The Bloody Captain of Diamond City: the story of a baseball superhero searching for the absolute fame – Fallout 4 [Characters, Diaries and Stories]

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This is the first issue of “Characters, Diaries and Stories”, a collection of fan-fiction stories regarding peculiar RPG characters of my own invention written as tales, but based on the action of the actual character and together with screenshots. I would like to promote in these articles the connection between character creation, fictional tales and free roaming games. I will also add in future articles describing videogame session/mission written as diaries of the main characters.  As first article, I will tell the story of a character I played in Fallout 4, creating for him a story together with screenshots. I hope you will appreciate his dark tale of a superhero in search of the absolute fame. 

In a world ruled by radiations and mutants, where mankind is wildly living in almost barbaric conditions, the memory of baseball was able to create a hero. Well, or at least this is how it started.

Diamond City is one of the last light still shining in the wasteland of Fallout 4. The city was built inside a baseball stadium, a sport long forgotten but still integrated in this new culture. Many people born protected and inspired by the Baseball, safe inside the wall of the stadium. Several people watched at baseball like at a forgotten art, a discipline to be mastered to achieve the true power. And our hero was one of them.

Inspired by the baseball statue outside of the city, he started his travel to master the ancient art of baseball to become the hero that the city deserved. Thanks to the help of a local business man, who was running a baseball museum, our hero started a long journey toward a gym with ancient baseball artefacts. His dream was to find gear able to provide him the strength and the power to actually become a superhero. The travel was long and harsh, but our hero learned how to fight and how to survive in the Wastelands. However, the tragedy was behind the corner.

He was resting in an abandoned house, very close to the gym hiding the forbidden baseball treasure. The site was empty and silent, but during the night, a green light broke the darkness in a small burned forest in front of the house. A glowing Deathclaw, irradiated from toxic wastes, was staring at him in the night. Huge and green, with horns and long claws, a proper demon born from the contaminated wastelands. Our hero used all his weapons to face the creature, but the fight was lost since the beginning. Scratches and wounds opened his body, while he screamed with all the possible pain when his body was ripped open and irradiated. The Deathclaw flew, thinking that its job was done. But our hero was hard to kill.

Half dead, wounded and irradiated, he laid in the empty house for who knows how long. Suddenly, his wounds started to heal, while his body recovered from the trauma. Surprisingly, something changed in his body and now the radiation wahealing him. He couldn’t believe what was happening. He really gained a superpower, and now was immune to radiations. Following the enthusiasm of this new epiphany, our hero reached his destination: the baseball heaven. With effort and time, he was able to build armours, masks and weapon using baseball materials. He wore the head of a mascot to hide his identity, while learning how to fight with baseball bats. He trained to transform a common baseball ball into an explosive, or how to attach circular saws to a bat. A standard baseball uniform became his bulletproof armour. No, not only a simple armour, but a superhero suit. After months of training, he finally came back to Diamond City as the hero he was supposed to be: the Bloody Captain of Diamond City. Or just for friends, the Captain.

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Now it was time to truly build his name, fighting the evil and achieving heroic challenges and epic deeds to reach the absolute fame. It was time to become a superhero not only for himself, but for the people around him. After all, he was immune to radiation and a master of the ancient fighting art of Baseball. While criminals and gangs were fighting using military weapons and guns, he was fighting only with his baseball bat. Dozen of criminal lairs were cleaned up by a crazy guy wearing the head of a bear and wielding a baseball bat. But strangely, he was really difficult to kill, and with time his name started to be on the mouth of the every criminal.

But for the Captain it was not enough to be only the scourge of the criminal underworld. He wanted to be a hero, responsible of legendary deeds that a common human could only dream of. He started to use his legendary baseball bat to challenge colossal and ferocious creatures in deadly duels. Of course the trail of blood and fights started with his revenge against the Deathclaws. The Captain was able to defeat in close quarter combat, after a deadly and brutal fight, several Deathclaws by using only his modified baseball bat. He was now the real alpha predator.

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But this was not enough. The next opponents were really colossal creatures, such as the Mirelurk Queens. The Captain was able to track one of this ancient beasts, and was able to inflict the final blow with his faithful bat. Deeds and epic challenges continued, but his name never became a legend in the mouth of everyone. He was able to control the atomic power, unleashing a rainfall of bombs on the main quarter of the most notorious gang: the Gunners. The Captain took also control of several weapons of  mass destruction, including an old submarine and some cannons. He became a hero even more powerful than the statue that inspired him at the beginning.

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He also never forgot the ancient art of Baseball, that was always part of his deeds. A museum of baseball was opened by him, showing the hugest collection of balls and bats. The technique called “Manrun!” was also perfected by him, who was able to send humans directly flying in the sky with one hit of his bat. He also achieved to build the biggest baseball field in the world by positioning baseball bases on the extreme corners of Boston.

