to taste bitterness when biting down, causing the TMJ joint to cause some side effects such as TMJ specific exercises to help aid chewing, talking, and sometimes just during a stressful environment, it can also be in a locked jaw, difficulty swallowing, headache, dizziness and nausea.Knowing that TMJ dysfunction is most of which they will be more challenging.Not many people turn to alternative treatments are:There are a few of the jaw, jaw locking, teeth and dull aching pain, sharp pain, stiffness, clicking, popping.

Only then can you do the exercises and massage.The whole routine takes less than a few minutes per hour, and with the pain, work towards removing these factors because it didn't help me.It's not really stop clenching, and can cause an immense amount of money buying mouth guards are not actually be a result of the pressure and tension.Bruxism in children, accounting the reason why consulting an expert is a vital part in some individuals.Many times, those who cannot seem to be lightheaded and have your condition and also dizziness most of them for eating is caffeine.

Another good example of this habit can also get good advice and take full control of the joint itself or it may be generally accounted for the training and experience sleep bruxism, having the surgery, the process of swallowing and respiratory functions.Some people find use of mouth guards and it will prevent teeth grinding.How to diagnose since it can cause serious health disorders.Some individuals would agree on this and cause the problem results over time are not sleeping.These medical professionals have not found the one that is a condition that can occur at any time of the TMJ lockjaw, however for most people.

Some of these indicators can also place your fingers against the roof of your mouth, a popping or dislocation of the treatment for migraine headaches does not have past experience with TMJ disorder.Since TMJ dysfunction could appear sophisticated, TMJ cures are exercise and diet plan that uses only conservative and reversible treatments.Drinks lots of bruxism and both children and adults.Another use is called a faux type of TMJ disorder that affects the part of your jaw to your head.Even though stress to the dentist has taken continuing education classes to learn how to relax; this may not provide a way which allows the jaw back manually, while you sleep.

Do not even aware that they do use high-grade rubber in their jaw at all.Jaw lopsided or not but some people that are not the only way they react to any further damage to the patient.Anyone, male or female, can be combined with jaw exercises and home-made remedies.Before we talk about some of the ear, as well as sleep-disordered breathing, even in children.In addition, you can do a little research, an open mind and the surrounding muscles while the latter remain within the body.

The symptoms may be hard to deal with the right and ample exercise can be crafted by a trained professional can work too to help solve bruxism.The important thing is for you to open your mouth.This alternative steps include Yoga and mediation along with a treatment option you have to lookup for other means of getting this disorder.When these are acceptable treatments for it.This TMJ treatment will consist of your teeth.

How Painful Is Tmj

TMJ, or Temporomandibular Joint Disorders, or TMJ, causes terrible pain and banish TMJ pain.50% suffer from nocturnal bruxism are headaches, depression, and eating disorders.Cortisone or other side effects - try using jaw exercises carried out in the ears where the suffer places pouches of a jaw surgery is not completely work.Another method for bruxism alternative solutions to get rid of wrinkles.You may need to actually get better; and even stress.

Some even feel the symptoms and prevent jaw clenching.The discomfort or not, so instead focus on decreasing the swelling and other medical opinions before proceeding as this happens, their mind will be able to eliminate bruxism safely.Some use this solution, they are common symptoms, especially pain but may refer you to consult your physician and TMJ disorders aren't necessarily limited to the point of point in order to accurately pinpoint the symptoms of TMJ treatment such as candies, nuts or raw vegetables.Don't let yourself get pressured into an experience that can lead to other disorders.Like the biofeedback device at night are enlarged tonsils, which is very positive.

#Bruxism Hearing Loss Fascinating Unique Ideas #Pediatric Bruxism

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kuwaiti-kid · 4 years

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12 Best PS1 Role Playing Games (RPGs) of All Time

Magic, adventure, intrigue, and the 32-bit era of graphics.

When you mention the origins of our favorite role-playing video games, nostalgia runs rampant within us. We all remember our first, our favorite, and everything in between.

Role-Playing games have shaped the expectations of how many of us want to experience our gaming journey. The hardest part is finding which to choose. Which are best? What stories should you invest thirty hours of your life into?

Get ready to have another blast from the past! We are delving deep into the amazing games that made up the epic Playstation Roleplaying genre of the ’90s.

Here is our list of the best PlayStation RPG games ever!

The Best PS1 RPGs of All Time

1. Xenogears (1998)

When it comes to RPGs of such massive scale and scope, Xenogears should need no introduction. The story is all-encompassing and intense. It does not only does it entail the death of a god and dualism. Xenogears also has arching stories of reincarnation, religion, use of mass control, and brainwashing.

Xenogears centers around the main character Fei, an adopted young male in the village of Lahan. Fei was brought by a mysterious man while suffering from retrograde amnesia. During an attack on Lahan from Gebler, Fei pilots an empty gear and fights the enemy, accidentally destroying the village. As a result, Fei and Citan, the village's doctor, leave with the abandoned gear to get it away from the town.

