m. tarah henry @Lobst@mastodon.social

Issue solved; scalie.club appears to be fully functional at last! My new account, which I'll be posting to from now on, is exactly right here: https://scalie.club/@Lobst

OVERALL: Flawed, but necessary! Despite my criticisms, a starving scalie like me has no right to complain. I'll absolutely be exploring every route left to me; if the true ending improves my overall opinion I'll certainly let you all know.
( <3 )

- The game DOES assume you're here to get rowdy with reptiles, however! There's innuendo throughout the campaign, implied sex in the route I went through, and opportunities to flirt with whoever you like.
- The dragons' art style doesn't do it any favors, however; it's flat and rigid, doubtlessly because of budget/time limitations; I'd prefer it either a little more cartoony or realistic, personally.
- There are also too few facial expressions, a criticism I now feel qualified enough to deliver

- The non-dating segments ask you to take them seriously, but it doesn't do the work to earn it. Some plot points depend on major characters making unjustified mistakes; one even commits a cardinal sin in a game where you're supposed to be able to make choices based on your own personality
- The dating segments are just fine, however -- or they would be if, again, those sequences didn't cast you as one of humanity's representatives, the other of whom goes violent shortly after the game starts

- The game gives you all sorts of opportunities to express yourself to different characters, but since you're an ambassador from an alien society, your responses are limited if you take the premise seriously (I did)
- The truth of the dragons' world is revealed two-thirds of the way through each playthrough, and I'm not sure why, because it lets you talk to them afterward in optional dating sequences that assume you're totally clueless

Got my first endings in Angels With Scaly Wings! And now, a thread of notes:
- The game takes place in an AU where dragons assume human roles in a society literally exactly like our own, to the point where even the furniture is made for humans. I promise, the justification for this is at least as goofy as you'd expect
- The protagonist is completely gender-neutral, and their sex characteristics aren't remarked upon at all, which I can see annoying some people; in my case, it suits me just fine

AWSW UPDATE: Asked my friend Poetfox about it; she has some legitimate criticism (details/spoilers at http://getmeoutofthis.net/?p=7119) about the story, referential jokes, and overall game structure, but it apparently also assumes you're 100% genuinely interested in dating dragons and follows through on that, so: welcome to my library, dragon-AU visual novel

I will say that they absolutely have the right attitude about their own content, given the TechRaptor quote they decided to use in their sales pitch
https://mastodon.social/media/Os2Uzu16sYj24ntbAxM

http://angelswithscalywings.com/ I've had this tab pinned since yesterday; if nobody notifies me of any deliberately insensitive behavior in the game script (or on the part of its creators) I'll buy the DRM-free Digital Deluxe Edition tonight, blast through it, and return with detailed impressions

Should that fail, they'll fall back on their planned theme for 2019: a convention themed around sitcom jokes that are -just- a character offhandedly confessing non-heteronormative behavior, causing the other characters to stare at them while a laugh track plays

In response to community backlash, Furpocalypse scrambles to push their planned theme for 2018 to 2017: a convention themed entirely around the dramatic physical-sex reveal from the end of Sleepaway Camp

Dinner tonight: this cheap vegan rice/tomato/cannelini meal; the next batch could use some heat, but this is still easily recommendable! https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/10/tomato-herb-rice-with-white-beans-and-spinach/

That's right; I'm snobbish about 3D platforming games AND how people pronounce the name of an instrument I can still only barely play after two years. Don't @ me

In response to Yooka-Laylee's middling fan reception, Playtonic releases Ookoo-Laylay, a heavily reworked version that gets the execution right for a more authentic feel

This household, formerly the home of a single Wii U, now has four Switch consoles in it. It'll be very interesting to see if this reflects a larger trend, or if it's just our house that really, really wants to experience Splatoon 2 as a group

(I cannot stress my anti-nerd-culture stance enough, by the way. I routinely put my whole self into enjoying all sorts of nerd media, but so much of the culture surrounding it revolves around attachment to popular icons and corporate brands -- and even in cases where it isn't, it's still all so very, very white, straight, and cisgender)