Sep 25, 2024
"the Inquisitor 'obviously has a very personal relationship with Solas,' one that will need to be reckoned with in The Veilguard."
my lavellan reckoning with him:
seen from Italy
seen from Italy
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from Russia
seen from Italy
seen from Brunei
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from Japan
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from United States
seen from Poland
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
"the Inquisitor 'obviously has a very personal relationship with Solas,' one that will need to be reckoned with in The Veilguard."
my lavellan reckoning with him:
https://www.ign.com/articles/move-over-lady-dimitrescu-the-resident-evil-community-loves-the-duke-now
Oh, my~<3
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2's Campaign is the next installment in the franchise that follows the story of 2019's Modern Warfare remake with returning characters from the 2019 title and the previous iterations. Here are our thoughts and first impressions on the Modern Warfare 2 Campaign preview.
Bit more mission details in this first impressions article from IGN!
This admin isn’t too sure about the excitement surrounding the underwater mission and the comments about weapons not being as effective...both being done already in COD:Ghosts. But I’ll take the excuse to see the 141 in wetsuits!
This article makes sense
http://m.ign.com/articles/2016/03/07/opinion-a-few-more-thoughts-on-the-100s-lexa And it basically is how I feel about the 'Thirteen' episode.
On the Subject of "Permanent Death" in Video Games
This morning I was browsing IGN and on a whim I read their article regarding the concept of "permanent death" in a video game. I found the article to be well-written and fairly interesting. Given the subject matter, however, I found that there were a couple of games that went noticeably without mention. Upon skimming the comments section, I found I was not alone in my thoughts. The omitted game series most commonly mentioned was also the first that came to my mind as well: Fire Emblem.
The "Fire Emblem" series was the first I played that really implemented the idea of "permanent" character death. While the death of certain main characters inevitably leads to a Game Over, all other playable characters you meet through the games are considered expendable. This was a new concept to me and indeed took me by surprise. In my previous gaming experience all playable characters were either, essentially, untouchable... or they simply revived following the current battle scenario. Not so with this series.
My first experience with actually sacrificing a character was in "Fire Emblem" for the GBA. The character was Dorcas, an axe fighter. The battle had been a difficult one for me and I had already lost several times by that point. I was so relieved to be through it that I had to weigh the cost of reloading my game. Dorcas wasn't a favorite character of mine, and while he was a strong fighter, he wasn't one whom I felt I would be lost without. Ultimately, I made the decision to let him fall. Due to the nature of his story, he doesn't actually die, but like all fallen characters, becomes unplayable for the remainder of the story. This experience left me sort of indecisive about the choice to reload or let characters go. That feeling changed when I played "Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance".
I found myself really liking the characters of FE: PoR, even more so than in the previous games I had played. I can't count how many times I reloaded because a favorite character was defeated in battle. Probably the worst I saw, though, was Rolf. Just his young age, combined with the fact that you would be left with his two older brothers still in your party... that was pretty hard to take.
Beyond the "Fire Emblem" series, the next game that comes to mind when I think of permanent character death is "Valkyria Chronicles". Some might argue that this series is less significant for the idea, in that most of the characters don't have detailed backstories, the way they do in FE. Despite this, however, each character you recruit has a distinct personality and set of traits... one of the features I personally love about the game. It truly is possible to feel the loss of a character once these traits have been discovered. Another aspect that makes VC stand out to me is the overall sense of tragedy that the game presents with a nation at war. I will not go into details, so as not to spoil the game for anyone who has not played it... but there comes a point when a certain character's death occurs... and there is nothing you as a player can do to prevent it. This moment is heartbreaking and tragic... and it can leave you wanting to ensure that none of your other comrades are lost. This, to me, is what make "Valkyria Chronicles" so relevant to the topic at hand.
The last game I want to talk about here is one that takes this concept and skews it, presenting things from a somewhat different perspective. In "Valkyrie Profile", you do not have to fear your characters dying... because each of them is already dead when they join Lenneth's group. These deaths are spotlighted at each character's introduction... and some of them are quite sad. Once the characters join Lenneth's Einherjar, "death" is inconsequential. Any character not revived during a battle will simply remain in the group at 0 health until healed. The challenge comes when it's time to choose which warriors to send to Asgard. You spend time leveling your characters, you pour points into them to raise their Hero Value... only to send the best to Asgard to fight in Ragnarok. This can be a very difficult decision to make, because once a character is sent, you no longer have them for the remainder of the game. How your game ends depends, in large part, on the success of the Einherjar you choose to be your champions, so it is not a decision to be taken lightly. Still, you may find yourself fighting between your personal attachment to a character and how they might benefit the "greater good". Then there comes the lingering question... what happens to the souls of those heroes you choose not to send? The game does a good job of answering this, to some extent, but only with certain characters and only after the game has ended... and it is still enough to make you think.
There's some controversy in the video game world about the idea of reloading a game simply because you don't like an outcome. Some people seem very against it... though, I must admit, I was not aware there was such a negative term for it prior to reading the aforementioned article. I will readily admit that I am guilty of this habit. Perhaps I simply get attached too easily.
Some may say it's silly to get attached to characters in a video game... and they may be right. However, just like with any other media format: tv, books, movies... the characters can hold a special place in your heart. At times, this feeling can be even stronger because, in many cases, you have actually played the character. So, in a sense, you've been the character.