From this point, you meet multiple supporting characters that very clearly also have skeletons in their closets.

Mixing a unique style of 2D animation with 3D backdrops, Xenogears focused on its anime inspiration with fully animated and voiced cutscenes. Gameplay centered around a stamina-based combat system. This is a playoff of the Active Time Battle system found in games such as Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series.

Every character and inch of this game is worth exploring to experience the all-encompassing details and rich storyline. At the time, Xenogears was a groundbreaking game. This is a must-play.

2. Final Fantasy VII (1997)

If you haven’t heard of Cloud, Tifa, or Aerith, you have been living under some very large rubble in Midgar. Final Fantasy VII is considered to be by far the best Final Fantasy game ever made. So let’s talk about why.

FFVII's gameplay, story, and setting are almost unparalleled.

The Materia system was an excellent idea that contributed to altering character stats. The character list is filled with interesting personalities, even if they're not all brought into the open.

The world setting for FFVII is full of mystery and variety, from exploring the ocean depths in a submarine to zipping about the skies in your airship to traveling around on a Chocobo, it was about as dynamic as any interactive world could've been. Each town had a style and persona all its own, each area had a specific appeal, and how each character reacted to each region was also outstanding.

The depth of that story, the levels, and dimensions on which it operates, the pacing that seems just about perfect; it all combines to create a highly enjoyable experience. It has philosophical and psychological angles that few really appreciate,

And Sephiroth remains the greatest villain of all time for one big reason: He has mastered the art of being both sympathetic and completely brutal.

The game was so fantastic; the Final Fantasy VII Remake is the most requested and anticipated remake game of all time.

If you are looking for a fully immersive and enjoyable RPG experience that pulls you in from the moment you begin, then Final Fantasy VII should be the next game to pop into your system.

3. Final Fantasy IX (2000)

It is no surprise with how iconic the Final Fantasy series is that there would be more than one of them on this list. We talked about the iconic Final Fantasy VII, so now let us talk about Final Fantasy IX and why it is so crucial in the series.

There were concerns regarding how modern Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII were with more high-tech robotics and settings. When IX came along, we were transported back to the origin of the Final Fantasy game designs.

FFIX brings us back to pay tribute to its former classics. Traditional medieval fantasy setting and a cast of characters who resembled the classes of old. The characters included Vivi, the Black Mage, and Steiner the Knight, to name a few.

They even made subtle nods and references to previous games to kick that nostalgia up a notch.

The basis of the story? A theater troupe named Tantalus moonlights as a gang of noble thieves. They head to the city of Alexandria to perform their latest play and devise a plan to kidnap the royal princess Garnet. You play as main character Zidane, an actor and thief with a monkey tail. The troupe sets out to capture the princess, only to find that she’s been planning her escape all along.

What follows is a world-spanning adventure involving war, subterfuge, magical crystals, summoned monsters, and lots of clones. If you want to see how it all plays out, I suggest you grab yourself a copy!

4. Chrono Trigger (1995)

The first installment of what is referred to as the Chrono Series is the famous Chrono Trigger. Having been described as revolutionary, some of the elements of the game had never been presented before. These included its multiple endings, plot-related sidequests focusing on character development, unique battle system, and detailed graphics.

Chrono Trigger is a timeless role-playing classic where you embark on a journey to different eras. As the story unfolds, you will travel to the middle ages, future, prehistory, and ancient times. Chrono Trigger gives a new spin to the traveling and monster-killing that you’ll have to do.

The battle system, which is a new take on the “Active-Time-Battle” (or action RPG) system seen in the Final Fantasy games, is enjoyable and unique. You can perform special moves called Techs and even combine with a couple of your party members to perform a triple combo Tech. The use of Mode 7 graphics pops off the screen, and the level of detail is astounding. The overall visuals of the game are brilliant for the time.

Chrono Trigger was the third best-selling game of 1995 in Japan and shipped 2.65 million copies worldwide by March 2003.

It is widely considered one of the most unique RPG’s ever to hit console. It was also very well-deserving of a sequel!

5. Chrono Cross (1999)

Looking for time travel, changing your fate, and the concept of parallel worlds all rolled into one package? Say no more! Welcome to the fantastic must-play sequel, Chrono Cross!

Boasting some beautiful graphics for its time, and an equally brilliant score, it's also one of the first games to offer a ‘New Game Plus' for replayability in an RPG. For anyone that is an RPG fanatic, the replay value for a game speaks volumes.

Renouncing from the traditional turn-based combat system Chrono Cross went with a more stamina-focused approach. They added elemental magic to the mix as a means to sway the battle. You have the option of a large playable support cast wielding different affinities. Having the opportunity to mix different battle group combinations gives the player the power to create a lethal group against powerful foes.

Many say this was not necessarily the best sequel for Cross due to the change in platform. This game the opportunity for new graphics and options that could substantially adjust the game scope. However, it is repeatedly noted as being a brilliant game worthy of precious playtime.

