Harp the Wigglytuff @wigglytuffitout@computerfairi.es

ffxiv roulette, doma castle (lv 67)

healer: just fyi, i'm undergeared

me: hmmm let's see... well, shire gear, lv 60, not the greatest but it could be worse. let's see about the other side -

healer: halonic neckpiece of whateverty from the vault, level 57

arcanist ring, level 50

me: hmmm

me: i see 🙃

ok, i've seen some catbois in my time. been some catbois in my time, in #ffxiv .

but holy shit this is Next Fucking Level. look at this catboi i was blessed-cursed to join in roul this morning. i'm both terrified and in awe

(cw'd because although not technically nsfw, i feel like this carefully engineered outfit is going to be one that would nonetheless be a little bit hard to explain to your boss)

@aflightybroad it's what happens when a star wars bitch used to Artoo and Threepio watches some of the game because a friend's streaming it

Toobee.

i keep forgetting that there's actually going to be a crossover event in ffxiv with yoko taro/neir automata

like i thought it was just a far-off dream for so long that i can't believe it's real yet

if we don't get toobee's dress i swear to god i'm going to riot

"harp you haven't even played any of the neir games???" I REPEAT, IF WE DON'T GET TOOBEE'S DRESS,

ok which one of y'all made this

@pettancow see, i was levelling AST... and the tank was in like half cloth gear

and wanted to do big pulls

somehow we made it to the end. i think i came out a changed person

@pettancow for some reason tanks stick around in av for me

unfortunately

because i swear one time i got it queued as healer and holy fuck i think it's probably the closest i will ever come to experiencing the agony of childbirth

honestly maybe that's why so much horror does so little for me

it's hard in video games to pull off that moment of looking into an abyss as you see something tumble down into evil, and having a profound thought of "oh god, that could be me. that could be me, there, doing that evil"

and for those that have played it, or secret world legends up to tokyo, i can say three words and you'll know exactly what i mean:

Fear Nothing Foundation.

honestly i feel like although i'm not opposed to horror games, i'm not interested in any at all, because none will top what the secret world did

i'm not talking gore or jumpscares or general spookiness

tsw managed to do something that left me far more shaken and was far more profound: they got me to agree with the villain before slowly pulling back the curtain and revealing how horribly, horribly wrong it all was

@InspectorCaracal the mechanics do a great job of the gameplay message of "this is your big damn hero moment - show 'em what you've got, show us all what you've learned", AND the story message of "this dude is ultimately a fraud and a sham. he thinks power is something you can just collect from other people and that if he has the most shinies he gets to win. show him how wrong he is!"

and

it's

FANTASTIC

@InspectorCaracal and this meshes SO WELL with what the final fight IS lore and story wise!

it's someone using STOLEN power. it's someone using these magical abilities that were TAKEN FROM OTHERS.

and how do we know this? because there are NO ORIGINAL MOVES in the mechanics! it's all copied and pasted!

it shows the boss for who he is - a spoiled brat who cries "daddy i want it!", not someone who really has internal power or conviction etc.

@InspectorCaracal playing it feels overwhelming at first, and i'm sure it looks that way, but actually... it gives you just one problem at a time. one question to answer, one mechanic.

when you realize that, and realize the pattern, it becomes a very satisfying 'final exam'. it is the ultimate fight because you get to show off that you've LEARNED all of these things, and can recall them.

@InspectorCaracal and so not only is this your final showdown... but the fight reinforces this theme BRILLIANTLY through mechanics.

every single mechanic the big boss uses... is one that players will have seen before, often on another boss, through the rest of the game.

for example: fire attack? stand in puddles to not get crispy.

ice attack? floor's slippery, don't move.

etc., etc.

@InspectorCaracal (incidentally, the same prince who kicked the shit out of you in the start of the xpack.)

he's obsessed with getting stronger and stronger, so he's hijacked the big nasty dragon. that's the theme of his villainy - he *steals* and *takes*. he sees things he wants, and murders people to get them, just because he wants them. he's not interested in being the best thru hard work. he's willing to CHEAT and do so nastily.

@InspectorCaracal ok ok to actually talk your ear off about why i love the shinryu fight so much

it is The Final Fight of the Stormblood expansion. you've helped one nation successfully rise up against the evil empire; now you've just finished retaking the capitol of the second. shinryu is the Big Bad that kicked all of this off in the first place by being released. and now not only are you fighting the nasty dragon lad, you're fighting...the crown prince of the evil empire.

@InspectorCaracal this is also not even counting the raids where things like "yeah it's fuckin voltron/power ranger now lmfao" happen, which is also an UTTER DELIGHT. one of my most cherished memories is friends bringing me into this all "no no we're not telling you any strats. just go in blind trust us." and i was not expecting things to voltron and Utterly Lost My Shit. IT WAS GREAT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLCWCPyxByg