2020 in a word

I think we can all agree, this has been a terrible year. Does anyone even remember that things started off with a huge chunk of Australia being on fire? Or that the rain forests of Brazil followed suit? When practically half the planet is engulfed in flames, and it somehow faded from the public consciousness, you know it’s been an utterly abysmal year. Which brings us to today’s word.

septage, noun – sewage, human waste, especially: the contents of a septic tank

Learned from: Remnant: From the Ashes (Playstation 4, PC, XBox One)

Developed by Gunfire Games

Published by Perfect World Entertainment (2019)

I recently decided to pick this game back up, after close to a year. Back then, I’d been trying to talk some friends into picking it up to play through the campaign together, but they were too focused on Destiny 2, and later The Division 2, to have time for another game. At the time, I was kind of frustrated by this, so I set the game aside, until this past month, when I decided to just try to soldier through it on my own.

This was a mistake.

Remnant is a perfectly fine game, if a bit light on setup/story. The procedurally-generated levels randomize more than just the maps, but also quests, and even bosses…and this is where things fell apart for me. I was playing a long-range character, and the first boss I came to relentlessly charged in, giving me no room to breathe or set things up. Worse, he periodically spawned other enemies that charged in at me…and these guys explode when they get close. It was a nightmare…for one person. And I realized, Remnant is really designed for multiplayer, but the friends I have who are into these sorts of games probably wouldn’t be satisfied with the loot system (enemies don’t drop anything but money and ammo, meaning you’ll never randomly get a better weapon unless you find one on the map…and items don’t reset once you’ve picked something up), or the slow burn it takes to get any cool gear. Faster-paced games have spoiled them.

But, who cares, right? Where’s the word? Well, the loading screens (which I saw a lot of, from dying so much) cycle through item descriptions, mostly for things I never found, because I didn’t get far enough. One of them was some sort of “calling bell,” the description of which described an alien race whose young were incubated in “holy septage” or something like that. I have no idea what these creatures are, or what story significance this has, but it sounds interesting as heck…so I’m a little sad that (at a respectable difficulty setting at least), I’ll probably never experience more of this world. Maybe one of these days I’ll swallow my pride and try again at “normal” or even “easy” difficulty, but that feels wrong, somehow. Right now though, it’s all too frustrating.

Much like this year, and the way my country has handled the pandemic. May 2021 be less shitty.

This is Gorefist, who kept wiping the floor with me. The fact that he sounds like a rejected Rob Liefeld character may be the crappiest thing of all….

Have a very scary solstice

December is chock-full of holidays, and regardless of their individual religious connections, there’s a very good reason for that: the winter solstice. During the darkest time of the year, when the days–let alone the nights–are freezing, and light seems to be fading from the world, people needed an excuse to be happy. Even before 2020. Today’s word isn’t the happiest, but it does fit, thematically.

fuliginous, adj. – sooty, smoky, dirty

Learned from: Darkest Dungeon (PC, Mac, mobile, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Switch, XBox One)

Developed by Red Hook Studios

Published by Red Hook Studios (2016)

I have a certain fondness for games that are punishingly difficult: Dark Souls and its ilk, the Shin Megami Tensei series, etc. Darkest Dungeon is no exception. Your characters are as likely to go insane from the stress of exploring your family’s estate, as they are to die of actual physical damage. Pathological fears, obsessive compulsions, and strange fixations can cripple them more than any injury or disease. And sometimes when one of them succumbs to this stress, they have some colorful, almost H.P. Lovecraft-level purple prose to accompany it–such as the occultist who cried out about the pull of the “fuliginous abyss” calling to him, or something like that, before he lunged for the clearly evil altar in the middle of the room.

So yeah, your characters will occasionally do things that are outside your control, and those things can sometimes lead to the death of your entire party, like when they activate a ritual to open a rift in time and space, and some tentacled horror picks them apart, one by one. As long as you don’t mind setbacks like that, it’s an incredible game.

Pay to win

A friend of mine recently talked me into trying out Crusader Kings III, since it was on sale on Steam. And while I’m still just getting started, I’ve already learned quite a lot from this game, like dukes wielded more power and governed more land than counts (who were on the same level as earls), and that all of them outranked barons. And that’s just something I picked up from the tutorial section, along with today’s word.

scutage, noun – a tax imposed by a Medieval lord, in place of military service

Learned from: Crusader Kings III (PC, Mac)

Developed by Paradox Development Studio

Published by Paradox Interactive (2020)

I never knew just buying your way out of fighting was an option, until I played Crusader Kings III. I’d always just assumed that if your king went to war, and raised the call to arms, that was that (short of some Game of Thrones-style political scheming and treason). But it seems in some situations, if a baron, or count, or whatever thought that some of their able-bodied men would be put to better use tilling the fields or something, they could try to arrange payment of scutage in lieu of providing troops.

This is interesting, because the idea of rich people simply buying their way out of their obligations and responsibilities is most assuredly an outdated relic of the past, along with witch burnings, and treating all diseases with leeches. Right?

“While I like taking over new lands, I do also like people giving me money….”

