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I will forever love VC for letting me have units with actual FLAWS to deal with - it added so much personality to the squad members who otherwise just be random mooks, and was a cool way to get players to make their own uniquely preferred teams. More games need to give me flawed characters.

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Vidya2 @vidya2.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

My theory on the success of the RE movie as a game adaptation: this is what happens when you hire people that actually played the games get to make the movies ...because all the people that played the games as kids/teens are now old enough to make movies as their chosen profession.

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Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a great experience, worth the cost and more. Original Sin 1 is a slog that you should never have to endure - and believe me, I TRIED. With friends. Three separate times.

Steam client install screen for Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition. The player has 96.7 hours play time. The game is not installed.

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Man, though... What is it with games of this era and taunting the player for needing t go do other things? Modern games will warn you when you've been playing for more than two hours, but Alice and Daikatana? "Bitch, you ain't rolled credits yet! Why are you stopping?!"

A screenshot from American McGee's Alice, showing the "Quit Game" screen - an image of the Mad Hatter, sneering as he asks "Running away, are we? Y/N"

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One thing Alice DOES do better than Daikatana, though, is character modeling and design. Everyone in Alice looks a LOT better than everyone in Daikatana, and it isn't even a contest.

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For all the things that Daikatana did wrong at the time of release, music was not one of them. (I know I said the point of these GotM threads was NOT to ever compare the games, but I feel like it can be forgiven in this case, since Daikatana and Alice were very contemporary to each other.)

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So while I appreciate all the music box tracks and children's-toy-style accompaniments... they don't really mesh when they're being played as a backdrop to the action -and violence- of the rest of the game.

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It almost sounds like it was made for a more desolate version of Wonderland - an abandoned one for Alice to explore and try to piece together what happened to it (and her) all by herself. But she's not alone, and she's not exploring; she's slicing and dicing and shouting and even snarking.

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I would also like to say that the music for Alice, while definitely emotive, isn't quite as well done as Daikatana's music. While Chris Vrenna's music does great work at evoking the /atmosphere/ in each level, it doesn't really fit the /gameplay/ of the levels, which leads to a disconnect.

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I will say I like the little design details in these early levels... though I think they don't /quite/ get to Daikatana's level. Not surprising, since I'm pretty sure they didn't have the same budget.

A screenshot from American McGee's Alice, depicting an art piece(?) that appears in the school level. It looks like a warped face shouting out in agony.

A screenshot from Alice showing a level from American McGee's Alice. You can see a desk n the right side, with an apple on top of it. The apple has a bite taken out of it, and inside you can see a green worm peeking out cutely.

A screenshot from American McGee's Alice, showing Alice swimming in a pool, looking at a fountain statue of herself. The fountain statue depicts her on her knees, sobbing openly as wind blows her hair forward. The water from the statue's tears are filling the pool/river the real Alice is swimming in.

A screenshot from Alice depicting a piece of art in the game. The artwork is a painting of a pig dressed in a smoker's robe, enjoying a cigarette with its human hand.

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One of my favorite quotes from the game - and still true, to this day.

A screenshot from American McGee's Alice, showing the Chesire Cat posing a riddle to Alice. He states:
"Here's a riddle. When is a croquet mallet like a billy club? I'll tell you: whenever you want it to be."

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(Seriously though, the night sky in Wuthering Waves is beautiful. Whatever other issues exist with the game, I will give them that.)

One thing I like to do is appreciate a game's night skybox. It's a small detail that not many devs devote effort to, but when they do it, it can really stand out. Wuthering Waves, for one, really LOVES their night sky, but I gotta say that Alice is surprisingly not shabby for its time.

Screenshot from American McGee's Alice, of the night time skybox visible in the School level. Hand drawn stars in white glow above fast moving clouds of grey, giving a sense of the infinite that stretches beyond the towers and towers of books that ascend skyward - yet nonetheless fail to reach the heavens.

Another screenshot of the library night sky in American McGee's Alice, this time with a chesire smile ALSO lighting up the sky as it pretends to be a crescent moon.

A screenshot from American McGee's Alice, giving a better view of the Chesire-smile moon, and the sense of distance and horizon created by the clouds and stars of the skybox.