But it was never enough, and his name never became famous such as the notorious Silver Shroud or Grognack. The alcohol and the grudge became his hideout. The fault of his failure was in the hands of the other heroes, for this reason he started to discredit them. First thing, he found ancient clothes of Grognack the barbarian in a comic shop. He hired an incompetent sidekick to dress as Grognack, always making him fail in every deed, always hurt and exposed to the enemy fire. Second, he challenged Silver Shroud by freeing his city from crime, taking his name and role but dressing anyway with his iconic baseball uniform. But this was not enough, so he started to impersonate them by dressing with their costumes, to discredit and ridiculed them. It was never a hard deal, sometimes he got drunk dressed as Grognack, or he broke a window as Silver Shroud.

But whatever thing he made, it was still not enough for him to be a legend. He was famous, but was not “The Legend”. Nobody was making radio shows or writing books about him, he was a minor celebrity according to his own eyes. Something in him broke, and something new born in his mind. When the atrocious crimes started in Diamond City, he couldn’t believe a human being could be responsible of such monstrosity. At the third killing, the local newspaper started to address the killer as the “Deathclaw Ripper”. The serial killer used a homemade Deathclaw’s hand to make his victims in pieces, with a inhuman barbarity and a sadistic violence. He also always left on the scene of the crime a real severed Deathclaw’s hand.

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The city was shocked by this rampage of violence, but the guards couldn’t stop him. The Captain placed all his effort to catch the criminal, but the Ripper was always one step ahead of him. For how much he tried, he was never able to collect a single clue. The crimes continued and our baseball hero became the worst nemesis of the Ripper. The citizens appreciated his effort to catch the monster, and he became the most beloved hero of the town, often collaborating with local authorities.

Of course, a part of him always knew what was happening, especially when he found the homemade claw full of blood hidden in his own house. His mind just couldn’t accept that he had another personalities, something so dark and evil that was harvesting the people of the city, something arising from the traumatic attack of the Deathclaw. Because what every hero needs, it’s an evil villain to stop.

He continued trying to catch the Ripper, but always failing. Of course: who could be able to catch himself?

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters Daybreak Review: fighting creepy ghosts at “hide and seek” using science and your senses

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Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters could look like a visual novel with beautiful draws and interesting animations, but there is more than this. I have to say that Tokyo Twilight is a very pleasant surprise in these years, where Dark JRPGs are very rare. Behind the visual novel facade lies an interesting JRPG with a completely innovative system and a set of creepy and well designed enemies.

The plot of Tokyo Twilight is focused on modern day ghost hunters, who relay on technology and science to exorcise the spirits. The environment and the lore is very believable, trying to provide scientific explanations on what the ghosts are. For example, ghosts emit positive electrical charges, for this reason iron and salt are effective against them, or how the sewers are not only dumping away human wastes, but also their negative feeling, creating a sort of underground ghost highway. Everything helps to create a believable modern tale around ghosts.

The protagonist is a high-school student with the gift of seeing ghosts, who will become part of an independent and underground ghost hunting agency. The plot evolves along several chapters, each one with a different case to investigate and a main ghost to exorcise. The chapters are quiet independent between each other and are integrated like the episodes of a serie. Each chapter has also a specific theme and a name, usually associated to rock songs such as “Stairway to Heaven” or a classic “Highway to Hell”. There are also alternative routes and party characters that could be missed permanently, if the wrong choices are made in an episode.

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The game is a well balanced mix between visual novel and JRPG. The visual novel aspect is integrated in the daily tasks of the ghost hunting association Interacting with characters is due through an alternative visual novel mechanic and it is used to deliver the plot. The combat elements are instead based on an innovative and bizarre JRPG system, combining good planning, guessing, and skills.

The graphic of the game is really well done, with gorgeous hand-drawn characters and enemies. The backgrounds are instead made with blurred real pictures, which low down a bit the sense of immersion. The main hub of the game is the office of an occult journal, which is brilliant for details and care. New characters and items will become part of the environment, while progressing in the game, creating a vibrant and alive location.

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The creatures design is simply great. It was not an easy task to made a game based only on ghosts without going repetitive, but luckily Tokyo Twilight succeeded in creating a deep and variegated bestiary. The ghosts are very different, principally divided into dead humans and creatures, or object possessed by an entity. Each ghost is not a simple deceased version of what was in life, but something more twisted, eerie and bizarre. A doctor has his body composed by radiographs, while a truck has a huge scorpion-like tail that ends up in a creepy hand. The enemies are also very peculiar in battle, both for attacks and behaviours. Ghosts can travel through water or electrical plugs, giving an unexpected twist to each battle. Status effects are quiet common, many ghosts are able for example to poison the player or to totally terrify the characters, with terrible penalties. If you want to see more ghosts, you can check my previous article: The Creepy Ghosts of Tokyo Twilight — Surreal and Creepy.

