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Pyre
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also, best joke:


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10. West of Loathing (Asymmetric)


West of Loathing is a Western-themed RPG/Adventure Game hybrid from the creators of Kingdom of Loathing, set in the same universe. I don't know if you've heard, but 2017 was a good year for games, which means the choice for 10th place was very competitive. I can't imagine the list without it now, but West of Loathing actually wasn't an immediately obvious choice when I started. I've forgotten how much I liked it until I started replaying it, because it's a very light, almost weightless, game. There isn't some big important theme, the sort I tend to like talking about in write-ups, and there isn't some huge dramatic arc. Your character's motivation is just to go from one end of the map to the other, but in a land packed with fun sidequests. Combat is also mostly breezy with the potential to trivialize it further, though there are interesting enough systems there if you want to engage with them in Hard Mode. Instead, it's just a very pleasant, warm hug of a game.

It feels like I'm damning it with feint praise a bit, but only because it pulls off what it's going for so effortlessly that it's possible to take it for granted. WoL might be the funniest game I ever played. It's amazing how high its hit-rate is, given how densely packed it is with jokes. There's very little in the way of delayed gratification; there are jokes when you pick up the quest, jokes on the quest, jokes in some obscure corner when you stray from the quest, and your reward for completing the quest is more jokes. If this was a serious RPG, I might have a problem with how unnecessarily bloated your inventory could get, but here, item descriptions are just a good joke delivery system. The best point of reference for its tone is, of course, Kingdom of Loathing. If you're not familiar with that, then I'll say it's very good-natured, and not at all meme-y or edgy. It's dumb puns, esoteric references, surrealism, and incredibly sharp writing.

It isn't just jokes, either. There are clever puzzles, with some very difficult optional ones, and satisfying long-running quests. The world is also endlessly surprising. It's fairly committed to its Western motif, but there are also goblins, necromancers, ghosts, ancient alien ruins, and other disparate elements. It can also do creepy and unsettling. There's a quest early on involving some ghosts at a factory that for its absurdity, was genuinely haunting. There's a long-running quest involving spittoons, and the writing for it is amazing.

WoL is a joyful game that makes me feel happy, and sometimes I want to be happy.
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top 3 shows

Cartmel-era Doctor Who
Bidmead-era Doctor Who
Daria
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I thought the premise was a bit hokey at first too, but they make good on it and explore it in a more surprising and considered manner than i was expecting. If you're not enjoying the humour though, then that isn't likely to change. Personally, I think it's decently funny, but I enjoy it more as high concept sci-fi than as a sitcom.

And yeah, avoid spoilers, and I say this as someone who doesn't care about 90% of spoilers.
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Games I Didn't Play Enough - a lot, but these in particular

Nex Machina (Housemarque)



Nex Machina is an, intense, challenging, and fast-paced twin-stick shooter from Housemarque. Each finely crafted level is around half a minute long, and a full game is roughly 50 minutes, give or take depending on how much you die or how many secrets you find. It's very much a game you're meant to play repeatedly to learn enemy patterns, and get better at managing the arena. I'm putting it in this category, because so far I've only finished it on the lowest difficulty. I dipped into the next difficulty up for a bit, and I can see it being a lot of fun to master. The enemies were faster and harder to kill, and driving me into the corner more often, demanding more spatial awareness, quick thinking, and judicious use of the dash. It's also an absolute sensory delight. The music, the robot lady voice, the way everything is constantly exploding into a shower of voxels and neon beams, all contribute to how cool it feels to weave around the chaos.



(thanks again for the key, digi!)

Rain World (Videocult)



I've played only an hour of this, but it's intriguing so far. You play a slugcat in the post-humanity ruins of a megacity, in a hostile ecosystem of predators and rain that kills. It's a brutal game, as befitting the slugcat's low place on the food chain. Checkpoints are rare, and progress is slow. In my first hour, I mostly evaded chasing predators that could kill me in an instant by the slugcat's ability to climb and squeeze into small spaces, tactics which I assume will be useless against some other creature down the line.