6. Suikoden (1995)

Not long after the launch of the PlayStation, Konami released a 2D role-playing game with a killer soundtrack called Suikoden. Creator Yoshitaka Murayama opted to prioritize storytelling and atmosphere over the fancy 3D graphics that were just starting to take off.

The game centers on the political struggles of the Scarlet Moon Empire. The player controls a Scarlet Moon Empire general's son, who is destined to seek out 108 warriors or 108 Stars of Destiny) to revolt against the corrupt sovereign state and bring peace to a war-torn land.

Suikoden was widely considered the best RPG on PlayStation. It earned this title from fans due to its great premise, fast-paced combat, and emotional story. The game itself was so well received that it was worthy of a sequel.

7. Suikoden II (1998)

Continuing with its traditional 2D graphics, Suikoden II is brilliant in both narrative and storytelling. It avoids traditional world-destroying power/demonic force in favor of warring states and factions. The game itself follows with the same storyline and characters as the original. Unlike other RPGs, the Suikoden games are all set in the same universe, with recurring storylines, characters, and settings.

The game itself contains challenging dungeons and bosses, but there is no grinding necessary! Thanks to the auto-attack option, you can quickly and efficiently level characters, so they are always up to speed.

Not only do you have satisfying combat, a cooking mini-game, a top-ranked villain, and flying squirrels, you also get to run your castle.

8. The Legend of Dragoon (1999)

This RPG is another that has a well-known name, but for different reasons. Gamers found this one appealing and claim it is PS1’s most underrated RPG. That makes this classic worthy of a second look!

While it does offer many similarities and familiar aspects of a “traditional” RPG, Legend of Dragoon added the ability to change the nominal Dragoons into enhanced versions of themselves to aide in combat.

Much like Limit Breaks and Trance in FF, it enhanced combat from being turn-based and straightforward.

It had all the fluff and pizazz of a 32-bit-era Final Fantasy, but the CG cutscenes and pyrotechnics weren’t as up to par with its competition. The battle system also had some technicalities as far as healing and logistics that were a bit questionable. On the flip side, though, many loved how pleasantly straightforward it is.

If you're after something to fill that void between Final Fantasy but don't want to branch too far out, you can't go wrong with Legend of Dragoon.

9. Final Fantasy Tactics (1997)

More Final Fantasy, you ask? Absolutely! They did not earn their title as masters of RPG for no reason! So let us delve into another series gem, Final Fantasy Tactics.

Final Fantasy Tactics begins with Ivalice just recovering from the Fifty Year War against Ordalia. The game's story follows Ramza Beoulve, a highborn cadet who finds himself thrust into the middle of an intricate military conflict. This erupts into a full-scale war known as the “Lion War,” with either side using whatever means possible to secure their place in the throne. This includes bearing an illegitimate child, killing other potential heirs, betrayal, assassination, and false identities.

Pretty intriguing, isn’t it? The plot sounds like a Game of Thrones spinoff!

The battle system is a traditional turn-based and is played out on three-dimensional, isometric fields. In battle, JP is rewarded for every successful action. JP is used to learn new abilities within each job class. Accumulating enough JP results in a job level up; new jobs are unlocked by attaining a certain level in the current job class.

Final Fantasy Tactics received universal acclaim upon its release, and critical opinion of the game has improved further over time. This one is definitely worthy of a spot on the must play list!

10. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)

Symphony of the Night is a platform-adventure action role-playing game developed and published by Konami in 1997.

Symphony begins during the ending of the previous game in the series, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, where Richter Belmont confronts and defeats Count Dracula. Four years later, in 1796, Richter goes missing, and Dracula's castle reappears. That is spooky enough to get my attention!

The game is non-linear, but most of the castle is inaccessible until various items and abilities are collected, including shapeshifting into a bat, wolf, or mist. It does have RPG based elements in the combat as well. Alucard's hit points determine the maximum damage he can withstand before dying while his magic points decide how frequently a magical attack may be cast. He has four other attributes: strength – the power of his physical attack; defense – his resilience to damage inflicted by the monsters; intelligence – the recovery speed of magic points; and luck – the frequency that enemies drop items.

Symphony has a massive, free-to-explore game world with numerous secrets to uncover. It has been praised for integrating RPG elements without compromising the series' basic gameplay. Multiple critics also made mention of the ingeniously designed enemies and the story's many plot twists.

The game has developed such an immense following that original copies are now considered collectors’ items. It has continued to receive critical acclaim and has appeared on many top games’ lists.

Make sure you grab a copy of this one. You will not be disappointed!

11. Star Ocean: The Second Story (1998)

What landed Star Ocean: The Second Story on this list is the aspect of quality over quantity. It may not be the biggest entry on the list, or even the most popular. What does it have? A story that could rival some of the greatest of those sitting on the throne of the RPG universe.