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The battle system is really innovative and interesting, but it will need time to be truly mastered. Before trying to exorcise a ghost, a planning phase can be used to place different kinds of traps in the map. Salt can be used to block the way of a ghost trying to imprison it, while other traps will attract or inflict status to the enemies. After that, the action phase will play directly on a minimal tablet-like interface. The party members can attack, move or use special abilities by consuming AP points. The more the APs, the more the actions that a character can manage each turn. The most difficult task during the exorcism phase is to understand where the ghost could be, since they are invisible entities for most of the time. On the planning map, red “X” would mark the possible positions of the ghost, but it is not a guaranteed hit. It is up to the player to remember the places where the ghost could be, and to check them during the action phase. Even after being identified, a ghost will move each turn on a possible pattern, continuing the “guessing where the ghost is” game. Lot of time you will stare at your team missing all the planned attacks because the ghost moved exactly in the only possible square that was not covered by your planning. This could be frustrating also because each battle has a maximum number of turns (or minutes) to be completed, and usually the number is very tight. Wasting a complete turn for a random evasion could be tragic, since passing the deadline means game over.

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The game is difficult and challenging, both for the complex mechanics and the strength of the bosses. However, with time, the game can be mastered, understanding how ghosts will move and unlocking new skills and APs to help in the battle. The ghosts can also drop new weapons and armours, which would change a lot the possibility of success in battle.

Between the visual novel phases and the exorcism of the main ghosts, the player can also access to secondary quests through the website of the agency. These secondary missions are battles against other ghosts, which can be variable for difficulty, time limit and location. More than quests, these are the equivalent of random encounters and are useful to level up and collect money and items. It is also fascinating to do secondary quests just to face and discover new ghosts, which will update the “Ghostpedia”. Honestly, I was so into facing new ghosts that for almost all the game I was over-levelled, without having to rely on traps to defeat the main bosses.

The plot is delivered instead through a classic visual novel system, but with a twist. The choice system is delivered in an innovating and peculiar way through the integration of emotion and senses. Basically, you have a first wheel to select an emotion, such sadness or friendship, using the corresponding icon. A second wheel will instead decide “how” the emotion would be expressed, with a touch or even licking, for example. This could be very cryptic, and sometimes could be very difficult to make a choice that would not end up in a very bizarre reaction. The system is however truly unique and it can be used to create funny or serious situations, since there are plenty of combination. Just imagine how the play-through could change by answering with “licking” to all the dialogues. Many important choices are also delivered through classic binary decisions.

Between a chapter and the next one, there are also many activities that could be explored in the office. Different websites can be visited to buy items or to understand more about the lore. Free time could be used to do shopping or to interact with the other characters, raising your affection meter with them. Training is also a very useful alternative and can be done by selecting a partner. This could help to build up skills necessary to plan the battles and to have more rewards, but could be also further exploited to learn the battle skills of other characters.  There is also a board card game that could be played in the office against the other characters, a funny and complex alternative for a mini-game.

The are really a lot of secondary characters, each very different and interesting in battle. However, I found the majority of the characters quiet flat and easy to dislike during the dialogues, usually embracing bad stereotypes, such as the gay character who loves to remove his shirt and try to kiss the main character.

I played the STEAM version of the game and I really enjoyed it. Many people complained for the controls, but playing with a pad I found it very easy to manage. The only negative things are the Achievements, which are very funny and interesting in the VITA version, but for some reason got cut-out from the STEAM release.

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters is an innovative game that mix brilliantly visual novel and JRPGs. It is a difficult game but very rewarding after being mastered, with a really interesting enemies design and a gorgeous art-style. If you want to try a different and dark JRPG on STEAM, this is one of the best alternatives right now.

The creatures of the Line: classic paintings under mutations

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The Line is a weird and original indie-game, a sort of queue simulator set in a dystopian world. In this article I will focus on the bizarre creature design of the game, but if you want to know more about it, you can find more information in my review: The Line: waiting in a queue was never so extreme and bizarre .

The combat system is turn based and optional. It is possible to entirely avoid any fights, jumping the queue by waiting or bartering. The art-style of the game is bizarre but effective. All the characters are made as a sort of classic art collage, creating a strange world where classic art meets horrible mutations. Because the characters show their true face only during the fights, especially while attacking. If some huge abominations are dangerous by simply looking at them, a normal man repentantly attacking by throwing another head or with a hidden tentacle, it is even far more creepy.

Below you will find the bestiary of the Line, including only the creatures that I find more interesting. Some of them are portrayed during an attack, especially if it is showing their twisted nature. The name of the creatures are arbitrary invented, except for few ones. Many creatures are also not present in this list, including other aberrant peasants or animals, such as squirrels and crabs.

  • The man with another head

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If this man looks like a normal well dressed aristocrat, one of his main attacks will highlight his twisted nature. From one of his sleeves, the biting head of an old man will emerge, connected to scarf like a grotesque tentacle. The man is on of the most dangerous common enemies in the first area of the game.

