Crow the BOOLET

I guess I'll mention a few. I'm a fan of narratives in video games and a good story really makes me love a story, usually. I mean at the end of the game its still a game but these are a few highlights. I might be repeating myself in previous threads but whatever. I'm humoring the topic. Odin Sphere used to be my favorite game of all time before Hades came into existence to challenge that but I digress. The reason why is because I kept thinking of its story for years ever since playing it only a few times back during the PS2's hayday and I feel like that's a good hallmark of a game. The story is loosely based on Norse mythology where characters are inspired by various Norse characters and there's an apocalypse looming over head but everyone is busy dealing with their personal issues to care, if they even believe in it. But what makes Odin Sphere work for me is that its a multiple perspective story told through various characters leaving you, the player, to piece things together. The first book is about a valkyrie Gwendolyn who's trying to gain her father's, Odin's, approval because she feels lesser due him ignoring her for other matters and people. Most of her story is her going out to try to win this approval but ends up taking a fall for Odin because of his past actions and has a sleep spell placed on her as punishment. Her story is about how self destructive it can be to win another's approval; Odin manipulates her into giving him whatever he wanted and Oswald, the black knight and Gwendolyn's fiancé, does his best to not do the same because he wants her to love him for who he is but due to Gwendolyn's short sightedness made him give up on living, leaving Gwendolyn to save him from the Underworld. Its then she realizes what's important and lives for herself, accepting Oswald's love and rejecting Odin's plans. However her story is just a small piece, one that helps world build a chunk of the setting. The next couple of stories clarify what happened outside of Gwendolyn's story. Cornelius is a prince from a neighboring country suddenly finds himself in the Underworld, transformed as a beast but ends up getting involved with bigger issues at hand like the corruption of his nation. Mercedes is the fairy princess who suddenly becomes queen due to her mother's death at Odin's hands and gets trapped into a power struggle on who should lead the fairies into war with Odin. Oswald's story is about his struggles as he's constantly being used as a tool to advance someone's agenda before finding feelings for another, becoming independent in the process. And Velvet's story is about trying to stop the end of the world as told through prophecy but she has a lot of personal issues to deal with first. Its all then tied together in the Book of Armageddon where the player is rewarded with an ending depending on how much they've been paying attention to the story but I think its needless to say what happens here as its in the title. The thing I just really like as I mentioned before is the multiple perspectives going on. For example Gwendolyn gets put to sleep for covering Odin's bastard children by killing his jackass general but in Oswald's story you find out what happens during that time, namely Onyx the Fire King was trying to wed her before Oswald's request happened and the two fight over her hand in marriage. But not only that but you'll get to see a different side to characters. Belial became one of my favorite characters because of this; When he first appears as the first boss in Gwendolyn's story he appeared as a big dumb dragon that the fairies sicced on her but in Cornelius' and Mercedes' stories he's actually intelligent and calm but is being mind controlled by 3 evil wizards to do their bidding. Because of Cornelius' strength and Mercedes' compassion he defies their orders and helps them out in some way after defeating him. Same thing with Mercedes who appeared in Gwendolyn's story as a major threat due to her position but is shown as a kid who needed to grow up fast in her own story. I just love trying to piece together the bigger story but its just artfully crafted that it kept me thinking for years and I absolutely love it, even if it fell off in recent years. Its what made me love Vanillaware so much and I'm glad they kept this level of story telling in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim but I digress. Phew. I love Odin Sphere so much I ended up talking a lot about it again. I guess I'll just mention a few more stories I liked. Yakuza 0 is the game that won me over with the series. Its a crime drama where a rookie Kiryu Kazama gets framed for a murder he didn't commit while Goro Majima is yakuza who took the fall for his brother and is forced to live a fake life of glamour to get back into the family. Like Odin Sphere there's 2 perspectives going on but you don't know when they're going to converge until it does. But I really ended up falling in love with the characters because they're passionate in what they do but while they do try the right thing they're constantly being questioned left and right by friend and foe alike. Personally though I love Majima's story. He's in a glided cage. trying to appease his boss in order to get back in his family but then is suddenly asked to assassinate a blind woman. This is where he starts questioning if this was worth killing an innocent person over. Majima does end up falling for her but it turns out the situation was bigger than he realized and he's constantly trying to protect her. I just love a good love story that turns around someone's life. At the end though... After all the karaoke and dance parties I really loved Yakuza 0's story a lot. It build its characters, setting, everything so well its just so fun both as a game and as a story. Its just so good. And finally Hades as I mentioned before might be my favorite game ever. Like Odin Sphere its based around mythology, this time its directly Greek myth. Its about a god named Zagreus who's tried of his father, Hades, being too overbearing and wants to see the outside world. But the Underworld is too cruel so everytime he tries to escape he either has to make it out alive or die trying literally and back to square one. I think this premise works so well because everyone is a god of sorts so death is just a bonk on the head at the end of the day. The story is pretty simple but at the end of the day its about how one person trying to fix a lot of personal issues. Orpheus can't get over his failure, Achilles blames himself for what happened in the Trojan War, and Hades himself while isn't presented to be evil for once has his own family issues to deal with. Its the kind of story you want to root the main character with basically. I am still processing it mind you but I think its a good, simple story that just works.

I guess I'm probably odd duck in all of this. I'm not particularly annoyed by my current internet experience. Its mostly because I don't actually interact with people outside the few circles I'm in and nobody really cares about me so its mutual. I managed to put on a filter and ignore pretty much the world, well I guess the English speaking world if I'm being honest. I don't know what's trendy or what's a meme anymore but that's fine because I don't really care. I just like keeping to myself and everyone is giving me my space. Yeah I did ran into a few bad apples randomly but it wasn't anything serious. They just try to put me down and leave. At this point I'm just using social media to follow my interests and my friends that I made over the years. But that's just me. I can be a social butterfly at times which does contradict what I just said but I just don't really pay attention to whatever is going on in the world and I'm happier not knowing.