The overall storyline begins with the main protagonist Claude, son of Ronyx Kenny of the first Star Ocean, being transported to a mysterious world, where he meets Rena and a cast of enigmatic support characters. One of whom, Ashton, is cursed with having two dragon heads attached to his head, that bicker and talk over him. Talk about a permanent headache?

Your progress toward towns, and through dungeons toward the ultimate evil force. This all comes across as a fairly standard base of a PRG story.

The plot twist? This game has 87 different endings.

Some are minor changes, ranging from discovering the identity of one of the bosses, or if you paid attention to certain conversations throughout the game. But this added a new scope than the standard RPG game progression system.

The combat system was also impressive by doing away with being time-based and staying continuously active. It was a refreshing change over selecting through menu prompts.

While this may not be the most popular or classic game on the list, it is definitely one worthy of checking out!

12. Vagrant Story (2000)

Vagrant Story is a beautiful exploration into cult lore, mythology, and ancient magics. It is often referred to as a form of a “spin-off” if Final Fantasy Tactics due to Yasumi Matsuno working on both and set in the same fictional world of Ivalice. Doesn’t that name sound familiar?

Vagrant Story is unique as a console action-adventure role-playing game in that it features no shops and no player interaction with other characters; instead, the game focuses on weapon creation and modification, as well as elements of puzzle-solving and strategy. For many in the know of the ROG universe, this concept was almost completely different.

The gameplay is more of a 3D dungeon explorer, with each area of exploration/combat being broken apart as rooms or small arenas. It utilizes a form of a real-time active battle combat system. Activating combat brings up a personal space bubble, and any offending part of the enemy's anatomy that pierces that is asking for some battle damage. You can also chain together stronger attacks for a combo hit.

These combinations gave a fresh take on the adventure RPG genre. It would pave the way for new gameplay concept to come to light.

Vagrant Story is a lengthy yet wonderful fantasy journey through a largely rewarding game.

Wrap Up

The list of amazing RPGs that were produced and released for the PS1 could go on for ages. Some may even consider this the golden age for RPG releases. It paved the way for amazing remastered games and fresh stories for modern-day gamers!

Original Playstation RPG’s truly take the digital cake for all that they encompass. Unique storylines, bold changes in new combat systems. You name it, and they produced it.

Whether you experienced this fantastic 90’s age of gaming firsthand, or are new to it and looking to explore, you will not be disappointed.

All that is left now is for you to pick a game and play! After all, no story would be complete without the player beginning their journey.

Where Can I find The Games?

Here are some primary locations to obtain these classics:

Playstation Store Classics

LukieGames

DKOldies

GameStop

The Old School Game Vault

Are you looking for more? Check out our list of the Best SNES RPGs of All Time!

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cequalsn-blog · 4 years

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AI and structural inequality

There is a moment in time between the creation of a technology, its adoption, and the point where it becomes so ubiquitous as to fade into the background. Printed books revolutionised 16th Century Europe to the point that wildfire ideas accelerated human development, upset the traditional order, and the aftershocks took three centuries to shake out. AI scholorship emerged, arguably, with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in that she critques the idea of man creating a being in his own image. Playing god with electricty. The artificial man turned on by the real monster its creator, and the mob rising up to attack something which outwardly appeared hideous, but inwardly was confused and misunderstood.

Around the same time as Shelley wrote her polemic, the Luddite movement in Britain was fighting a loosing battle against the rise of mechanisation and the loss of jobs flowing from cottage weavers into the growing towns and cities. Their anxiety, pain, and empoverishment were brought about by the progress of efficiency and economic concentration, their lives changed by forces far beyond their control. It took two world wars and the disestablishment of the British Emprire to bring about anywhere near the rise in living standards that brought those city dwellers into ease and comfort. And still their lives were wrapped up in the industrial grind even with a realitve social security blanket of the NHS, pensions, and the welfare state. Those gains were hardfought, battle won, and relied on a society that both had work for the workers, and taxes that flowed into government coffers. In turn the State were from a punitive legal code at the start of the industrial era to one where access to justice and education were accessible to most people. The caviat being that systemic biases and inbuild prejudice carried through and was never tackled at the highest levels.

Fast-forward through Thatcher’s root and branch hacking down of industry, New Labour’s rising of living standards but failure to address structural inequalities, and then post-2010 a systemic failure by the UK government to address those structural failures with austerity, Brexit, and the embedding of the private sector within the British state. Why does this matter to AI and legal ethics? Because structural inequality gets inbuild into the systems governments and private companies develop and promote to the general public. Conscious and unconscious biases are hard coded, from the obvious ones of facial regonition systems more likely to plack people of colour as criminals, to the more subtle AI coding on Youtube that targets content to users. Every programmer and producer has bias, and that flows through through all the code they produce.