  • The mother and the infant

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To continue with the bizarre classicism, the mother is another example of painting under mutation. Apparently simply a mother with her infant, she is however able to attack in really bizarre ways. She can attack with her clothes, which will mutate in a sort of bloody tentacles made of fabric. Also the infant can directly attack by throwing different kinds of beams.

  • The woman with dogs

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A weird woman wearing an eye-patch and a long coat. She is waiting in the queue with her little dogs. Also in this case, her twisted nature is revealed during the attacks. The dogs will mutate in a sort of amalgam of fur and teeth, very deadly and scary to watch. This enemy is quite rare and she could be faced in the second area of the game.

  • The messiah of tentacles

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This guy looks very similar to many paintings of Jesus during the Renaissance. If this half naked man could look an easy foe, also since is showing very few HP, he can be one of the most aggressive enemies. The man will completely mutate, when attacking, in a mass of tentacles and snake-like appendages. This is something that Cthulhu would be proud of! This man is one of the most common enemies in the second area.

  • The plague doctor

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A big man dressed in red, with a black hat and a plague-doctor mask. The figure is already intimidating by his own, but when will attack with his mask like a beak, it will get even worst. This enemy is very rare and could be faced only in the third area of the game.

  • The huge mutant

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A colossal abomination similar to an alien made of swellings, mouths and tongues. The monster is difficult to describe and to contextualise, but will act as fist boss of the game. The monster has lot of HP, but its attacks are quite weak. Its favourite attack is a protruding mouth, which will bite the main character like a proper Xenomorph.

  • The big wolf

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Another mandatory fight that will act as boss. The big wolf is a huge black canid, already intimidating in its normal form. During the attacks, the creature will mutate, morphing its body in a agglomerate of jaws, opening below its belly. A not so difficult fight with an interesting creature.

  • Swinemantis

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Here we are entering in the land of the bizarre. This mutant was introduced after a patch and, as the official name says, it is a combination of a pig with a mantis. Everything is well balanced into the design, creating a weird creature but somehow quite believable. The Swinemantis is a mandatory boss in the forest.

  • The Wall

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The last free update of the Line introduced a secret area where to face several hard bosses. Many bosses not only have an official name, but also a background. The dystopian city home of the Line was devastated by multiple social and natural cataclysms, and these bosses are their embodiment. The Wall represents a wall that was built to isolate the city. The huge wall is connected to a ancient roman statue, which will be the one attacking. The Wall is a terrible boss with a massive amount of HP, creating the most tiring fight in the game.

  • The Rain

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The Rain is the official name of this horse-humanoid creature, embodying the natural and toxic disaster that plagued the city. The creature has several arms, each one wielding a bizarre weapon, and he is not afraid of using them. The boss is probably the strongest attacker of the game, able to inflict massive damages if not killed quickly.

  • The Hunger

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The Hunger is the most interesting of the secret bosses. The monster is a sort of dinosaur, made entirely by living bodies fused together. The idea is creepy and well executed, creating one of the most emblematic creatures made using a collage technique. The creature is the embodiment of a deadly famine which afflicted the city. Probably people turned into cannibals, and this is why the monster is made of conjoint humans.

Monster of the Week: Uterus (Fear & Hunger)

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Origin: Fear & Hunger

Appearance: Uterus are yellow mannequins swarming through the past version of the ancient city of the Gods. They are all female automata, moving with clumsy and slow gestures. The yellow body is altered by a white skeleton-like structure, especially in the torso, making them look similar to anatomy mannequins. Their breasts are exposed, while the pants are broken, highlighting the sexual nature behind the creation of these creatures. Their yellow skin is strong as iron, impossible to remove and really difficult to damage. But the most creepy detail regarding Uterus lies exactly in their abdomens. A small creature called Embryo lies peacefully in a hole in the belly. Each new turn during the combat, the Embryo will fall, grow, and will crawl toward the party (as you can see in each sliding picture). Before attacking, the Embryo will resemble more a big and fat infant, or a dwarf, but for sure is very far from a harmless baby.

Background: Valteil was a human who ascended to the role of New God of Enlightenment. He was obsessed with creating artificial life using different methods, giving life to set of automata with different functions in the Ancient City. For example, Uterus was the one designed to satisfy Valteil’s sexual desire. According to the official lore of the game, every night Valteil summoned a different Uterus to his room, for obvious purposes. It is entirely possible that the Embryo was born from the relationship between a God, Valteil, and an artificial creature, the Uterus. Probably, the true experiment behind the existence of Uterus, also judging from the name, was to generate new life from an artificial body.