The world is incredibly mysterious and alien, a feeling that is only enhanced by the sense of familiarity of its man-made structures and remnants of a previous civilization. Any recognizable cable, panel, or machinery have become human detritus, decayed, intermingled with organic plant matter, and no longer working as they were intended. Instead, they serve new purposes for the creatures that have adapted to the world, and what was once mechanical becomes inextricable from the natural. The slugcat clambers up a metal chain as naturally as it does a vine. What really sells it is how organically the creatures move about and exist in the environment, and how much it feels like a real, persistent ecosystem. It is not only a strange environment, but an estranged one. Humanity is long extinct, but life continues, and with little regard for if they ever existed.

It's quite a massive game from what I understand, so I didn't want to try and rush through just to see if it makes the list (not that I was in much of a hurry seeing as I'm doing this mid-February!).
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after much introspection, here are my 10 favourite games last year plus whatever other games i want to talk about.

i'm a slow writer, so bear with me.
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Prey
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oh god, what have they done to the steam wishlist
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surprise MV for sober

Suzy - SObeR

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circle's dream was 3rd on my list last year!

subin just signed with keyeast, which is primarily a company for actors, but i reaally hope she'll still be making music.
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http://www.asianjunkie.com/2018/02/13/yuk-ji-dam-claims-role-play-account-is-stalking-her-says-she-dated-kang-daniel-kasper-sorta-confirms-the-latter/

this is good shit.
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transience posted...

whoa I would buy owlboy for $3

i have an extra owlboy key if you'd like it for free
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wait no

change Nathan Barley to Kai Leng (Mass Effect 3)
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Kylo Ren (Star Wars)
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Nathan Barley
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FLUDD needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine. Whenever FLUDD's not onscreen, all the other characters should be asking, "Where's FLUDD?"
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paerarru posted...

Should we know who Kim Joohee is? I'm sure we're looking forward to seeing her debut, somewhere, if we haven't already. She looks familiar...

she goes by Rothy:

Hmm, I realize I don't know who you'd pick as your favorite group right now, if you had to? Boys and girls.

if we're talking right now, as in currently active groups...

Boy groups - Beast aside, I was always more of a girl group stan, so I'm pretty casual across the board now. I appreciate BTOB's presence in the industry more these days, though I've never gone that deep into their discography. I've realized that I consistently like B1A4's musical output, though I've never followed them on variety shows and the like. Rookie-wise, they're not quite there yet for me, but I'm rooting for Pentagon, because unfortunately, Cube's style is still my style. Kind of getting into N.Flying lately, too.

Girl groups - WJSN if I had to pick just one, or maybe Gugudan now? Also CLC, DIA, Red Velvet, OMG, Dreamcatcher, Sonamoo, Matilda, EXID, and wait, I'm listing too many. I still feel pretty casual though, because these days every group is livestreaming constantly and I don't have the time for it. If only vlive was a thing 7 years ago.

Ask me again later this year and I'll give you the one true answer, which is FAVE girls.

I can't pick a gugudan bias

Haebin is my bias, and 'I like everyone equally' is my bias wrecker, so I feel you.
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just saw the unit results and uhh what the fuck
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from the twitter post i took the picture from: https://twitter.com/YeriGallery0305/status/961847569486761985
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d'aww natty, haein and some of fromis_9 at haneul's graduation:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVl2-n3X4AAWTKG.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVkLN-yU8AIgE2W.jpg

also this class is too strong
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVkrO6XU8AEiXHP.jpg
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there are definitely iterative and cyclical aspects of the industry that make it harder to be surprised by anything if you've been into it for a long time. plus i'm older, have less free time, and enjoy things less in general. ofc the golden age of kpop was whenever i was young.

