in my post-Echo clarity i played through Benefits and Route 65 just to destress from the day (much needed!) and while I still have a lot to say about Echo that will end up being an MLA styled essay, in the meantime I can digest and write about Route 65 a bit

I think this is a really, really nice piece of companion media for Echo. Sure, Route 65 gets a scene taken directly out of it and put into Echo (and it works so well!) but I honestly just wanted more of the Gang in a younger state. Being able to see them at an age where they were coming into their own skin and becoming the people we would know and love/hate in Echo, acting like kids while this heavy trauma just sits around, unspoken, was awesome! I think going through each sort of scenario of Chase coming out to his friends was really nice, and just sort of this precursor to how they are in Echo. Flynn, the smug asshole who secretly just wanted his friends to be happy by getting Leo and Chase together. Carl, who exposes some of his secrets to help make his best friend feel better about his awkward experience. TJ, who, despite his religious background and that (to be fair, usually correct) stigma of Christians not being accepting of gay people (as evidenced by his end text scene) tries his best to be their for Chase and to make him feel better. Jenna, who just wants to be there for her friend and have an ear lent to him despite the shit going on in her home. And Leo, who immediately rejoices because this friend he's cared about cares about him too.

This isn't to say each of their coming out scenes don't come with a negative quality because this is Echo, after all. Like I said, these scenes are indicative of how they will end up being in the main story.

I mean, personally (as a gay furry former-Mormon (yeah gotta flex those things about me) who was terrified of coming out), this little short was almost cathartic. And, I'll be honest, had me feeling wistful, and jealous.
I resonate with Chase here because the process of coming out was a very stressful one for me. It didn't happen all at once, and on accident (although my mom did have her fair share of seeing furry porn saved on my phone at the age of 18) (it was only once), but I remember agonizing about the prospect of what could happen for two fucking years after my older sister came out. Funny, how I was so stressed about being abandoned when my parents were more than fine with my sister, but I guess like in Chase's case, when things hit the fan and you're stressed and anxious, you don't think about these things. Especially as a teen!

But, I digress! The writing here is nice and reminiscent yet different of Echo's main story, because it's sort of this adolescent story and it feels like it! It clocks in at a very short hour-ish, and while I think all the short stories in the Echo anniversary update are far better than Route 65, I still think Route 65 is a nice, not required but beneficial companion story to Echo for those that just want more of this cast. Like me!

side note, I really liked the individual phone-screens at the end of the credits each time, just nice little pokes at the future of these characters! Jenna's definitely didn't spook me!
second side note, i feel like i'm forgetting more here, but I also think I just have said what I needed to say. I might edit this if I think of anything else to put here but whatever! Echo's awesome!

it's not really anything more than just a fanfic given the visual novel treatment, which i guess is really cool for whoever wrote it but besides some nice moments of just flynn and carl alone time, goofin off (which i think is pretty well written, kinda feels like they just were ripped straight from Echo) once the shirt comes off it just devolves to generic furry porn
which i am here for, just wanna make that clear, i'm traaaaaaaaash lmao

i really wish there was more to it, honestly. something to, i guess, justify it's presence in the itch.io page for the Echo Project? I feel like there was potential to be able to explore Flynn's feelings of Carl, and Carl's feelings of trying to express some of his desires in this way. I still like it, the two cg pieces are good, but besides being some nice wish fulfillment for me there's not a lot going for this lmao
extra 1/2 star because flynn sucks at dark souls. just like me fr!

I have a lot to say about this I think.

I think Hyper Light Drifter has some of the best art direction, sound design and gameplay loops in any game I've played (which is a low bar but still it was awesome). Everything is married together in a way that's very dynamic, very impactful, and I'm absolutely in love with the presentation of it.

The gameplay is hard to get right, but when you do get it right, oh my god it cuts like butter and it feels so god damn good. Easy to learn but hard to really master, and while it is punishing, I also think that it really really encourages you to think fast, move fast, and worry about what's right in front of you. It's very good!

