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atanx · 4 months

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Since I've been replaying Subnautica recently, I've been thinking more about Below Zero.

From what I've seen, people tend to give Below Zero more shit than I think it deserves. Now, out of the two games I would very much say that Subnautica is my favourite, but I think comparing the two games is a bad idea in general because of how fundamentally different they are.

The premise of Subnautica is that you're a janitor whose spaceship crashed on an alien planet, leaving you as the only survivor when you wake up 8 hours after the crash. You aren't prepared for this. You're all alone. And you have been infected by a bakteria with a killcount in the billions. You know nothing at all about this world. This sets up real terror, helplessness and the knowledge that even if someone were coming to save you, they would experience the same fate as the rest of your ship's crew. You're not stranded on 4546B BY CHOICE.

Below Zero however, is drastically different. You have gone to great lengths to willingly smuggle yourself onto the planet to find out just what happened to your sister to cause her death. You come very much prepared and you're more than willing to face all the risks. You can also theoretically leave at any point. All you'd have to do is show yourself to Alterra and they would probably escort you to a prison themselves. You do not get infected. You are also not alone.

This willingness and initiative in Below Zero is a huge detractor from the terror of it all. And it is why I think a comparison is unfair.

(Also, you have a Truck. In Below Zero. And Truck-kun is there, ready to deal massive damage for you! Honestly I think it's way too OP. Fucking Shadow Leviathans become nothing more than a NUISANCE. But well, it fits with the theme of the game.)

All in all, Below Zero had nice environments, nice creatures, nice gameplay, a better base building system and some pretty intruiging storylines!

In my opinion, the endgame is pretty lacklustre. Any terror I felt regarding leviathans or the like abated very quickly, even though I have barely 30h in Below Zero. Meanwhile, going to the Aurora in Subnautica still scares the shit out of me 80h in.

Although I have to mention here that some of the familiarity you build up in Subnautica carries over. You can never get the same experience as playing Subnautica for the first time ever again. Because now you've already experienced it once.

Below Zero isn't really a worse game for not being able to do this, though. It's a good game, it's just... not as memorable. Because Subnautica is truly special. From its stellar soundtrack to its satisfying gameplay and moving story and setting, Subnautica is a fucking masterpiece. Sure, it has its flaws, but they're more charming than detracting. To me.

And it's unfair to expect anything else to deliver the same experience. Because nothing can.

And when comparing Below Zero to Subnautica, so many cool things lose their shine in its shadow. I still vividly remember jamming out in the seatruck to Diving In Too Deep from Nerdout. The story of that one old wreck that managed to survive by distracting the big gun was some really good writing. The frozen leviathan terrified me so hard even though I knew it wasn't going to come alive. Robin and Al-An's conversations are genuinely interesting an entertaining. The kelp area is really cool and the oxygen flowers are such a good gameplay change! Sam's storyline hit me right in the feels! MARGUERIT. The ice worm hit me straight off of my snowfox and down a cliff so I had to run the rest of the way. The research crew are also lovely characters!

There are a lot of things to love about Below Zero and we shouldn't let them pale by judging the game with standards Subnautica lifted to the fucking moon <3

#subnautica #below zero #atanx.txt #yes im aware bz came out like 2 yrs ago but ive been replaying subnautica and its just BEEN ON MY MIND SO MUCH AHHHH #also this is tumblr so who cares #and if you havent played the game(s) and somehow stumbled on this post: theyre really worth it #and i havent really spoiled much of anything #SO GO PLAY IT its so much better when ur playing it blind!!#if you have to choose one go with subnautica tho because its just so good #lolol the whole point of this post was to say dont compare the two yet choosing between them is a comparison of sorts XD #hey i never claimed i was consistent :P #but fr i love the characters in Subnautica. my little blorbos <3 theyre all dead but hey! fanfiction exists :333 #THE SOUNDTRACK IS SO GOOD AKCKQLC IT GAVE ME FEELS AND THEN I WROTE THIS POST

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solidandsound · 9 days

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Etrian Odyssey - Notes on a Journey

THE PARTY

Surge, Alchemist (portrait three)

Surge is a citrus-flavoured soft drink advertised as having a ‘hardcore’ edge.

Surge is only seventeen, but that makes him the oldest member of the group. He left home at eleven years old in response to his mother’s neglect, having already been cooking and caring for himself for years at that point. He ran away as a test, to see if his mother would notice or come looking for him. She never did. His years on the street have left him cynical, but not unkind.

Pepper, Medic (portrait five)

Pepper is named for Dr. Pepper, a soda developed by a pharmacist.