personally a problem for me now is the beast-shaped hole i'm trying to fill. i don't have a bias group anymore, and my ultimate bias is in limbo. certainly, a lot of groups from that era have disbanded, but the weird situation with beast for me is that they are actually more active than they've ever been but in a form that is alienating to me, while simulataenously being treated as a group that never existed. i went to look up something in their discography the other day and it still weirds me out that wikipedia takes me to a page for 'highlight', because that's not the same group. the rest of kpop used to be what was happening between beast comebacks. without beast, it's kpop or the void. either i walk away completely, or fill the void by latching onto every rookie group or survival show trainee that comes my way. so far, i'm doing the latter.

anyways uhhh gugudan. yeah, i think my bias haebin.
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omg why did i wait so long to watch gugudan school trip? it's so good.
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aw man, I got a coupon for 20% off Aegis Defenders for Hollow Knight owners and was momentarily excited because I thought I owned Hollow Knight without knowing it.
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Gugudan - The Boots (Acapella Remix)



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i love that momoland is doing well on the charts.
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All Our Asias, Sean Han Tani's new game, is out. It's free, and it looks cool:

https://sean-han-tani.itch.io/aoa
http://store.steampowered.com/app/698050/All_Our_Asias/
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eunki <3

coincidentally, i was just thinking about the best produce 101 moment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpJ5wJEL41w&t=3m4s

girl groups use to have better songs, but it's more even nowadays i think, or maybe that says more about how my tastes have changed?
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large groups tend to justify their size in one field or another, but i think few justify it as well on stage and musically as Seventeen:

Seventeen - Thanks


well late on this, but new iKON is good. i wonder if their heart is in this more or their yolosweg trash, because they def. excel at this type of song more:

iKON - Love Scenario


hey solio, get into boy groups imo
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I would be ecstatic if DanA and Somyi make it, but it's doubtful with the vote split. I think Semmi is pretty much a lock, but I could understand why you didn't include her there since her rise is recent compared to the rest of the top 4 who have been there since the start. Of the current top 9, Yang Jiwon's recent drop is worrying, and one of Suji or Euna could be in trouble depending on how the vote splits for them. ZN and Yoonjo have a shot, but the only one I really see breaking through is Hyunjoo, probably replacing Yang Jiwon.

For the boys, Hojung is on firmer ground than Timoteo at this point, but both are probably going to make it. Not sure after that. I expected Daewon to drop a long time ago, but he never did so I think he'll be fine. For their sake I hope Jeup and/or Rockhyun make it since the current top 9 is sorely lacking in vocals (Geon would be great too, but it's very unlikely). Of the current top 9, I think Hansol and Donghyun would drop out, but I can't decide who'd rise.

As for Ting vs. You and I, I don't know. Neither grabbed me, but the previews were too short to really say.
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my ultimate bias had his reputation destroyed, has not had a proper comeback in 2.5 years, and probably won't before his military enlistment because of fans, so yeah.
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http://www.asianjunkie.com/2017/12/14/dust-off-revisiting-the-oft-forgotten-mess-with-dal-shabet-and-b1a4s-fandom/

oh, and they never had 7 members, since woohee joined after viki left.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/BenZNNHlthI/
SNSD forever

Jinho feat. Jeon Soyeon - Finesse (Remix)

woo, jeon soyeon did a thing.
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BESTie was poorly managed, and then basically abandoned after YNB debuted KNK. By the time Uji and Dahye left, the real surprise was that there was a BESTie to leave considering they haven't had a comeback in 2 years. Uji is a top singer and gained some minor hype from appearances on stuff like Immortal Song, and Girl Spirit too. Maybe it wouldn't have amounted to anything, but we'll never know since the company never capitalised on it.

Dal Shabet had nothing but bops for their promotional tracks since at least 'Have Don't Have' imo (Joker is the only one I didn't like much weirdly enough), and you've made me sad all over again that they've disbanded. The controversy with B1A4's fandom was major, and some would say that doomed them. Plus their agency is really small.

oh yeah, this was the WJSN song:

WJSN - Secret

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breathing (air)
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-
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The Sexy Brutale
Prey
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Universe - Omona


omona the best
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mixnine live finale

1. the result everyone predicted to happen before the show even began happened
2. fave girls when
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btob is great - https://twitter.com/melody02100226/status/956482462841937921
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anarchism
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paerarru posted...