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Vidya2 @vidya2.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Whelp; they absolutely are just as terrible as I remember them - though I DON'T remember having to fight three of them at a time. ...Must have blocked that memory out for some reason.

Screenshot from American McGee's Alice, showing Alice fighting a Card Guard and a Boojum.

Screenshot from American McGee's Alice, showing Alice fighting another Boojum (one of two).

Screenshot from American McGee's Alice, showing Alice fighting two Boojums, with another off screen.

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Glad to see that #Wardogs is introducing a whole new generation to the wartime helicopter pilot experience.

A comic image of an extremely nervous helicopter pilot who is sweating profusely as he pilots his helicopter, all the while decked out with an extreme amount of luck providing items.

It is above an article which reads:
"Helicopter Pilots Are Different.
"The thing is, helicopters are different from planes. An airplane by its nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying, immediately and disastrously.
"There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter.
"This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why, in general, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, bouyant extroverts, and helicopter pilots are brooders, introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened, it is about to."
-Harry Reasoner, July 1977

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Vidya2 @vidya2.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Necessity is the mother of invention, but "Poor Game Design" is an Aunt twice removed on the mother's side.

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...Though honestly, said Necromancer probably DID need the self-affirmations. When he appeared and I fought him in the crypt, I didn't even realize he WAS a boss. He just kinda slow ran at me so I shot him in the face. Oh well, I guess. Staff acquired.

A screenshot from Daikatana, showing the necromancer's staff when equipped as the player weapon. It is a stone skull with glowing eyes atop a wooden rod, with four horns(?) growing of the skull and a purple gem...? atop its head.

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More lovely details, though... MAN, how sad of a necromancer must you be, to feel the need to write self-affirming messages on each and every brick of your crypt? "I AM EVIL" Bro, come on; who are you trying to convince? Me, or yourself?

A crypt from Daikatana, sporting a definite skull and reaper motif.

A grave from a crypt in Daikatana. It states "R.I.P. - Died".

Another building fm the crypt in Daikatana, featuring an orange stained glass mural with a glowering skull in front of a thorny cross. The mural is above a door with the same skull on a metal seal.

Bricks from the crypt in Daikatana. If you look closely, you can see the words "I AM EVIL" scratched into each of them.

The electro wizard was a bit of an issue, since his electric orbs (I guess they're wisps?) do a LOT of damage when you're in range, but after a couple attempts, it turns out that he, too, is weak to being shot in the face with crossbow bolts. Love to see it.

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At least the darling got mentioned in the level's murals... Again, I love the attention to detail and decoration all over this game.

A stained-glass mural from a level in Daikatana.

Even got to see a dragon... which was unfortunately even less threatening than the dragons in Skyrim. Poor winged boy... literally got stuck on a tower every time the game loaded him.

A dragon appears in Daikatana... but cannot figure out how to fly around a castle tower, so it gets stuck and is easily dispatched by the player.

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Once I found out that the Silver Claw was required, though, progress came a lot quicker. Beat the level, got to the next one, fought a wizard who can summon meteors (but was weak to being shot in the face); had a good time!

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I don't remember when or where I picked the weapon up, and I certainly don't remember if its name actually mentioned it was silver for the two seconds(?) it appears on screen, so I WILL totally blame the devs for that. Should've had Superfly or the totally-not-evil priest comment on it.

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I WILL kinda blame them for not actually telling me the weapon is a silver weapon...? Like, I noticed it had a particular sheen to it that I thought was strangely unique, but it's a melee weapon, so it doesn't take ammo. That means you only pick it up ONCE - which means you only see the name ONCE.

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Please note, that neither the game itself or the game manual actually tells you that the weapon can damage werewolves. I don't blame them for that - it's honestly kinda neat that they expect the player to know (or learn) werewolf lore to realize that's a thing.

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It was only when the FIFTH werewolf started chasing me that I began to question "You know, this seems disproportionate..." And when the SIXTH werewolf appeared? I had to actually load the Daikatana strategy guide and confirm it. Thanks, Archive.org!