Green thumb-stick

Every once in awhile, I like to take a break from RPGs and action games, and just play something simple and relaxing. And one of my favorite types of games to turn to in those times, is Picross puzzles. Filling in pixelated images just based on number clues can be soothing, but it usually doesn’t teach me anything–but there are exceptions to every rule. Which brings us to today’s word.

luculia, noun – a flowering shrub related to the gardenia

Learned from: Picross S4 (Nintendo Switch)

Developed by Jupiter

Published by Nintendo (2020)

Picross puzzles are laid out on a grid with a number or numbers written next to each row and column. Each number tells you how many squares on the line are filled in, and if there are multiple numbers per line, that means there’s a least one blank square between each of them. When you’re done, you’ll have a rudimentary image of something like a car, or a lamppost, or in this case, a luculia shrub. If the puzzle doesn’t include colored squares, the flowers you’re supposed to see might look more like a pile of trash, even if you squint, but the process of solving it can still be fun.

Levity, by way of lexical ambiguity

Apologies again for the long break; politics, and skyrocketing COVID numbers (which, insanely, is also somehow political in my country) have made it hard to focus on projects like this. I’d been trying to distract myself, but it took months to even get a one-shot session of a tabletop RPG off the ground. That finally happened, though, and I’d forgotten how much I liked running games for friends–even over Discord, with all its technical glitches. In a roundabout way, this brings us to today’s word, because of joking around with friends, and also the game’s title.

jerkin, noun – a long, close-fitting jacket, usually without sleeves

Learned from: Dungeon Master (Apple IIGS, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, SNES, Turbografx-CD, Sharp X68000, PC-9801, FM Towns)

Developed by FTL Games

Published by FTL Games (1987)

Dungeon Master was a great first-person dungeon crawler (or DRPG, as the genre is sometimes called today). The puzzles actually made you think, the magic system was very interesting in how spells were put together, and it was pretty damn challenging. It was also rather obtuse at times, particularly when it came to equipment.

Weapons came with different types of attacks (slash, hack, bash, etc.), and you could see via experimentation, which ones packed more oomph. But armor? There was no “defense” rating, or anything like that; all you had to go on was the picture, and the item’s weight. So, while you could infer that a breastplate would protect a character more than a silk shirt, was a tunic better or worse than a jerkin? Impossible to say. So, you just had to kind of guess your way through outfitting your characters, which made staying a live more difficult than it needed to be. Then again, it’s not like real-life gear tends to have numerical ratings for anything but temperature ranges for winter coats.

And now for the lexical ambiguity joke:

Enjoy this stock image, because googling “dungeon master jerkin” brings up some very…different results.

Something we all need right now

Well, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it? My apologies. The world has just gotten…well, to be a lot to bear, lately. I’d get home from work each day, look at social media, and just…not have the energy to want to do much of anything. The closer we get to the presidential election, the more heated and worrisome things have been getting. And oddly, it took the situation getting even worse for me to feel like getting back to this. Long story short, my workplace might’ve just gotten exposed to COVID today, and I need to do something positive to feel better. Which brings us to today’s word.

catharsis, noun – a therapeutic and/or cleansing release of emotions, often through art

Learned from: Katharsis (PC)

Developed by Metropolis

Published by Metropolis (1997)

Katharsis was a fairly unremarkable game, when you get down to it: a horizontal-scrolling shoot-’em-up, that was distributed via shareware, if memory serves. Its graphics were okay for a DOS game, with 3D backgrounds, and some decent particle effects, but the only thing that really sticks out in my memory is the name, misspelled and edgy though it is. I don’t even think I ever bought the full game–just played however many levels were included in the demo a few times, and then probably went back to Half-Life or something.

But it goes to show that even something small and unremarkable can have an impact on your life to some extent. And while it does feel good, getting back to updating this blog, I think I’m going to go find something more visceral to keep the catharsis going. See you again soon.

Horrible, yet inspirational in a way

Earlier this week, a regional landmark suffered a terrible blow. August had been a pretty dry month up until the end, and the sudden heavy rains we started getting caused the roof of a local theater to collapse. To add insult to injury, a section of the roof over the stage had actually been replaced, just a few years ago (that section stayed up). It’s a huge amount of damage to what had been a beautiful old building. And the real kicker? An initial investigation suggests that the rainwater pooled because the drainage channels had been blocked by pigeons, of all things. Freaking pigeons. That brings us to today’s word.

collet, noun – a flange designed to hold a gem

Learned from: Blasphemous (Switch, PC, Playstation 4, XBox One)

Developed by The Game Kitchen

Published by Team17 (2019)

There aren’t many “normal” items to find in Blasphemous, and the Dove Skull certainly doesn’t break that trend. The actual skull of a bird, described as being “drilled as a collet,” it’s a trinket you can equip to slightly bolster your defense. It’s slightly morbid, but compared to a lot of the items in the game, it’s not that bad.

I’m not going to go much in depth on the game today, because the damage to the Vista Theater is still so fresh in my mind. The photo below really illustrates how bad the situation is, but if you find yourself wanting to help, please consider making a donation to try and help them start putting the pieces back together. Thank you.

