Hello again!
Well, it was slow going this week. I do have CORE #12 up to halfway through scene four, and Uzo's done the renders through scene two. So progress is steady.
Nothing to report on 'Modding', unfortunately. However, I am strongly considering taking Friday off from work, and if I do, I solemnly promise to you that I shall put in several good hours on that front. I don't get my serotonin until people can read the story and I ain't releasing even a bit of it until it's finished, so it's got to get finished.
Say, did I mention that Callidus is back? He is! Go check out his website!
In other news, one of the reasons progress is currently slow is that I have been playing Divinity: Original Sin 2. Although it seems like it should be Divinity 2: Original Sin. Or, to be the most accurate, Divinity 2: Save and Reload Boogaloo.
It's an isometric fantasy RPG, one of the prolific spawn of Baldur's Gate. I... can't actually recommend it. Oh, sure, I'm still playing it, but it's teeth-grindingly frustrating and, as I observe, involves tremendous amounts of reloading. It's packed with fights where one fuckup, one click where a character moves when you meant for her to cast, one random die roll where one of the bad guys crits you, and you lose. And that's almost every fight. There is no build-up where you get to beat some minor baddies before hitting a mini-boss. Any random fight has a good chance of being lethal, and if you don't cheese the fights by using tricks to confuse the AI or doing things that don't fit the story, well, you're not going to get any further. There are plenty of mobs that can one-shot your characters, and they come in packs to boot.
Player level is critically important as well - if you are level 12 and you get into a fight with level 14s, you lose. Not that you have any idea where the level 12 area is, and if you miss a quest or two, well, they don't grow on trees so head back and find one because you need those XP to have any chance in the next fight.
So it's almost more frustrating than it is fun. But the reason I bring it up is that it has lots of really good fetish potential in it. In addition to succubi, corpse witches who lasciviously kiss you to deliver a nefarious spell, and demonic possession, the major plot revolves around the Magisters, a sadistic group of Inquisition types, rounding up people who have connection to Source, which is one way of casting spells. Also a type of shiny liquid, if you juice those people (no, really).
The problem is, using Source has started to summon other dimensional monsters who then murder pretty much anyone nearby. To forestall this, the Magisters, as a magical authority, are rounding up anyone who can use Source.
And then they suck the Source out of those people with magic wands. And, in so doing, the person is turned into an obedient zombie! Mmm. An obedient zombie with a big black sigil on her forehead and liquid black eyes. And then the Magisters dress these drones up and use them as shock troops, for although they are mindlessly obedient they haven't forgotten their combat skills.
And this is a major part of the plot, this life-energy-sucking dronification. I mean, that's how you get involved in the first place.
So it does have that going for it.
Aight, that's it for this week. I'm looking forward to Halloween and the reveal of Anaximanes' game the Anax! Also candy.
Well this is an interesting anti-review. It hasn't completely turned me off the game, as it sounds like the plot itself is delicious enough to counterbalance some of the frustration. I do have a large enough backlog of other games that it's unlikely I will be getting to it any time soon, however.
ReplyDeleteCuphead's glorious Boss Rush platformer has been eating my time lately. The OST for the game is simply magic, and the 30's hand drawn cartoons are spectacular. I laugh at how surreal each new boss form becomes as the cartoons stretch and contort themselves in crazy ways. A grumpy bird that turns into a Martian shooting a ray gun? Who then transforms into an ill bird in a stretcher carried by other birds? A head that transforms into a trash can and spits garbage at you? Why not?
In other news, 'Robotic Restitution' is easily past 40,000 words now, and I am about three scenes or so away from the close of Act 2 (depending upon the creative muse). That leaves just Act 3 to be completed after which the posting shall commence! Mwa ha ha.
Probably at least another month to go. Shucks.
aving played the first Divinity: Original Sin, one problem that game had was pacing. It started off with a few fun fights, but then you spend five or six hours running around a town before any fight again. Is the sequel better in that regard?
ReplyDeleteYour synopsis makes me want to get it asap, but that slow pacing of the first one was far too much busy work to be fun, although the game did pick up after that.
Great to see Callidus back too!
It reminds me a bit of a certain novel "To Bring Them All" by that author on mcstories, Tabico I think she was called. Black eyes, Sigils... Sounds like it could be good inspiration to help finishing this story...
ReplyDeleteTo echo a similar sentiment above and related to your description of Divinity 2, it seems that mainstream media is slowly creeping closer to the imagery, themes and eroticism present in the mind control genre. One can only hope that the world one day receives a Tabico style film or game with the explicit sexuality, horror and thrill that is contained in your work.
ReplyDelete