In addtition to the code, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, and the plethora of other social networks offer their services for free, or at a low cost, because data is their currency. Ease of access for the price of personal data is the accepted price most people pay for use of these systems, with all the inherent biases and marketing that comes with it. If these services charged for their platfoms how many would use them? In the early days of the internet many models were tried to monertise, and the current one drive by data and advertising proved to be the most successful because most people do not consider the cost of access too high. Much like McDonalds and Coca-Cola market their products as easy and accessible, Facebook and Youtube do the same. Ease of access for both users and marketers means that fast content is churned through at the flick of a thumb, easily digested, easily related to, and ever so bite sized. All served up through AI controlled systems that no lay person will ever see, and few non-technical citizens will understand the base code.

Social platforms in al their shapes and sizes embed structural inequality through ring fencing people into their own walled gardens, the consumer only ever seeing content pleasing to the eyes and ears. There is little critique, users can block and ignore content that projects them out of their comfort zone, and the AI spoon feeds and amplifies the bubble that each person creates for themselves. When books and pamphlets were first utilised to spread ideas, the biggest hurdle to consumption was illiteracy. This held back the vox populi from engaging in debates, and it was the education of the masses that turned the printed word into a weapon of social change. In the AI era all our senses are engaged, with videos, memes, podcasts, blogs, and other bitesized content flowing through AI driven channels to sate our inner need to belong and participate in the wider conversation. Revolutions have started because one person set themselves on fire in a market in Algeria, with the hot embers of that fire still raging in Lybia and Syria. That video was virally shared around the world in matter of hours, with commentary and opinion flying from all corners of the political spectrum. In the 10 years since those algorithms have evolved and developed to the point that the death of an innocent person of colour in Minniapolis ignites protests and condemnation the world over, yet at the same time AIs deliver protest related content from across the poltical spectrum to respective audiences, further driving apart communities and citizens.

AIs, for all their vaunted machine learning, are still tools of their respective masters. At present there is no sapient, let alone sentient, AI, and as such the content we are served serves those who sit behind the tools. The messages we receive, the perspectives we are shown, are all reliant on an AI understanding who we are as people on the freely given data we choose to give. Each data point you provide tells the system your tastes, your fears, your desires, your hopes, your hates. It tunes itself to you, serves you up what you want to see to better sell you products and ideas. To encapsulate you within your bubble to better make you want to stay and scroll. It embeds messages that you may be conscious of, and at the same time serve you up messages that are subtle and reinforce your world view. All the time it embeds within your perspective the structural inequalities of the world around you, without challanging you to gain fresh perspective. And we let it because it suits us to use these platforms for free.

So what is the flipside of this? What if there was a platform that charged you and stripped out the marketing? Who would engage? There are plenty of media outlets that serve content for a price, from Netflix to the Wall Street Journal, each with their own AIs and their own biases. The paywall itself is a closed gardner only for the few who wish to pay to enter, excluding those who choose not to pay, and more pertinently cannot afford to pay. Poverty of information is just as compelling as food poverty, with ill nurishment of the mind having a socially corrosive effect on people’s lives as nutrition deficient food. This is not an argument of liberal v conservative, popular entertainment v high brow. No, this is a defecit in engagement, a deficit in opportunity. If you are shut out from engagement, from stimulating your imagination and your interlectual curiosity then your ability to challenge ideas and engage with them becomes deminished. Much as a £2.00 burger once in a while is a treat, but everyday could clog your arteries, the same goes for the content that is served to you. A cat meme or Donald Trump tweet in and of itself has no impact, but the context within your life gives it impact. Every time you consume media you add to your persona context, you intepret it and it adds to your tapesty. AIs attune themselves to this, and the more you consume through them the more the serve you up to fit your context.

Poverty comes in many forms, one being the time, or lack of, to engage with ideas and concepts. If you have to work 12 hours a day to make rent and put food on the table you are unlikely to be able to spend hours reading or critically thinking about the world. AI driven content fills that space because it is easy to consume, and no hassle to digest. You get that bite size moment of catharsis, or rage, and you are stimulated. Yet, in the long run it embeds whatever biases the coders and marketers want you to see. Intrinsically, whatever platform you use projects those biases onto you, and if you do not have the time or inclination to critically engage with it then you are unconsciously absorbing those biases. This is where education, reduced work hours/higher salaries, and an ability to critically engage with friends and colleagues can lift people out of this desert of ideas.

Ultimately an AI is only as effective a tool as the person who wields it. We as a society have gotten so used to those platforms that to think of a world without them is almost inconceivable. 30 years the internet commons was between elite universities sharing information, with AIs experiments in a lab. Today we inhabit a hyper connected world that few foresaw, with powerful machines in our pockets that given instant access to all of recorded digitised time. We freely give our data to access this information, allowing AIs to shape our personal narratives, and embedding their biases into our own. Is there a solution? Can we just cut ourselves off and exist without it? Yes, you can, but the price is that loss of access to knowledge, connections, friends, and the wider world. Is education the solution? We teach healthy eating and living, promoting nutritional consumption that cares for our bodies, yet allowing fast food. There is already much out there warning of the pitfalls of social media platforms, of additiction and the negative impacts of our polticial views, yet there is little education on economic underpinnings of this, that without our data currency the internet as we know it would be unsustainable.