Pepper’s parents were doctors who spent their time travelling to conflict zones to help the injured, leaving him with his feeble grandmother. He idolized his parents and sought to be a doctor of renown like them, and is extremely knowledgeable in the medical arts, especially for a child his age. When he was eleven, his parents left for a war zone and never returned. His grandmother passed shortly afterward, leaving him with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. It has been a year since then.

Root, Dark Hunter (portrait three)

Root is named for root beer, historically made from a root now known to be a carcinogen.

At twelve years old, Root confided in his parents that he thought he might be gay, sure that they would support him no matter what. They didn’t. For the two years since, he has been on the street. His experience left him extremely closed off; he rarely speaks at all, let alone to share anything deeper than surface level about himself. His confidence is in tatters.

Cherry, Protector (portrait four)

Cherry is named in reference to various cherry beverages, such as Cherry Coca-Cola.

Cherry found herself drawn to femininity at a young age, and took great joy in curating her hair, make-up, and fashion. Unfortunately, this made her a target for men who took her prowess in these subjects as a sign of sexuality—one such man being her father. When her mother didn’t believe her, she left home. She is fifteen now, and spends much time protecting other girls from the gendered violence they are sometimes subject to on the streets. Through it all, she has refused to give up her femininity, holding it as a source of strength. If she can still look good in the situation she is in, she knows she’s doing okay.

Mirinda, Survivalist (portrait five)

Mirinda is a soft drink brand originating in Spain; the word roughly translates to ‘admirable’.

Mirinda is a mischievous 13-year-old girl with a penchant for petty crime. Unlike the other members of her guild, she has somewhere to which she can return, but her parents are so exasperated with her behaviour after multiple failed attempts to correct it that they no longer try to keep track of her and do not blink when she is missing for days on end. She has developed a kinship with the other unhoused kids, who engage in similar activities as her, though out of necessity rather than enjoyment. Her safety net gives her a relentlessly cheery demeanour that can sometimes be irritating, but she is a true friend.

BEFORE THE LABYRINTH

Having been on the streets of Etria from such a young age, Surge is loathe to see kids even younger than him out on their own, and ended up serving as a sort of guardian to many of them, especially Pepper, Cherry, and Root. The four of them, with the occasional assistance by and accompaniment of Mirinda, scraped together the means to survive, day by day. It was difficult, and dangerous, and tiring. It wore Surge down, but for the sake of the kids, he has never given up.

There was one other person Surge was close to, an older man named Leed. Having been homeless for over a decade himself, Leed taught Surge and the kids lots of tips and tricks for survival. Surge also knew that Leed engaged in more dangerous activities that he never shared the details of. One rainy day, Surge turned down an alley and found Leed on the verge of death, having been stabbed. Surge never got the details of this incident; when Leed saw Surge, he smiled, and passed. This was not the only time Surge saw someone die on the streets, but if he could help it, it would be the last. He raided Leed’s belongings, finding that he had stolen some cash and basic adventuring gear from someone. Perhaps he chose the wrong rookie adventurers to ambush...

Living in Etria, Surge always knew that tackling the labyrinth was a career option, but it was one he dismissed as too dangerous. He knew many homeless people who entered the labyrinth and never left it. Now, though, he was tired of life on the streets, tired of the daily suffering, of seeing those kids suffer.

He brought the gear to Cherry, Pepper, and Root, not expecting Mirinda to be there as well. When she heard the plan, she insisted on joining. Surge hesitated, not wanting to subject her to that danger if he didn’t have to, but he knew they would have a better chance at success with a fifth party member, so he relented. He was surprised to see small Cherry pick the bulky Protector gear, and shocked to see the reticent Root choose the bold Dark Hunter equipment. For himself, he wanted power, and thus chose the Alchemist’s glove. With everyone on board, Surge made it clear: they go only as long as they need to, and once they’ve made enough money, they’re out. All geared up, the five of them entered Radha Hall.

FIRST STRATUM: Emerald Grove

While the labyrinth is harsh at first, Surge and the kids soon fall into a rhythm of pushing into the labyrinth, killing some monsters, and returning to sell the materials, while also picking up some odd jobs here and there. However, it is far from lucrative at this stage; they are barely scraping together enough on each excursion to fund the next.

They soon come upon two intimidating women who claim to have been ordered by Radha Hall to guard the way forward. If Bubble Guild wants to progress, they must take it up with Radha Hall. When they do so, they are told that a wolf pack has made the proceeding area too dangerous for rookie explorers, and Surge and his friends must wait until someone else takes care of the problem. To Surge, this is infuriating. All he’s accomplished so far is moving from one meagre lifestyle to another. They need to go further. Without consulting the others, he accepts the mission to take down the leader of the wolves.