Now, for the story. I... I'm conflicted just because I want to give this story praise for telling us everything without a single word being read, but it's also the biggest detractor I have with the game. It's hard to really know what's going on, why everything you do as the Drifter really matters, and what the point of it is in the end. I mean, it's pretty clear that you're trying to save people (no spoilers!) and you get that through the 1 or 3 slide conversations you get with various npc's around the map, but it's really hard to feel the scale because of how ambiguous the opening and closing cutscenes are. There's a large element of time skipping happening, there's a lot of very confusing, if not striking, imagery happening that doesn't make a lot of sense even after finish everything, and there's a lot that feels unanswered at the end.

...but. I also think that all these things are monumental in setting this game a part from everyone else. I know about the main dev's sort of allegorical story he put into the game that mirrors his own struggles with... disease (no spoilers! I'm trying!) and the story really does reflect this: it's bleak, it's hard, and it's not rewarding in the long run. There's a lot of imagery, a lot of emotional moments, that in the end sometimes feels like life, where you just kind of feel like you got over one hill to see the rest of the mountain before you. And I love it! We only see the Drifter's perspective in this world that's already so rich with lore and more to discover, and we play through this world through the Drifter's perspective, in which we're learning things with them! That aura of confusion stays with us throughout the game, broken by reminders of what's at stake at the end anytime we collect 4 modules: a shadowy character stabs us in vicious ways, the 4 main power sources (I think) activate, the gate opens and some unknown power is unleashed that eviscerates what's left of this world.

Do we know what this means? Only because we saw the very vague opening cutscene, but even then our knowledge is limited. All we know is that we have to fix things somehow, and we're running out of time.

It's a great game! I started to go for a completionist run and I'm only missing the three hardest achievements in the game! One day I'll finish those, but until then, I'm excited for what else Heart Machine has in store for us all.

1/14/23 - 777 hours
This game really never ends.
I love the gameplay loop, and I love the lore, and I really do think Destiny's going in a much better direction than it has before, but god damn it's not going fast enough. I really want to be able to consistently play this, but it's a timesink and requires so much time and energy and so much god damn time.
and for so little, too. Each season has the same grinds and gameplay, followed by a seasonal event that we see every fucking year, and then a new exapansion where it keeps happening. There really needs to be change in how quests are, and how story missions are played. I can't believe it hasn't happened yet.

Again, though, this game is fucking fun too. I love the gunplay, and the mechanics, and just mindlessly playing and focusing up. It's awesome for that!
The stories have been getting continually better, same with the characters!
I just feel so weird about this game.
I can't recommend it to anyone because it requires so much and kinda delivers so little, imo.
But here i am, with over 700 hours. And it's only gonna go up.

yeah it's good! i've played a little bit of dusk and it's great, and i really like this because it trades the intensity of the shooter for an intensity with it's puzzles. it's very fun to just try and figure it out, to go over and over again just trying new things and patterns. i didn't play any of the custom levels, but the fact that it gives you free reign to upload and design your own is awesome. i'm also glad that this just doesn't take itself seriously at all! not that i was afraid it would, but it very much just seems like a very tongue-in-cheek game, just done very well. very cool!

It's a really good co-op experience that is full of creative style and amazing gameplay that constantly outdoes itself, only mildly getting repetitive in the 11 hours of playtime I had

another big thing of It Takes Two is the story and how the gameplay (how i take it to be) directly ties into the story, and it really helps to push this story from a good one to a great one, in my opinion.

Great story of overcoming your own obstacles to realize what you want. is good

9/10

The gameplay keeps me hooked, the multiplayer is a lot of fun with a lot of content, and I had a really good time playing all of that

But the story suffers immensely
Unlikeable characters, and the ones we do like just have nothing to do or say, the story is an absolute mess that just relies on the stupid fucking Transmedia narrative wants you to devote all time and money to get the full on story instead of just giving you a solid story and supplemental pieces of media to enhance the experience, not be the only way to experience it

shit sucks man