Finally, perhaps we can take something positive away from this. If something as common and unremarkable as pigeons can collapse a brick and mortar structure with their nests, maybe there’s a chance that normal folks like you and me can change the world on a large scale as well–just in a more positive context.

vista

Image credit to http://www.uppermichiganssource.com

We really are living in the end times

One of my favorite games of all time is Dokapon Kingdom: sort of like Mario Party crossed with an RPG. Billed as “the friendship destroying game,” it was released in 2008, and in the 12 years since, I’ve yet to introduce someone to it who hasn’t had a great time. And given that it’s been so long, I never thought we’d see a sequel…I was wrong, and I can only imagine that’s another sign that the world’s ending.

Last week, Dokapon UP! was announced for the PS4 and Switch, with a release date of December 10th in Japan (no Western release date yet, but I’ll import this game if I have to). For some reason, it’s a crossover title with Utawarerumono, a series I have virtually no knowledge of, but I’ll get acquainted, because I love Dokapon that much. So to celebrate, I wanted to go with one of the words that game has taught me.

kiviak, noun – a traditional food of the Inuits in Greenland, made from auks fermented in sealskin

Learned from: Dokapon Kingdom (Playstation 2, Wii)

Developed by Sting

Published by Sting, Atlus (2008)

Dokapon Kingdom is a game about earning as much wealth as you an, while screwing everyone else over. So, Monopoly, but actually fun. And like Monopoly, wealth isn’t just measured by raw money; property plays a big role, but so do things like side quests, and favors to the king. One of those types of favors is sending him food that you think he’d like–and the king hates kiviak. As luck would have it though, you can send gifts in the name of another player, meaning you can offload all the unpalatable tripe you want, and tank someone else’s value in the king’s eyes. The game is full of mechanics like that, but it’s all part of the fun. It’s no exaggeration when I saw Dokapon UP! is one of my most anticipated games, because this series deserves to continue.

Dokapon-UP_08-05-20

I have no idea who these characters from Utawarerumono are, but I’ll be spending the next few months learning.

The Truman Show

So, after digging through one of my notebooks, I realized I was wrong about two things in my last post: First, I did learn a word from Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Second, I’d already posted about the word “druthers.” Oops. So, to remedy both of those things, here’s today’s word:

capote, noun – a long, hooded coat or cloak. Particularly one used by a matador during a bullfight

Learned from: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (Playstation 2, and soon to be on the Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch)

Developed by Atlus

Published by Atlus, Ghostlight Studios (in Europe) (2003)

A running joke among the MegaTen community is that the Matador fight is where most newcomers to the series will throw up their hands and quit. I’ve never been entirely sure just why the series has had a skeletal bullfighter as a recurring (and iconic) enemy, but it’s just part of the charm.

But in all honesty, Nocturne (like many Megaten games) is not easy. I suppose that’s fitting, for a game that begins with the end of the world, and your character getting turned into a half-human, half-fiend hybrid, who has to survive all alone in the post-apocalyptic hellscape that follows. I could offer advice to make the journey easier–including the fight against the Matador–but A) I don’t want to spoil the experience for when the remaster comes out (because you really should play it), and B) I don’t know what Atlus is going to add/change. Because they always seem to tweak things to some extent when they re-release one of these.

capote

Go ahead and laugh. We’ll see if you’re still laughing after he’s wiped the floor with you for the tenth time, next year. The real Nocturne begins here.

Finally a little good news

Apologies for being away for so long. With my country apparently thinking COVID will go away if we pretend it doesn’t exist, unexpected home repairs, and oh yeah, my government throwing people into unmarked vans in a major city, I haven’t felt like I could be particularly entertaining lately. But today, Nintendo and Atlus dropped an update on Shin Megami Tensei V, and announced a remaster of SMT III: Nocturne, and as this is some of the only good news I’ve heard in awhile, I wanted to celebrate with getting back to this project. And while Nocturne itself didn’t teach me any words, other Shin Megami Tensei games did. So…

druthers, noun – one’s preferences or leanings regarding a subject

Learned from: Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon (Playstation 2)

Developed by Atlus

Published by Atlus (2008)

Nocturne is great, but my own personal druthers are that I’d prefer another entry in the Devil Summoner side series. Apart from titles that are a mouthful and a half, the games in this branch of the MegaTen universe are noteworthy for being action RPGs, and for their unique settings. If “druthers” sounds like it hasn’t been used much in the past century, then it’s somewhat fitting that these games are set in 1920s Japan. To the best of my knowledge, that’s a time and place that hasn’t really been explored by other games–especially not with the trademark occult/supernatural spin that the MegaTen games are known for. Exploring late Taisho-/early Showa-era Japan as what boils down to a paranormal cop, investigating a race of underground bug people, with a talking cat who used to be your human partner will either instantly tell you why Atlus is one of my favorite developers out there, or it will leave you very, very confused.

Maybe we’ll get lucky, and get remasters of these games somewhere down the line too. Because if you want to track down the original PS2 releases, be ready to shell out over $100 apiece. I hope the remaster of Nocturne sells well enough for Atlus to give the Devil Summoner titles another lease on life, because they really were great games.