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I admit it is partially my fault for assuming that the werewolves were completely immortal, for like... 80 percent of the level. But doesn't it also say at least a little about the game and the developers, that I honestly thought 3+ immortal werewolves was a trick they would TOTALLY do?

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Vidya2 @vidya2.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

What's worse than one immortal werewolf chasing you throughout a level? SIX immortal werewolves that chase you throughout the level. ...Because I didn't realize that the random claw weapon I picked up was made of /silver/ and thus, the only weapon capable of actually, permanently stopping them.

Screenshot from Daikatana, of the player looking at a (temporarily) downed werewolf.

Screenshot of Daikatana, of the player looking at SIX immortal werewolves that are trying to attack them.

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Given the CEO of Level-5's admitted love of generative AI, I will not be touching this or any other game they've announced. Oh well.

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Vidya2 @vidya2.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

It's really nice of them to go out of their way like this.

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This might be the most fabulous Dogi has been, and I'm glad to see it. I'm sad it doesn't look like he's gonna be playable in the game, but if it means he handles all the crafting and survivaling on the island, it is a price I'm willing to pay.

Screenshot from Ys VIII, showing the side character Dogi, clad in neon green vest with dark purple jeans and silver armbands, as he reunites with Adol on the cursed Isle of Seiren.

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Who names these creatures? Anyway, I went through the first two bosses but felt normal difficulty was a little too easy, so I've turned it to Hard. The combat isn't quite as fast paced as Origins, but still feels pretty fun - so I look forward to grinding a bit to make Hard mode manageable.

Screenshot from Ys VIII showing the first boss, the "Mystery of the Gaete Sea: Tentacleof the Unknown" - which is a giant blue tentacle.

Screenshot from Ys VIII showing the second boss, "The Nocturnal Lord: Byfteriza" which is a giant bat like creature with red mane and large claws. The muzzle looks similar to a fruit bat.

Screenshot from Ys VIII showing the third boss the player faces, the "Monstrous Beast: Avalodragil" which looks like a very red velociraptor, with some additional webbing around its head and back.

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Can I say how REFRESHING it feels to be washed ashore on an unknown island in a survival situation - and NOT have to collect wood to build a work bench, to craft a pickaxe to mine stone, to build a base to house a bed, and etc etc? I am so tired of survival crafting.

Adol and side character Luxia examine their surroundings - a deserted(?) forest island.

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Right off the bat, I really like the ship that we're on - reminds me of the ships from Tales of Berseria. Too bad the exact same thing will happen to it.

Adol Christin admires the large sailing ship, The Lombardia... minutes before disaster.

Adol Christin hangs for dear life off the side of the Lombardia - during the disaster.

Velvet Crowe admires the view from the bow of her ship - heading out to sea.

Velvet Crow admires the view of the bow of her ship, smashed into the shore.

I think Ys VIII is also when NIS America actually started to give a damn about the quality of their localizations? If only BECAUSE the Ys fans demanded it - and good on them for that. Thanks to their efforts, Ys was spared the usual NISA treatment back then, which NO GAME deserves.

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I don't remember much about VI, but I think it was also a different era of Ys gameplay, so no doubt a different vibe than Origins. Still though, I look forward to what 8 has to offer.

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There was something just cathartic about playing Yunica Tovah and rushing headlong through the monstrous hordes, axe in hand and nothing else. She was great. Ys IX introduced parkour style mechanics and a gothic vibe, but the enemy groups largely disappeared - at least at the start of the game.

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I loved the combat and gameplay Ys Origins since it was so very frenetic against SO MANY enemies... and was a little disappointed when the later Ys changed things around to be more tame. Like... Ys IX was cool to run around in, but it definitely did not have the same enemy density as Origins.

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I have a bit of experience with the Ys series before this: I played though Ys Origins and rolled credits on Yunica Tovah's route, and loved it. I tried a LITTLE of YS VI, both on PS2 and PC, and got killed by a giant moth. I played Ys IX on PS4 for... awhile? Up to the second power up, maybe?

An image showing Loe's playtime for Ys Origins on steam: 39.2 hours.

A screenshot showing Loe's playtime for Ys VI on steam: 2.4 hours.

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