Regarding the fight itself, Uterus is a very peculiar and twisted battle. While moving in the map, Uterus is really slow and easy to avoid. Also during the fight, many times Uterus would simply waste her turn to “dislocate the joints”, making only a disturbing sound. When attacking, Uterus uses her rusty claws to inflict very few damages, but usually causing infecting wound, which could lead to lost a limb due to the infection. The real treat behind the Uterus fight is the existence of the Embryo, combined with an insane amount of HPs. If the arms of the Uterus are easy to cut, making her virtually harmless, the creature will continue to fight even without a head. When the Embryo will start to crawl on the battlefield, a creepy and pressuring invisible timer will crawl inside the player’s mind. What this horrible thing will do? How many turns before it will do something? Each new turn, the Embryo will get closer, while crying in a terrifying and disturbing way. Both Uterus and Embryo have a really huge amount of HPs, making them almost impossible to kill early-on in the game. After an intense crying, the Embryo attack will surprisingly not damage the bodies, but will directly harm the mind of the characters, inflicting a huge damage. A simple attack of the Embryo could send a character completely crazy. Uterus is a really interesting and creepy creature, with an intense fight based on concluding it really quickly to avoid going insane. Uterus is an enemy that is better to avoid.

The Creepy Ghosts of Tokyo Twilight — Surreal and Creepy

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Tokyo Twilight was a pleasant surprise, a mix between a visual novel and a JRPG set in the world of modern ghost-hunters. The game is really innovative in every aspect, from the weird answers in the visual novel section, combining emotions with actions, to the battles, based on traps and on guessing where the ghost […]

via The Creepy Ghosts of Tokyo Twilight — Surreal and Creepy

The final boss of the obscure Dreamcast game D2: a battle against psychedelic effects and sensory deprivation [Boss Battle]

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D2 is an obscure and really peculiar game released only in Japan and US. Sequel of the mysterious adventure D, developed by the eccentric Japanese developer Kenji Eno, D2 tried to combine survival horror and JRPG, creating one of the most bizarre game ever. The main combat used a first point perspective, like a modern FPS, with the freedom to move the weapon and actively target different body parts of the enemies, while the main character was standing still. The plot is really twisted, bizarre and complex, mixing together a deadly virus, mutants, clones, eldritch abominations and robots. The game was anyway really mature and disturbing, with some scenes censored in the western release. Here I will talk about the peculiar final boss battle, so there will be light SPOILERS regarding the plot of D2.

The final boss is a mysterious and ancient entity called the Shadow. The creature probably came to the Earth inside meteor, maybe the same that destroyed the dinosaurs. The Shadow wants to annihilate every form of life, acting as an opposite force to Mother Nature. To avoid more unnecessary spoilers, I will just say that the fight with the Shadow is not only the key point in D2 plot, but a very different battle.

The Shadow is an incoherent mass of purple flesh and eyes. The weird abomination is not really intimidating, but more bizarre. The eyes are constantly moving, watching in different directions. The creature has strange glyph and structures, like an angelic halo surrounding its body, highlighting its divine role of purifier of planet Earth. To add strangeness to the battle, the background during the fight is an amalgam of flashing colors, like if everyone is under LSD. This creates a more alien and uncomprehending atmosphere, since the player is now fighting a being out of the ordinary logic.

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To be a battle against an ancient and twisted God, the fight with the Shadow is, at least at the beginning, really simple and anticlimactic. The boss can be damaged by shooting at any part of its body, but will receive more damage by shooting to the eyes. The creature is also motionless and will do nothing to avoid the bullets. After many fights with quick and unpredictable bosses, very difficult to track and damage, the final boss is just a motionless lump of flesh? The Shadow has only very few attacks, usually throwing a lighting bolt at the player. The animation during the attack is quiet bizarre, with the creature shaking and twisting its body, surrounded by lightnings, before shooting. The psychedelic background is also not helping to make the fight more comprehensible.

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The fight is easy and predictable. Surely interesting, at least for the trippy scenario, not quiet common as battlefield.  The fight will suddenly evolve when the Shadow will start to switch off the senses of the player, one by one. This will not affect the main character as a negative effect or negative buffs, very common in JRPG, but will directly affect the player. The first sense to be affected will be the sight. The screen will fade to complete black, except for bullets and health meter. This is quiet different from the common “Blind” status in many RPGs, which is usually associated with a higher chance to miss the attacks. In this case, it is the player that is completely blind and this will be reflected directly in the gameplay. The player can still use the hearing to understand if he is hitting the Shadow or not, but the fight will get more complicated. Here you can have an idea of how fighting a boss while blinded would look like.

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After the sight, the Shadow will destroy your hearing. After that, not only the screen is completely black, but also without any sound to guide the bullets. You can’t see and hear nothing, something quiet disturbing since the Shadow will continue to strike you with electrical bolts. At least there is still a way to hurt it and fight back, while healing. After the hearing, the Shadow will take away your ability to move. Now things are even more challenging, because you have no way to fight it back. You are simply there, blind and deaf, without any way to harm the boss. Also the health points will drop down to 1. The only way to survive is by healing really quickly, while using the items to stay alive. Blind, deaf and paralyzed, there is no more way to fight it back.

