@alis@fandom.ink

So I never did an #introduction but I probably should, so...

I'm Alis! I'm an #sff #author and I love #monsters and so I write books about monsters. I also sometimes (very rarely) draw, and (mostly) play way too many #videogames.

I'm also the admin of fandom.ink, a small #fandom centric Masto instance, inspired by the #tumblr exodus and aimed at #fanart, #fanfic, #RP, and other general fannish content. (Also cat photos.)

So... hi!

So my croissant-making friend has moved on to pan au chocolate…

Also behold! The lucrative life of an author!

nice

"Oh no [VC tool] is fine you don't have to download it you can just join from the browser."

Never. True. Ever.

Anyway, and more importantly, I Fantasia'd in #ffxiv so it is now MILF Simulator XIV.

... although I guess maybe "corporations ruin art" is possibly the most cyberpunk thing of all.

And it's just so frustrating because, as mentioned, the voice work is really good, conversations are really well-directed and immersive, all that stuff.

It's just... take a step back and it's such lazy nonsense that falls apart at the slightest breath of thought. Like there's actually a good game struggling to get out of this Extruded Triple A Product somewhere, but it got chewed up and spat out by the billion dollar industry focus test machine.

And this is what drives me crazy about this game, because it *does not seem to get this.* It works so hard to be "ambiguous" it ends up not actually *committing* to anything--thematically, morally, emotionally--in the most chickenshit sort of way.

Like you wanna have a downer ending? Fine (DA2 is one of my favorite games!). A shitty villain protagonist? Cool.

But like... at least give me the impression you're doing any of what you're doing actually intentionally.

Like it is literally the definition of "too little, too late" and, worse, earlier dialogue in the game implies this is *literally the second time* this has happened to Johnny (or, worse, he lied to you to manipulate you when he told you it had).

And, like. Yeah yeah yeah touching grave visits blah blah bought some kind a vintage guitar blah blah... but it's all just cheap sentiment designed to stop you from actually asking why you should care.

V nopes out to cyberspace, and you play the epilogue as Johnny-in-V's body.

Hallelujah! Johnny has apparently done a complete personality 180 and is now trying to be a nice guy, is kind to kids, blah blah blah.

Except... the game *never actually gives you a reason for why you should give a shit about this.*

V himself literally does not. Like, he says this, out loud, in dialogue, as he walks off to die. It's not a "heroic sacrifice"; he's literally just Over It.

The game is ambiguous about whether this is what he "planned" for you all along. You could make arguments for it either way, but probably the more compelling one is just that he didn't care because he's a shallow asshole who uses people; no deeper thought required. If the game has a "message" of any kind, it's arguably that. So.

(Aside: This kind of character is just... so super against type for Reeves and he just nails it so hard, though? Like. Holy shit.)

... okay I'm not done.

So, like. Temperance ending. Tl;dr, your body is too fucked-up for you to keep living it; it will reject any "soul" that's not Johnny's because ~reasons. You get to have a little mantrum about it ,and as you walk off into cyberspace Johnny tries to stop you, you basically tell him to fuck off; you're just tired of dealing with his shit, he destroyed and stole your life, he wins, congrats.

(Incidentally, the Tapeworm quest is why I could never, ever play this game with a female V... and I'm really, *really* glad I didn't pick one going in. I actually think I would've stopped playing if I had and, worse, the game just... never actually really seems to acknowledge just how horrible that sequence actually is? And I actually like possession stories! I write a lot of them! But that? No.)

Which is like... given that he's *actually* kinda the game's bait-and-switch protagonist, really makes the Temperance ending in particular (i.e. the one I got) just... so fucking out of left field?

It's just... messy. Messy and lazy. To the point where I actually wondered whether some quests glitched out on me ("Tapeworm" in particular) because what actually happens versus how the characters react to it is so... off.

Like there's one almost good moment with Pamam where she yells at you for trying to get her to massage your conscience which... yes! It's like the game aa-aa-aa-almost shows a sliver of self-awareness but then ditches it just as fast.

See also pretty much every conversation with Johnny, which because of the game's open world/non-linear bits (and the fact he has to show up in sidequests to neg you) means he just gets like zero character development.

Also... the stuff with Alt and the "soul prison" or whatever just never fucking goes anywhere?

Like the game keeps trying to set up something bigger than just "two men get all up in their feels at each other" but can never actually manage to pull any of it off.

Like... man I played this thing for like 90 hours or whatever and I kinda knew it was going to be like this but, even so.

What a vacuous shitshow.

(The fact that you get this whole dialogue bit in the epilogue where you get to demonstrate Johnny's "personal growth" by telling your kid sidekick that you don't have to worry about there being another corp war because apparently apathy is cool or whatever is just... Holy shit this game, man. Like... just... wut even is this fucking thing? And then River sends you a message touting about how awesome it is he's going to give away guns to people or... something?)

(There's also an encrypted datashard in Johnny's apartment during the ending, which I assume is supposed to be some kind of final message from V, but... the game wouldn't let me decrypt it? So I dunno.

Also wtf did you do to all my cars and money, Johnny?! And my cat!!! Tssch. Asshole.)