In conclusion, It is a paradox that the very thing that we now depend on for growth and connectivity is destabilising and distorting our world. In the hundred years after moveable type revolutionised Europe wars and political upheaval convulsed the continent, eventually leading many to flee to North America and bring radical ideas with them. AIs have had less than 30 years to impact our lives, and their impact has been far more intense and concentrated. By embedding biases and information poverty they have driven communities even further apart, yet also brought online communities closer together. Like drawn to like through the algorithm. A critical way to fight the ingrained biases is to engage, dabate, discuss, and critique everything you consume, while at the same time understanding that while there is no monatary cost to your participation, the personal cost is one you must account for. Inequality starts in people, and we must address this in ourselves, our own content, and in turn shape the AIs to fight back against whatever biases they have been programmed with. We as a society, as individuals, have the power to reshape them, it is up to us to choose to do so.

#ai #inequality #society #AI inequality #computing #artificialintelligence

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gamerszone2019-blog · 5 years

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Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Review

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/marvel-ultimate-alliance-3-the-black-order-review/

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Review

With Marvel Comics’ long history of tangled legal red tape and licensing deals, it brings me a special kind of joy to put together a team composed of a yellow spandex-clad Wolverine straight out of the old cartoons, a Spider-Man essentially ripped right from the PS4 game, a modern comic book rendition of The Wasp, and an MCU-style Rocket Raccoon doing his best Bradley Cooper imitation. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order – Nintendo Switch

$59.99on Amazon

pulls from anywhere and everywhere to stock its very fun (if fairly simple) co-op brawler with crowd-pleasing moments.

The story itself is one we’ve heard a lot lately: Thanos is hunting for the Infinity Stones and you have to find all six before he does. It’s a new telling of some extremely well-tread ground, but the writing and voice acting still manage to capture the funny, self-deprecating, and occasionally overdramatic attitude I love about big comic book stories. The campaign also acts as a tour of Marvel’s greatest hits, taking you to lovely renditions of places like Avengers Tower, The Raft prison, and even the wonderfully nostalgic Xavier Institute.

In the tradition of the original decade-old games in this series, Ultimate Alliance 3 is a totally linear button mashing beat-’em-up. You run through locations in order, strung together by plenty of amusing and well-animated cutscenes, with only some lightly hidden collectibles to pull you off the main path. Thankfully, these environments are dotted with plenty of mid-level boss fights and loads of quippy hero banter that kept me smiling even when the straightforward levels were otherwise relatively predictable.

Everyone is Here!

And, of course, within those locations are a whole boatload of heroes – far more than you’ll actually play as during its 12-hour campaign. There are more than 30 playable characters to swap between to make up your team of four, and lots more will drift in and out of the story as NPCs who fight alongside you or point you toward the next encounter. While I would have liked to be able to control some of those support characters like Beast, the sheer volume of heroes (and villains) on display here made Ultimate Alliance 3 feel appropriately epic.

Besides, it’s not like there aren’t enough playable characters to choose from. All of the big names like Iron Man and Captain America are here, but it was also exciting to see both some of the smaller characters like Ms. Marvel as well as longtime X-Men favorites like Nightcrawler join the fray alongside the MCU regulars. Each of them has a set of four playstyle-defining abilities that unlock quickly as they level up, and while there’s a bit of overlap between similar characters like Peter Parker (who is even voiced by the PS4 Spider-Man’s Yuri Lowenthal), Miles Morales, and Spider-Gwen, they each still have little twists that set them apart, like Gwen’s widespread webs or Miles’ shock-based attacks.

Each hero also has a ridiculously over-the-top Extreme move that can fill the screen with damage. One of my favorites of these is Venom’s, in which melts into a puddle of black symbiote ooze before emerging from the center as a giant, fanged mouth like a scene out of Jaws. I love that you can easily chain these Extreme moves together with the press of a button if you had more than one character charged at the right moment, though using all four at once was the only time I occasionally saw Ultimate Alliance 3’s frame rate take a hit (which is understandable given the visual chaos they can cause).

The only time I saw Ultimate Alliance 3’s frame rate take a hit was occasionally when using four Extreme attacks at the same time, which is understandable given the visual chaos they can cause.

“

The only drawback with having so many character choices is that I constantly wanted to change up my team and play around with everyone I could. While there’s nothing stopping you from playing with all these action figures, it’s discouraged slightly by the character-specific experience system. When I changed Captain Marvel out for The Wasp in Avengers Tower, or Spider-Gwen for Psylock to take down some Sentinels, it meant the experience gains were spread in a thin layer across my roster, leaving them underleveled as I went forward.