A voice in your head will change the dark fate of the battle against the Shadow. A new item can be used from the inventory, revealing a Flower. The power of Nature will help to fight back the negative energies of the Shadow, regenerating all the senses. The player can now fight again at full power. With all the senses back, the last part of the fight  is easy and straightforward, as at the beginning.

The final boss of D2 is really weird and anticlimactic. An easy battle, static and boring at the beginning, but with an unexpected twist affecting directly the senses of the player. This is more a puzzle than a proper battle, but the confusion during the fight when the screen fades to black for the first time is still really unreachable, altering the concept of “negative effect” that is usually quiet static in JRPGs. The psychedelic background, full of lights and colours contribute to create a unique setting for a really bizarre and peculiar boss.

Lisa the Painful: would you bet the life of your party characters in a deadly Russian Roulette?

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Lisa is a dark, grotesque and unique surprise in the world of indie RPG, a game with a mature and touching story. In a post-apocalyptic scenario a dad, Brad, should fight back to rescue her kidnapped daughter, the only surviving woman in this patriarchal society. During the game, the player should face several tough and permanent decisions, but some of them are also integrated directly in the gameplay.

In a particular moment of the game, Brad will be kidnapped and forced to play a deadly tournament of Russian Roulette. Yes, post-apocalyptic wastelands are a crazy place where people get bored easily. After surviving three rounds of the deadly Roulette, once set free, Brad could come back again to join willingly other tournaments. Each surviving round will provide an increasing amount of money, useful to stack on cash early on in the game, with few efforts. Of course, there is a price to pay for joining the tournament.

The lives of your party members are used as bet.

Each round, a party member is selected by the player as contestant for the Russian Roulette. When the deadly game starts, each shot of the gun as 20% chances to kill one of the contenders. If this is the case of the enemy, the tournament will continue and the player will get money. If instead is the party member to receive the deadly bullet, he will of course die. Worst news? Death in Lisa is permanent, so say goodbye forever to the follower that was scarified for the hope of obtaining money. The last round of the tournament is against a fat man covered in scars. He can survive to two shots in the head before dying, making him an especially dangerous foe. Of course, nothing forbids the player to load an old save, on Normal difficulty. In case of Hard mode the situation is different, since save points will self destroy after being used, making saves more rare and permanent deaths more dangerous.

Lisa offers a dark and interesting way to offer money to the player, easily, but with terrible consequences. Even if is true that in Lisa there are dozens of recruitable characters, and some of them are also quiet useless in battle, is it anyway worthy to risk their life for money?

Will you permanently bet the life of your followers for money?

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Bloodborne: the dark side of birth, maternity, infants and conception — Surreal and Creepy

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The adult fear of giving birth to an aberrant creature is always a big taboo. If in the movies this dogma was already faced several times, especially in 1977 with the nightmarish David Lynch’s Eraserhead (check my article talking about surreal sex and “wrong” birth: Eraserhead Intro: a surreal sex scene), in videogames this concept […]

via Bloodborne: the dark side of birth, maternity, infants and conception — Surreal and Creepy

Interview with Miro Haverinen, the creator of the dark RPG Fear & Hunger

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Fear & Hunger (F&H) is a dark and mature RPG, with a strong horror and survival component. The grim world of F&H is definitely a mature experience, dealing with strong topics to create one of the most dark fantasy experiences. F&H is a wind of fresh air in the world of indie RPGs, especially in terms of morality and horror integrated in both lore and design. More information regarding the game can be found in my review.

What surprised me the most is that Fear & Hunger was practically created by just one person: Miro Haverinen. I had the possibility to talk with him regarding F&H, knowing more details about his creative process and his future ideas. Miro kindly answered to all my questions and, if you are interested in knowing more details about F&H, below you can find the complete interview.

Q1: Fear & Hunger is an original RPG with a dark, mature and disturbing setting. How the idea of Fear & Hunger was born?

A1: The original idea was born during my school studies few years ago. In our class we had this tradition of asking random (like truly random) questions from each other. During one class I started asking one of my classmates what he would do in these different morally awkward scenarios that would all happen in a morbid dungeon. The scenarios would continue for a while and more and more people got involved. In the end it started to take a shape of a pen & paper RPG and the dungeons were named ’The dungeons of fear & hunger’.

Later on I had to scrap together some academic credits and I decided to turn the dungeons into a video game format and make a school project out of it. I even ended up writing my thesis about the game. The thesis was about the aesthetics and thematics of horror in video games and the practical part of the thesis was the first demo of Fear & Hunger.

Q2: The setting and the lore of Fear & Hunger are original and interesting. What inspired you the most while creating the game? Which are the major influences for your work and for the complex lore of the game?