The guild is allowed past Ren’s blockade and advances lower and lower. They face tougher enemies, but do so with growing confidence. In Fenrir’s nest, they take down a few of his wolf lackies with ease, lure him into a corner, and work together to take him out before reinforcements arrive. When it’s all done, they report to Radha Hall and get a nice chunk of change for their efforts. It’s the kind of money Surge has never seen in his life.

He consults with the kids. This money isn’t everything, but it’s not nothing. It’s enough that they could get a cheap place, get cleaned up, get jobs—for the older kids, anyway—to sustain themselves. Things would still be tight, and it might not work out, but they wouldn’t be fighting monsters anymore. Or... they could keep going. It’s only going to get more dangerous, but also more profitable.

Root speaks up first: “Let’s keep going.” That’s all he says, but Cherry pipes up to agree, as does Mirinda. Surge looks to Pepper, tells him, If you want to, we can get out of this and get normal lives, but Pepper shakes his head. He knows that the others need him. What’ll they do if they get hurt?

Surge reiterates their goal from the start. They’ll make enough to be comfortable, and then peace out before they get themselves killed. With that, Bubble Guild descends into the second stratum.

SECOND STRATUM: Primitive Jungle

Shortly after first entering the Primitive Jungle, Bubble Guild picks up a job to slay a spider monster that has been causing issues on the fifth floor. It is a fairly easy task for them, but afterwards, Valerie at the bar tells Surge (who always goes in alone, letting the younger kids wait outside) that all the younger explorers are looking up to Bubble these days. Surge is concerned about what ‘younger’ means. Are there other guilds filled with literal children?

Soon the next task from Radha Hall comes in: to steal an egg from the terrifying Wyvern on the eighth floor. Pepper feels weird about this task. Stealing an egg? That doesn’t seem very nice. It’s Cherry who tells him to suck it up. They’ve been killing loads of creatures out there anyway, this is no different.

When they turn the egg in, they are graced with an audience with Visil, the Chieftain of the Radha. Visil congratulates the guild on their hard work, and says he has high hopes for their progress, as few explorers these days make it as far as they have. The kids seem thrilled with the praise, but Surge is unmoved. Something seems sketchy about this guy...

With a little more progress, the guild comes back to town to a further request: to kill Cernunnos, the beast preventing access to the third stratum. On their way to do so, the group runs into Ren and Tlachtga. Ren implies that other guilds have also been given the task, and that Visil expects most of them to die. The kids aren’t intimidated; Cherry insists that they’re better than all the others! Surge can’t help but think of how many kids have been sent to their deaths... Something is seriously wrong with this place.

Nonetheless, they take out Cernunnos and report its demise to Radha Hall. Surge goes into the Hall fully intending to get the reward and call it quits, but when they get the money in their hands, its not quite double what they got for finishing the first stratum. They could get by on this for a while, for sure, but can he really guarantee a future for these kids with this? Plus, they’re all so excited. Mirinda and Cherry are already talking about what they might get next time.

Surge resigns himself. One more stratum, and then they’ll be good. This time for sure.

THIRD STRATUM: Azure Rainforest

Surge gives the kids a bit of a break between strata. He needs a day to think about how far they’ve come and where they’re going. Pepper, Cherry, and Mirinda use the time to relax and hang out, buying some slightly expensive food and otherwise just chilling. Root goes off on his own. He’s heard about a challenge given out by the explorers’ guild, and goes there to confirm. Ganryu, the guildmaster, is challenging adventurers to venture into the labyrinth alone and defeat a Cutter in single combat. Ganryu seems apprehensive when Root shows interest, but does not stop him. Without telling the others, Root goes into the dungeon and challenges a Cutter. His plan is to land enough binds not to worry about the beast’s strongest attacks, but his binds don’t land, and it comes down to pure damage. When he emerges victorious anyway, he feels a great boost in confidence. He is proud of how far he’s come since he started this journey.

Bubble Guild is asked to properly map the 11th and 12th floors, as the Radha’s soldiers are having trouble with it. When the group returns with the maps, Quinn pays them, and also mentions that Visil seems apprehensive about pushing further to discover the labyrinth’s secrets. Mirinda is curious about these secrets, but the others are largely indifferent to them; they are here to get paid. The guild’s next task is to investigate reports of a humanoid creature seen deeper into the labyrinth.

Sure enough, Bubble has a run-in with a feathered girl named Kupala who makes vague warnings about not venturing further. But venturing further is what Bubble is being paid to do, and so they continue on. They make their way to the end of the stratum, where Kupala awaits. She claims that, by coming this far, they have broken some ancient pact. She calls upon a monster, the great Corotrangul, which attacks. Bubble defeats it fairly easily, however. When they do, Kupala is gone, but she has left behind a stone tablet.

