The Consequence can very well be considered The Assignment Part 2, as it picks up right after the ending of the first DLC and retains all the gameplay elements introduced there. This DLC, however, is definitely more enjoyable. It shines more light into Kidman's story and it ends with a fantastic tease for the sequel, the gameplay leans more into stealth exploration than combat, which I deeply appreciate, given that we know from The Assignment what happens when you try to do a stealth-based boss battle with a limited stealth system.

This DLC felt shorter, but I personally had a better time with it, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy the story of the game.

A somewhat satisfying conclusion to The Evil Within that--while answering some questions--it also sets up new questions for a future entry (which does a shitty job following up, but that's neither here nor there). Gameplay-wise, it has a noticeable stronger emphasis on gunplay than "The Assignment" but stealth is still the heaviest aspect.

I appreciated the atmosphere when it didn't feel so recycled, and the unique boss encounters were enjoyable as well. Don't have too much to say, it was just aight. Oh, and the Easter eggs were cute and funny too.

This DLC is far worse than the base game.

The entire thing is stealth focused, with none of the action of The Evil Within. I found it to be tedious and just not very fun, in general.

The story continues to be basically nonsense, though from Kidman's point of view. I would have liked this more if it more closely mirrored what we see her do during Sebastian's experiences, rather than being incidental or completely different, contradictory experiences. It can be written off as part of STEM or whatever, but it is just less interesting because it removes any sense of context or stakes.

I think this is skippable. Read a synopsis.

"Unlike other Mecha series, this one is about the machines"

It's Jank kino, a game while not being the best technical, once you look past that you get a very good and rewarding experience. If you know about the armored core series you may have heard of the inverted controller meme, making fun of the controls of the AC series and while YES, these controllers are kinda fucking weird and wonky, the moment you get used to them you are able to enjoy it (or change the controllers on an emulator but c'mom...)

Another great thing about AC is the customization of the mech, as someone who likes gunpla a lot, it makes me so joyful that I can build my own mechs and use them in battle, seeing how well they perform and such. Half of the fun from this game comes from replaying levels you failed and buying different mech parts to see if it will work this time or not and seeing what works and what doesn't.

One thing I don't see mentioned all that much is the story and while yes, the main focus of the game isn't the story, what there is of it is pretty great. Honestly, it reminded me of games like Farcry 2 and the STALKER series, where you are just merch who takes odd jobs from different warring factions and said odd jobs are mostly dirty work. This is reflected in how the first two missions you are able to do are either killing strike workers or squatters. No hero complex or villain complex, you are just mech wanting to be paid kinda vibe which I enjoy a lot.

One thing I disliked about this game is the unholy amount of the time you are in the menu changing up your mech for a mission, my god. I wouldn't have minded it so much if you didn't need to fucking open 5 fucking menus to buy a weapon and 6 fucking menus to equip it.

Also, some of the missions suck, but you can't win them all I guess.

Oh! And before I forget, I never got debut so I never had the chance to use the human plus thing but the concept of the game becoming easier the more you suck at it is actually kinda cool, I like it.

Overall, you should watch ZETA Gundam.

"content dictates form. less is more. god is in the details.
all in the service of clarity, without which, nothing else matters."
- stephen sondheim

above is a quote from one of my lifelong heroes who passed away a few months ago. mr. sondheim's work defined a great deal of my teenage and transitional years and upon hearing the news of his tragic passing, i took the opportunity to reflect on the ways with which he'd influenced my art, my views, and my conduct. i'm by no means a theatre type - while i spent a few years in high school co-directing and acting as a dramaturge for a local company, by no means do i enjoy the theatre as it exists to the common eye and ear. i left that world to escape the despotism of what 'must be' and what 'sells' by the overseeing eye of the major companies and self-satisfied bigwigs because, as any artist knows, when you climb a few rungs of the ladder no art is political, but all art is politics.

yet i find myself, years removed from theatre, years removed from pushing my own envelope of personal expression to a public eye, many nights in front of a google doc, or a blank notepad, or staring at my shelf, wondering when the spark is going to hit and i'll write the next pieces of my screenplay, or my next chorus to a song, or my next analysis of some 20-year-old adventure game made by a small passionate team from the literal opposite of the world. sometimes i wonder if my minimalism, my expression of big feelings in small boxes, through white and black forms with bright technicolor lights, if it's a crutch, if i'm an imitator of the conglomerate great ideas of people before me... if i shoot half this short film adaptation of a novel as a silent work, am i up my own ass for it? if i push myself creatively as a musician to a one-man audience by design, am i selling myself short? have i missed my shot at truly expressing MYself?

of course, if you've got your head screwed on halfway right, you'll realize this self-talk is a complete load of bullshit. just put the pen to the paper. put the fingers to the keys. don't worry about who sees it, don't worry about why you do it, but if you believe in it - content dictating form - and if your style is simple short strokes with deep, cutting lines - less is more - and if your heart hurts to watch it play back - god is in the details. if you are an artist, if you are a person who needs to be able to say something for the sake of saying it, you must throw away preconceptions, you must disregard what people have said of you and your work, you must take that future into your hands and seize it. all in the service of clarity, without which, nothing else matters.

live your daily rut. get up, go to work.
push hard to make those days count.
let your work be your work, and let your work be your work.
to find happiness is to be honest with oneself.
recognize the monotony but don't let it overtake you.
your career isn't your person.
every person on this site, every person reading this
i think each one of us has art inside of us waiting to blossom.
you need to be willing to find love in your heart for that, for yourself, and the willingness to seize that potential regardless of the cost and regardless of how you've hurt before.
you need to seize the future.
you need to kill the past.

flower, sun & rain was me all along, wasn't it?

i think ff 13-2 is my favorite mainline (close enough) ff ive played. it's a strictly better 13 to me, in that it's much stronger in what It is trying to do with some of the common threads.

13 was a constant push forward where everything was your enemy. every possible encounter was a fight and the game had basically no detours from this. it thematically worked, but it was really not very great to play all the way through. i think i liked 13 more than most people but i can say it was around 40 hours of playing with a battle system that didn't have too much going on in the first place. it was heavily carried by the lovable cast and its fantastic soundtrack i m o.

13-2 is all about the small detours and exploring what could and should be. its a budgeted sequel where it'd obviously be on a smaller scale, but this game was perfectly designed around the limitations. like they took the assets and experience from 13 and had a perfect idea of what they wanted out of it next. theres much more to Do in this game's world, and its much easier to hang out in. they added Level Design (joke)!!!!! even though 13-2 has about a third of the main party size and about half of the story length, this game feels more meaningful and expansive than 13 ever could.

13-2's tone pulls everything together and makes it shine. where 13 says "damn the world kinda sucks but we're gonna try and stumble and charge forward until things are maybe ok again" 13-2 is more like "the future is uncertain and we don't know what exactly we should do but damn it we are Going to search every nook and cranny of this weird world until everything works again". 13-2's optimistic core gives the whole game such a confidence and everything about it is so pleasant to experience. it plays nice, the gameplay is 13 but faster and funner. this game's has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time now, the song "Full Speed Ahead" or "Run" encapsulates the experience of the whole game so well. its the first song you hear as soon as it gives you control and i dont think any rpg has made me want to immediately run around its world more than this game.

the Soul is immense. the Heart is bigger. play 13 if you want but you should really play 13-2.