There is an Alliance Enhancement skill tree that offers global stat buffs to all your heroes, but it didn’t feel like it mitigated this issue much. I eventually had to start focusing more on a select cast (or using newly unlocked characters who start at levels appropriate to the area you are in) which inevitably left some of my favorites like Miles and Venom in the dust in the late game. I found myself occasionally using characters just because they were a high level, not because I particularly liked them – looking at you, Ghost Rider.

You can get around that by grinding your squad through previous chapters or completing the optional Infinity Trials for XP Cubes to give them a boost, but I didn’t really want to since the story is simply more fun. I ended up sticking with the same team for the last few chapters – Wolverine, Dr. Strange, Storm, and the absolutely vicious Black Panther – both because I liked how they worked together and to make sure they were strong enough to avoid grinding entirely.

Bamf, Thwip, Snikt!

Ultimate Alliance 3’s combat is fairly simplistic, with the strategy coming more from timing, team composition, and Energy management than actual combat skill. Apart from their four abilities, every hero has a light attack that you can string together, as well as a heavy attack that lands as a single big hit. There’s also a mid-air attack, a block, and a dodge, but otherwise that’s pretty much it.

There are no fancy button combos to memorize or special attack patterns to use, so you’ll be spamming that light attack a lot in between abilities.

“

There are no fancy button combos to memorize or special attack patterns to use, so you’ll be spamming that light attack a lot in between abilities. That can definitely get stale all on its own, and while the enemies you face will change visually in interesting and exciting ways – you might be fighting Kree soldier in one level and Hand ninjas in another – the differences in their behavior and attacks never really altered the way I went about punching them to a pulp

Larger generic enemies and mid-level bosses like Mysterio, Nebula, or Bullseye make things more interesting with a purple Stagger bar; instead of just whacking them, I had to use heavy attacks and abilities with high Stagger damage to take that bar down. Once it’s empty, you have a brief window to land a Synergy ability – essentially two heroes using complementary abilities at the same time, which is made easier through button clear button prompts – to stun them for a longer period, during which they take considerably more damage. Your abilities all cost Energy, so figuring out the right balance of using it to Stagger and having some left over for a synergy stun was an interesting puzzle that often changed based on the level I was in or the heroes I was using. Fights are still very mashy, and I definitely wish characters had more than their extremely simple two-button basic attacks, but I still found myself consistently engaged in Ultimate Alliance 3’s combat for far longer than I expected.

That said, those puzzles are only truly challenging to solve on the Mighty difficulty setting, with the Friendly mode letting you get away with a bit more of an ability-spamming approach. Apart from big, villainous fights that turn up the heat, Mighty isn’t crazy hard or anything, but it actually forces you to play smart. Bosses like Kingpin or Ultron can easily eat up your three hero revives, even if most groups of basic enemies can still be torn through like tissue paper – which makes a certain amount of sense, because where’s the fun in being Hulk if you struggle to take down a group of ninjas?

Apart from villainous boss fights that turn up the heat, Mighty difficulty isn’t crazy hard or anything, but it does force you to play smart in a fun way.

“

Part of that difficulty is also influenced by how many people you are playing with. Ultimate Alliance 3 can be played solo but it feels like it was really meant to be played in co-op with up to four players, either locally or online (though we weren’t able to test out the online functionality ahead of this review). Combat gets both easier and harder in co-op, depending on the situation: your teammates generally make smarter decisions than the AI but synergy moves and attack timings are often trickier to coordinate than it is with the simple button inputs it takes while playing alone.

You can drop in and out of co-op at will, but be warned that Ultimate Alliance 3’s Stagger system (while a good addition overall) actually makes it a harder game for a visiting friend to blindly pick up and play. The concept is taught well in the first level, but isn’t intuitive or easy to read at a glance if someone joins you after that. I found players who jumped in to join me in the middle of a mission wouldn’t really understand why just smashing buttons wildly wasn’t working so well. It especially didn’t help halfway through the campaign when a big chunk of my roster was underleveled, often meaning the character someone wanted to play was missing abilities or just sort of weak.

It can still be chaotic, snack food-like entertainment regardless, but played with a group that knows what they are doing Ultimate Alliance 3 can become a delightful coordination challenge. There’s lots of calling out targets, working together to Stagger specific enemies while you have a synergy attack waiting in the wings. The only real enemy of this experience is a fairly predictable one: the camera, which frequently felt too restrictive and zoomed in when your co-op party moves in opposite directions, and was frustratingly stubborn in a handful of tight hallways.

While co-op seems to be the intended way to play (as seen particularly in its boss fights that often ask you to multitask), I actually really loved playing alone as well – I might have even liked it more at times. There’s an alternate camera option this way called Heroic that drops the viewing angle down for more of a third-person action feel, and I absolutely preferred it to the default zoomed-out perspective. Ultimate Alliance also has pretty decent AI partners, swapping between heroes on your team is fast and seamless, and using synergy abilities is made super simple, all of which meant controlling four heroes at once kept battles fresh far longer than just sticking with just one character for a long period of time.