The group takes the tablet to Quinn, who rewards them handsomely and encourages them to continue on to the fourth stratum. Surge had planned to tell Quinn that they would be quitting after this, but can’t bring himself to say the words. Despite spending much of their time knee-deep in the forest’s dangers, the quality of life for these kids has steadily gone up. They are wearing better clothes, eating better food. They could dip out now, Surge could get a more standard job, but he wouldn’t be able to sustain this for all of them. Plus, adventuring has been good for them in other ways, too. They seem happier. Root talks a lot more, even when not prompted. So, Surge agrees, and the guild makes plans to enter the fourth stratum.

FOURTH STRATUM: Sandy Barrens

Pepper has acquainted himself with Dr. Hoffman, who runs the apothecary. According to Dr. Hoffman, Bubble’s exploration efforts have already helped with the advancement of medicine in Etria. If they go even further, who knows what medical mysteries the doctor will be able to unlock!

Shortly into the fourth stratum, the guild finds a slot that the stone tablet would fit perfectly into. They return to Radha Hall for the tablet, but Visil is waiting to speak with them there. He explains that, for some reason, the forest folk will stop at nothing to halt humans’ advancement into the labyrinth. Indeed, many adventurers have been killed by them. If they will not stand down, they must be annihilated, for the sake of the town. After his speech, he hands the party the tablet.

The guild is understandably torn about what Visil has asked them to do, but Surge urges them to continue on for now. They do not have to commit to anything yet. A little further in, Kupala appears. Surge is able to ask her about her so-called pact, and for the first time she believes that they are uninformed. She clarifies that humans and the forest folk made a pact a long, long time ago. The pact states that the bottom strata of the forest are left to the forest folk alone, and that humans are not to venture there. Now knowing the truth about the pact, Pepper and Mirinda feel sure that some better solution can be negotiated.

They take this info to Visil. He is unmoved. The bottom line is that, if they obey the pact, Etria will lose its greatest source of income—and so, too, will Bubble. The mission to annihilate the forest folk stands.

The kids of Bubble are despondent. This does not feel right. Surge is the one who speaks up. There is no stability in the world of regular people. If they give up adventuring, they could very well end up back on the streets, scrounging for every meal. Surge is unwilling to go back to that. Cherry and Root silently agree. Pepper waffles, but Cherry reminds him that medical advancements depend on their discoveries. Pepper reasons that more people will be saved in the long run by them continuing to explore than will be lost in the coming conflict... probably.

Surge turns to Mirinda then, and tells her, firmly, to go home. She, at least, does not need to be complicit in this. She refuses. He commands her. She says no. He yells at her to go the fuck home. She cries and says no, no, no. Cherry steps between them. “She’s one of us,” Cherry says. It’s the five of them against the forest folk.

They make their way to a floor that is wide open desert. It is here that they face their first violent opposition from the forest folk. Perhaps the forest folk are out of practice, however... They are surprisingly fragile when put to weapons. The floor is soon littered with greenish corpses.

Bubble clears the way to the final floor of the stratum. Kupala appears here, clearly frustrated. She asks why Bubble would do what they’ve done when their own people want them dead, a statement that makes little sense to Surge and the kids. Kupala challenges the crew, saying that the forest folks’ toughest warriors are on this floor, as well as their guardian beast, the bird Iwaoropenelep. In a gruelling, multi-day showdown, the guild succeeds in eliminating the forest folks’ warrior class. Kupala emerges one last time to admit defeat and say that there is nothing else she can do to stop them, then vanishes.

Back in town, the guild is rewarded handsomely for their success, but this time the money feels foul despite its heft. Still, having come this far, there is no question that they will continue into the fifth stratum, where no one else has gone before. Quinn asks that, as they do, they keep an eye out for Visil. The leader of the Radha has vanished.

FIFTH STRATUM: Lost Shinjuku

The guild decides to take a bit of time to decompress, but Root can’t stand the quiet. He does down to the guild hall, where he learns that there is another solo mission being given out, this time to defeat a Killclaw. Root takes it and heads out without telling anyone. This task is harder than the last one, as Killclaws must be drawn out by the sounds of combat, so Root must take care to fight other creatures first, and not defeat them too quickly. When the Killclaw appears, it hits hard and takes little damage, so the fight is protracted and brutal. Root returns from it victorious but injured, and goes to Pepper for help.

