#meta game

[kesia-stupid-arts]

I haven't played in a public server yet since the update came out, but I suppose it's gonna be like this when a Woodie joins:

[some-sort-of-humanoid-lifeform]

Looking a you, Eastward...

[theminecraftgay]

I really hope Inscryption ends up being a hyped game, it’s super cool and stylized!

[dragonagecompanions]

So, this is something i never properly got. How does the state of the DA: I Breach affects thedas. Like at the start of the game the world is about to end, throwing demons and rifts everywhere, okay. Then the Inq uses the mark and it stabilises, but is it still creating rifts or just maintaining the ones it already created? Then the templar/mages help close it even further, its still up there in the sky, but no longer as big a problem?

This is a fair question, I’ll tell you the way that I interrupted it and then kind of what I found online about it. 

So, in the beginning of DA:I, the Herald is thrown from a rift near the breach with the Anchor in their hand and they are passed out for roughly three days. During that time, the Breach is growing, spreading to open rifts across Thedas, etc. 

Once the Herald is awake and taken to the Breach, all they can do is stabilize the Breach. In this situation, stabilizing the breach simply means stopping the growth of Breach. Only the rifts that had been open previously maintain, so there aren’t any more getting opened. This stabilization happens because the Herald is only so strong.

Once the templar/mages are recruited, then the Herald is able to close the breach. The Breach is technically closed halfway through the game and the source of it, Corypheus, becomes the priority of the game over the breach. But even the method of closing the breach was not perfect because it was not the same way that the Breach was opened. After the mages or templars help the Inquisition, the sky is still scarred from the Breach, but it is closed. I think that in the end, after the Breach had been stabilized, it became separate from the rifts around Thedas where the Breach is just a giant rift but has stopped effecting the other rifts.  Like cracks in a object, stabilizing the giant hole will stop more cracks from appearing but sealing the hole does not seal the cracks that were already there.  

Later in the game, when you technically fully heal the breach, it is simple a way to get rid of the scarring. Using the artifact that created the Breach to heal the scarring in the sky. I always thought it similar to rebreaking a bone to set it properly. The Breach was mended by the mages/templars but not completely mended properly. 

Now that’s how I saw it. This is the online explanation that I found, but I kind of hope what I said makes sense and my comparisons put some of it into perspective. 

-Direct From Orzammar

[ama-darav]

I 100% guarantee in anything I write ever there will be exactly (1) straight character to be the token straight. That's it. The rest of my characters are either going to be queer disasters, queer icons, or both. There are no exceptions.

[fridge-reviews]

The Magic Circle

Developer: Question Publisher: Question Rrp: £14.99 (Steam), £15.49 (Humblebundle) Released: 9th July 2015 Available on: Steam, humblebundle Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard The world is broken, not because of some great calamity or war but simply because it was never finished. The gods themselves bicker over what should go where or even what the world should be.

Something has to change, the world yearns to be whole. This game is... Well, it's definitely a meta game being delivered by way of a walking simulator, although calling it that feels very reductive as you do a lot more than merely walking. The general premise is that you are a playtester for a game that’s been in development hell for a very long time (twenty years, I think they said).

The game comes with intentional... mistakes? Bugs? I'm not sure what to call them. For example, early in the game you can reach an area that you clearly weren't meant to, except there's a sort of reward there which implies that you were. The reward is text log of a conversation between two designers discussing the fact that the area is accessible and shouldn't be. This is what's so interesting about this game, it takes a lot of skill to craft a game that intentionally implants bugs and bad design then makes use of them... which paradoxically means the bad design is good design and the bugs are features. Because if this the whole game felt like a class in lazy game design. As I just mentioned there are chat logs to collect, in fact those are just one of a few things to find in the world. Being that this a indie game and that the game world itself is quite small there aren't that many to hunt down. There is a point to finding all the commentaries etc beyond expanding on the story, but I can't tell without spoiling the end of the game.

As you wander the world you'll discover that parts of the world have been deleted, you can restore these sections but doing requires using up 'life'. Life is a power source found in the world, if you find one of these cracks you can refill your life bar to full (it also acts as a fast travel point on the map, yep that's a thing too). Thing is the life bar is also well... a life bar, as in its YOUR life bar, get hit while its very low and you die, although death isn't a big deal. Death or 'ghosting' as the game calls it, is a important part of the game. When you die you get to explore the world without interference from other creatures or the environment. This can allow you to find new places that would ordinarily be out of reach to you.

You can also edit the abilities and attributes of certain objects and enemies you find in the world. You can make enemies friends, change the way they attack and who they attack, along with a few other things. You can also completely strip a creature of all its attributes and attach them to another creature. Just when you think the game has ended, after having taken some strange twists I didn't see coming, the game throws you one more surprise. A level editor, don't be fooled though this isn't a reward for completing the game, no, no, no. This is the final mission, and to be honest it was actually quite engaging and simple to understand.

This is quite a short experience but in my mind its well worth the money, it really is something worth experiencing. This game should appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in games design or the games industry as a whole as this game is something of a commentary on video games, player agency, game design, creativity, the development process and expectation (or the tempering of them). If this appeals to you perhaps try; The Beginners Guide The Talos Principle SOMA

[droneswarm]

You voiced your thirst for some juicy information on Drone Swarm’s Meta Game! For today’s #ScreenshotSaturday we are going to quench your thirst with the first ever public look at the galaxy map! Which system would you jump to first?

[fridge-reviews]

OneShot

Developer: Little Cat Feet Publisher: Degica Rrp: £6.99 (Steam) Released: 9th December 2016 Available on: Steam Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control pad Approximate game length: 5 hours So you've just discovered you're the saviour, the messiah of a dying world, a world that isn't your own. You'd argue but even the god of that world is calling you that. All you want is to go home but apparently that means saving the world. At face value OneShot looks like a top down puzzle game that has been made with RPG Maker and you'd be absolutely right it is a top down puzzle game that was indeed made with RPG Maker. But there's also far more to it than that. You control a cute cat-like character called Niko, note that I didn't say you play as Niko, the game is quite specific about that. You are you, Niko is Niko, you merely guide Niko through the world and help him solve the puzzles on his quest to save the world and return home. Why make that distinction? Because the game and even Niko will occasionally address you, by name.

This is a game that plays best (and even says so itself) in windowed mode rather than full screen and I advise you do as the game asks. The reason for this being that sometimes the game will sometimes put things required to progress outside of the game. As in it will leave clues, hints etc within your computers folders (nothing invasive just a few text documents and images). While not an amazing looker this game oozes charm. I fell in love with Niko and really wanted to help him with his plight. In fact it wasn't just Niko that I developed a bond for, most of the characters had something about them that made me care which in turn made me want to strive to help them.

The game saves automatically when you shut down the game. However there are some in game beds that also save the game and will give a small piece of the story when you reload. You can only use these beds once though. If you want a game that is heartfelt, gets you to play beyond the usual confines of a game and features no combat at all then I highly recommend OneShot. I do have to mention that this is a game that really requires more than one playthrough to fully understand everything that's going on. I know that sounds like work but it really is worth it. The game is quite short, even with several playthroughs but I loved every moment I spent with it, to the point that I kind of don't want to delete the program even though I likely won't play it again for quite some time. If this appeals to you perhaps try; Undertale ICEY Pony Island