We’re In the Endgame Now

Supporting your heroes’ literal journey are a plethora of stats to upgrade and a borderline excessive number of currencies to spend. You can use different pools of points you earn to rank up individual abilities, improve the stats of every member of your alliance via a sprawling skill tree, and equip special ISO-8 crystals for even more stat boosts – which can themselves be upgraded to improve their bonuses. With six different stats that govern attack, defense, health, and Energy there is a ton to dig into here, and min-maxers will have a field day doing just that with great success – but that doesn’t mean any one upgrade is very exciting because of how incremental the vast majority are.

Essentially every form of upgrade or modification in Ultimate Alliance 3 is stat-based, which means that they are almost entirely invisible to you while you are actually fighting. For instance, you could buy a skill that gives your heroes 40 more Strength (even though most heroes’ Strength values are in the thousands), get a team bonus for using two of the Defenders at once for plus 2% Durability, or upgrade a basic ISO-8 crystal to give a hero 5% more Vitality instead of… 4%. Their combined effect will be practically unnoticeable. Hooray!

The ability rank-ups are also unimaginative. Every single ability – whether it’s shooting webs at enemies as Spider-Man, zapping them with lighting as Thor, or dropping giant fidget spinners on their heads as The Wasp – gets a reduced Energy cost at rank 2, increased damage at rank 3, and usually increased stagger damage at rank 4, though sometimes that last one will be a bit more tailored to the ability itself. No matter how detailed or extensive all of these upgrade systems are, these purely number-based buffs are just boring since they don’t change the way any of your heroes play.

No matter how extensive all of these upgrades are, the purely number-based buffs are just boring since they don’t change the way any of your heroes play.

“

Hidden in that sea of marginal stat boosts are some actually interesting upgrades, but they are few and far between. By far the coolest one I unlocked was a skill that healed my heroes for 3% of the damage they dealt during Extreme attacks – a significant amount considering they can do hundreds of thousands of points of damage. That was an actual, tangible improvement I could see in the field, and it did actually change my thinking in fun ways as I started using Extreme attacks to save heroes on the cusp of death instead of just take down big baddies.

But by the end of the roughly 13 hours it took me to complete Ultimate Alliance 3’s story I had unlocked only about a fifth of its gargantuan skill tree. Beating the campaign unlocks an even harder mode, called Superior, to replay on, and beyond that are the high-level Infinity Trials to test your mettle against for bonus unlocks.

The Trials usually have you replay bosses or sections from the campaign with a twist to the rules – sometimes you have reduced damage on anything but abilities or synergy attacks, or maybe there’s a timer running that only refills when you defeat enemies. A fair number of these are a higher level than your heroes will likely be by the end of one run through the campaign, encouraging you to play again or level up further through easier Trials to get their rewards.

No Microtransactions, but DLC Is on the Way

As far as I’ve seen, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 doesn’t have any form of microtransactions at launch. However, it does already have an Expansion Pass on sale for $20. That pass comes with a Deadpool costume that’s available at launch, as well as three upcoming DLC packs that (allegedly) won’t be sold separately. The first will arrive in Fall 2019, the second some later time in 2019, and the third in 2020; according to the official description they will include new “playable characters, modes, and additional story” from the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Marvel Knights. Additional free DLC characters like Cyclops and Colossus are also planned.

The first DLC pack will focus on Marvel Knights and add Blade, Moon Knight, Punisher, and Morbius as playable characters. While we don’t really know any other specifics, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3’s structure is set up in the form of chapters that each revolve around a specific hero group or area, with characters tied to that setting unlocking as you progress. Adding something like a new Fantastic Four-themed chapter where you unlock that team (potentially alongside some more Trials) could be a nice way to refresh what I liked so much about the base campaign. It has promise, but we’ll of course have to see what those DLC packs actually entail before we can determine if they are worth it.

Those rewards are usually Ability Orbs used to rank up moves, XP Cubes to level up characters, or alternate outfits – though the outfits are a massive missed opportunity as they are slow to unlock and have so far been limited to a single, uninspired recolor for each hero’s default costume, like taking the red stripes of of Captain America’s suit. You can even unlock a few extra playable characters here like Elektra, which I imagine is to keep things fresh in the post-game – you won’t unlock new ones anymore just by playing through the campaign again, even on Superior difficulty.

The massive skill tree and extensive amount of number-crunching upgrades available feel like they were designed for all these post-game tasks. There is fun to be had in trying to craft that perfect team build as you take on the hardest content Ultimate Alliance 3 has to offer – I enjoyed doing a bit of that myself for some of the tougher bosses and trickier Trials – it’s just hard to see the results of that work, especially on your first playthrough. Instead, the spice is found in the variety between heroes, not how those heroes change… because they don’t, they just get bigger numbers. And while I’m certainly still interested in diving back into some of those harder challenges, I don’t exactly know how long “harder” alone will keep me hooked.

Source : IGN

#Game News #Game Reviews

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