A2: I was originally inspired to create a sensation of relentless darkness. I wanted to experiment different ways to evoke hopelessness and horror in a sense. I think this is more apparent in the earlier builds of the game. It has since taken more of a ’video game’ form with the later updates if that makes any sense… As for the influences, there are so many that it’s difficult to pick just few… I guess the biggest influences would be Silent Hill, Hellraiser, Amnesia, Nethack, Berserk and the Souls games. I also want to name Mortal Kombat here, because the lore of MK is really underrated in my opinion. Also the early Mortal Kombat games had a really frightening and vile atmosphere.

The way the lore is presented in F&H is obviously heavily inspired by the storytelling and the world-building of Souls games. But the lore itself doesn’t try to replicate any of those titles. It felt like the game wrote itself on its own really, which is pretty weird looking back to it.

Q3: Let’s know a bit about you, Miro. What did you work before focusing on Fear & Hunger? Were there other videogames/projects before this one or you worked in a completely different field?

A3: Ah, well… I did play around with game developing when I was really young. I found game engines like the RPG Maker and Game Maker among others, but I couldn’t really concentrate on any single project for long and most of the games I made back then died within few weeks or months. I did release a couple of game demos back in the day but unfortunately I don’t have them anymore.

Eventually I drifted away from game development, thinking that there was no future in playing around with simple 2D graphics. Funny enough, right after I quit, the indie gaming exploded so it wasn’t necessarily the best move at the time. Later on I got into graphic designing and I really wanted to make art. Graphic art, music or whatever. There are some album covers around with my art and also some light graphic novels in which I took part. I didn’t really consider game development until I had to get those academic credits from somewhere. I decided to revisit RPG Maker as it was the engine I was the most familiar with. Then people seemed to like the early versions of the F&H and after the first Let’s Plays of the game I was hooked. With games I could fuse together all my interests in different art forms and it was very rewarding to see the immediate reactions Let’s Players had with all the things I had created.

Q4: Which are your favorite videogames?

A4: I have a deep love for Souls games. Demon’s Souls especially awakened something inside me. Also the first three Silent Hill games have a special place in my heart. I’ve never felt the same kind of dread as the 10-year-old me felt with the original Silent Hill. Other than those, I’d say Final Fantasy VII, Ocarina of Time and the original Resident Evil 2 are probably my favourite games of all time. It’s a pretty boring and obvious list haha. Maybe I should throw some more obscure names here too? From the top of my head – A Blurred Line, Legion Saga 2, Devil May Cry 3, Seiken Densetsu 3 and Lost Planet 2 are all cool.

Q5: Fear & Hunger is a really mature game, including sex and gore. In my opinion everything is not gratuitous and it adds darkness to the world, but I was curious: was there something that you deleted from the final release because you considered it too mature or dark?

A5: No, not really. Every time I felt bad about making some things I figured I was on the right path. If it created a repulsive feeling in me, it had to have an effect to people playing the game too. There were some things removed though, but not because they were too dark or mature, but because I felt they took the game more to the meme territory. Like for example the ’Stinger thrust’ attacks of the guards originally caused – erm – …different bleeding statuses during the combat. It was a bit too silly. The status ailment is still in the game, but it’s not too frequent now.

Q6: Personally, I love the monsters of Fear & Hunger, both in terms of design and for the unique battles. Which is your favorite monster and why?

A6: I really like the Skin granny [Figure 1]. Her design is really cool and menacing I think and on my playthroughs she is always one of the more intense fights. If you miss some of the attacks on the first turn, things can go south really fast. Also I think the very first enemy most people run into, the guard [Figure 2], is really the best enemy as far as the gameplay balance goes. In general I’m really happy with the way designs ended up too.

Q7: Developing a videogame could be complicated and many ideas often are cut from the original plan. What was an idea you wanted to implement but at the end was cut from the actual game? A creature or boss fight?

A7: Seeing as I still keep updating the game, I can’t say any of the features were really cut from the game really. They could just be waiting for the future updates! But originally I planned that in the place of the Salmonsnake boss fight [Figure 3], there would’ve been a random variation to the boss fight with a tentacle monster instead. I thought it was a pretty cool idea to go to the lengths of making randomized bosses too. But since that fight is optional to begin with, I felt that that the time it would have taken me to make that functional would be better spent elsewhere. So that’s probably something that will remain cut from the future updates too. There were also supposed to be swimming sections to the game in underground tunnels, but that might be cut out entirely too. Who knows?

Q8: What was the most challenging part of Fear & Hunger development?

A8: Things have gone relatively smoothly with the development. I’d say the most challenging part has been finding the time to make the game. It has demanded so much time for the past 2 years. I really can’t recommend game development to anyone who wants to keep on to their other hobbies and social life haha.

Q9: Fear & Hunger can be a really challenging and punitive game. During the testing, which was the monster/trap that killed you the most? I am talking about something that you really hated yourself, and maybe you also ended up fixing a bit for how much difficult it was.