Surge is there, and is shocked at Root’s state. He forces the boy to spill the beans about his solo missions. Surge goes from shocked to furious, and storms into the guild hall to demand answers. Ganryu simply states that he doesn’t prevent any willing parties from attempting his tasks, but provides no comment on how many people—kids—have died on these tasks. It turns out there is one more coming up, and Surge doesn’t want to see Root risking his life on it... so he takes it. He goes into the fourth stratum and challenges a Sickwood alone, blasting it with flame as he is eaten away by its poison. He wins, but barely, and limps back to town, satisfied that Root won’t die by any more of these foolish endeavours.

After the boys recover, the guild finally ventures into the fifth stratum. It is a strange place, filled with bizarrely huge buildings. When passing from one building to another, the guild is stopped by Ren and Tlachtga. Ren says that Etria depends on adventurers coming through, hoping to get to the bottom of the labyrinth, but, for that very reason, none must succeed. Bubble is getting too close, and now they must die.

The problem is that Bubble have gotten this far by their own strength, and that strength is more than enough to smack down Ren and Tlachtga. The women accede. Ren tells the guild that Visil waits for them below.

Bubble chips away at the stratum while taking requests at the bar, as usual. While waiting outside the bar for Surge, Pepper sees a kid younger than him go in, and then, minutes later, emerge, visibly upset. Once Surge returns, Pepper asks about it. It turns out that the kid needs materials to help his sick mom, but only has 50 ental to pay for the quest, so Surge passed on it. Pepper is appalled, and begs Surge to take the quest. He doesn’t want the kid to end up like him, an orphan with nowhere to go. Surge relents, and they find the materials, which, predictably, does not pay well, but Pepper is happy anyway. Even Surge feels good after doing a good deed.

At the bottom of the fifth stratum, Visil guards a large, mysterious door. He praises the guild for being better than Ren and Tlachtga, as well as every other guild that has attempted and failed to get this far. He claims that if the guild simply turns back, he will pay them. This is a tempting proposition to Surge, but as he considers, Mirinda speaks up: “What’s behind the door?” Visil turns quietly furious. He will tell them, but only in exchange for their lives, he says, and then he passes through the door.

Mirinda is worried that she screwed up, and indeed, for a moment everyone looks at her with disappointment, but then they all relax. Surge admits that he wasn’t sure he could trust Visil’s offer. Pepper says he, too, was more curious about what’s behind the door at this point. Cherry is pissed that he had them kill so many forest folk, and now she wants to know why.

Past the door, they hear about the Yggdrasil Project, the civilization lost to time, and Visil’s own role in it all. It seems he felt that anyone knowing about it would put the project at risk, which is why he tried to have the team commit suicide via forest folk, and then sent his warrior pair to finish them. That concern stands: he does not intend to let Surge and the kids live.

However, all his attempts to kill them trained them too well. With Root’s binds, Mirinda’s arrows, and Surge’s flames, Visil soon perishes.

After the guild re-emerges from the labyrinth, they go to Quinn and tell him everything they’ve heard. No one is sure exactly what to do next. It seems wrong to keep what they’ve learned to themselves after everything. In fact, Root reasons that it is better that people know, so they don’t repeat the mistakes of the previous civilization. Surge’s concern is that Etria’s economy will dry up. People are driven to discover the labyrinth’s secret, but now that it’s been discovered...

No matter what happens, Quinn promises, the Bubble Guild will have the Radha’s support, as thanks for all they’ve done. The kids will never go hungry again. In return, Surge asks that some rules are made around who is allowed into the labyrinth. No more kids too young to know what they’re doing should die in the forest.

For a while, they relax, laze around, take in being comfortable for the first time. As they do, they observe the town. If anything, it is busier than ever. Somehow, finding out the labyrinth’s big secret has given rise to all sorts of rumours regarding its smaller, still undiscovered ones. How many have any merit? Surge figures it doesn’t matter, as long as people are exploring. Root starts to get excited. If there is anything left, who better to discover it than Bubble? The kids begin to get excited about going back down there. Cherry would like to find the forest folk girl, Kupala, to make sure she is okay.

And so, though they no longer have any financial need to, Bubble Guild readies themselves for another dive into the Yggdrasil Labyrinth.

#personal #etrian odyssey #i breezed through this game so quickly i decided not to break up the post #EOI is definitely lighter on quests and events than the other games so i had a little less to latch onto #on the other hand i knew the twists ahead of time from EOU #so i made my party with that in mind. i can't imagine how folks playing blind rationalize what they are asked to do...#oh and i'm not doing the postgame on this one. fuck that lol #you can get through the main game fine but the postgame is where the real archaic shit comes up

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