There's also the fact that I'm pretty satisfied with M9's results so far.

Lee Soomin was my top pick on Produce 101, so it's gratifying that she's been firmly in 2nd the whole time with a narrower gap between her and 1st place than ever (though I still expect Ryujin to take it in the end). On top of that, my second fave Eyedi is in the top 9, though not exactly guaranteed to stay. Seriously, this never happens to me, so yeah, this might be the best top 9 on one of these shows ever. Also, I like Jang Hyokyung! With two eliminations from my top 9 above, I'd probably swap in her and uhhh Lee Hayoung.

paerarru posted...

Too bad about Kim Sihyun also, she's really cute.

Best dancer on the show. I was really hoping the 3rd place benefit points would have saved her. Music Works somehow had both the best dancer and rapper on Mixnine, and I'd be interested to see what they do with them next.

paerarru posted...

How come you stan ACE on TU but you don't like Byeonkwang lol.

I've turned on him a bit the last few eps, at least in the context of the show. A combination of the inevitability, the YG favouritism, and the mild elitism in his portrayal. I like him otherwise though, and if you asked me to sit down and hash out a top 9, I might have include him, but results are different when you're making snap decisions as quick as possible on a sorter. Same with Sehyoon, who I like but when I'm focusing on the show, he's not been shown much lately so he lost out in the moment

On The Unit, I like a lot of people, but not everyone can make my top 9! I think The Unit has been better at making the case for more people. My Unit G top 9 especially would probably change every time I take the sorter. In contrast, there were at least 2 Mixnine boys who I did not recognize at all even though it's the top 27.

Best performance and song on The Unit was Cosmos even though they SABOTAGED it with those outfits. I don't know how they looked at that song and those members and went with that (not seen the episode yet, only the performances).

paerarru posted...

What are Rainz, why are they not permanent? You tell me please, I won't look it up.

Rainz is a testament to what a phenomenon Broduce was, that a third project group, and one without a single member from the top 20 no less, has just put out their second EP.
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Jonghyun - Shinin'

don't know what to say really other than you did well, jonghyun.

fromis_9 - To Heart

pretty much what you'd expect concept-wise, right down to getting gfriend's producer. good song, though.

Chungha - Roller Coaster

yeah, i neglected to post this earlier, but i'm posting it now because it's starting to grow on me a bit.

Rainz - Turn It Up

hey, can rainz be permanent? also, are dubstep breakdowns coming back? this is like the 2nd time this month and it's alarming.
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Thimbleweed Park
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jimin singles just keep getting worse and worse
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Dujanah (PC)
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Gorogoa (Switch, PC)
Nex Machina (PS4, PC)

yeah, what TV said.
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Nah, everyone is incredibly nice to Jungha. From the beginning they emphasized that his lack of skills is fine, because there's more to being an idol. On his latest team he had a broken leg, and the team made sure he didn't feel like a burden, and listened to his ideas a lot. Plus he had Ungjae there for him from day 1. It's like a Sohye situation, but even nicer because it's The Unit. Jiwon never had an Ungjae or Sejeong reaching out to her, at least not on screen. Actually, it was funny when she was pouring her heart out to Rui because it's the closest she ever had to a sympathetic ear, and it was with the Japanese member who probably didn't know what she was saying and just nodded along silently, and who can't leave because it was her room too.

Final eliminations for Mixnine happened. I want Lee Jaejun to barely scrape by all the way to the top 9 now.
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yeah, i don't expect either to get in, but who knows
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last nom:

Universal Paperclips
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To add to that, Someone Like U, Love Options, and most AOA songs since Miniskirt were all produced by Brave Brothers, who might have been the most prolific of all at one point.
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