A9: I didn’t really hate anything during the test runs. Otherwise I would have removed those elements entirely. If I die on my test runs, it’s usually within the opening hours and the cause is the guards. They can be pretty punishing if I go about too carelessly.

The boss fight of the Ending B was originally meant to be hard mode only, but since I could never beat the boss on my test runs, I changed it so that the boss appears in the normal mode as well. I can’t really think of other things… But I’ve changed many things according to the feedback I’ve gotten from the other players though.

Q10: Miro, what is your plan for the future? Are you planning to add contents to Fear & Hunger, or already thinking/developing a new game or a sequel? I would be curious to know some details, if for you is ok.

A10: I’ll continue updating Fear & Hunger to some extent. It has still been my priority, but I’ve also started to plan and make some early work for a follow up game. After the next update I think the priority will shift more towards the next game. So yeah there will be a ’sequel’. But it’s going to be different. I’m not sure if all the people agree with the direction the next game will take, but I feel like I want to make something a little different for a change of pace. And some details? Hmmm…. The game will use the same lore, but won’t be a direct sequel per se. Although it is going to follow one storyline F&H set up already.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank Miro for the friendly talk and for his cooperation. I will curiously wait for more news regarding the future of F&H. I would like also to remember the Fear & Hunger is available at itch and STEAM.

Reference Figures:

fear_old
Figure 1: Skin granny
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Figure 2: Guard
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Figure 3: Salmonsnake

Fallout Saga: wicked uses of the atomic power [Evil Quests]

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The setting of Fallout is mature and dark. A post-apocalyptic wasteland where mutants, cannibals and horrible monsters freely roam. In a setting so complex and desperate, humanity is on the edge of morality. Several quests can be concluded in a really evil way, especially since the game allows complete freedom also in who to kill. Of course, in a nuclear wasteland, radiation and nuclear power are a big part of the moral equation. Few but memorable quests exploited the power of the atom, with a brutal and devastating result. Of course there will be light SPOILERS on some quests in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.

In Fallout 3, the wrong use of an unexploded atomic bomb will have a catastrophic result, which was never achieved again in videogame history. Megaton is a town build around an old atomic bomb. People almost worship the bomb, considering part of the town and of the religion. The huge bomb can easily  be disarmed, putting the town in safe. But a rich and powerful man has a different idea: to trig the bomb causing the annihilation of Megaton. After triggering the bomb, the player should travel to the tower were the rich man is living. There, the player will discover the truth behind this evil quest. A simple and so disturbing truth.

The horrible shape of Megaton is ruining the view from the balcony of the man. For this simple reason, he wants the town completely obliterated.

The player can now press the apocalyptic switch, causing one of the most massive nuclear explosion in a videogame. A beautiful but tragic bomb of light that will end the history of Megaton. The town will disappear from the map, leaving behind only a highly-radioactive dump. All the people living there, the shops, the quests and the items, are now gone forever. Few key characters will survive, but horribly mutated in ghouls. Destroying Megaton is considered the most evil act in Fallout 3, causing a massive drop in the Karma moral system of the game.

This is why the quest is called “The Atomic Power”.

Megaton_explosion_night

In the sequel, Fallout New Vegas, during the main game the player cannot play with moral and atomic power. However, the situation drastically changes during the DLC Lonesome Road. At the very end of the main quest of the DLC, the player will have access to a nuclear silo, with two warheads still operative. The good way to conclude the quest is to stop the launch by disarming the weapons. But of course, there is another evil way of ending the quest, which is called “The Apocalypse”.

New Vegas is a game focused on siding with different factions, working on increasing the reputation with them. The two biggest factions are NCR and Legion, which of course are enemies between each other. Controlling the power of nuclear weapons, the player has in the hands the instrument to decide the fate of the world. Depending of which faction the player joined, he could decide to use the missiles on the other faction. This evil act will cause a massive drop in the reputation with that faction, very understandable since the player almost annihilate them.

If this choice is evil but quiet influenced by the system of factions in the game, the next hidden choices is plainly evil and anarchic. Since there are 2 nuclear weapons, both the factions can be destroyed at the same time. A very weird choice, but still possible. The nuclear explosions also in this case will change the environment, creating radioactive wastelands full of mutants, where before there were the headquarters of the two factions.

FNV_quest_The_Apocalypse_conclusion

In Fallout 4 DLC Far Harbor, the headquarter of a faction which reside inside a submarine can also be annihilated by launching one of its warhead on itself. This will cause a massive nuclear explosion that will completely destroy the submarine and the faction.

Apparently, even in the online-only Fallout 76, the players can access codes to launch nuclear weapons from specific silos to the CAMP of other players.

I don’t know if other chapters in the Fallout saga allowed the player to morally play with the nuclear power, but these ones are for sure the most massive and amoral ways to use atomic weapons. Not only this will kill dozen of characters, but will also change the environment and the world permanently.