Tag Archives: characterisation

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Paya

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The Zelda series has always played host to some wonderful female characters, and one of Breath of the Wild’s big strengths is how much personality it brings to its different areas through its NPCs.

One of the most striking characters that you’ll probably encounter quite early on — assuming you follow the opening hours of the main narrative rather than just wandering off in a random direction — is Paya, granddaughter of the Sheikah elder Impa, and a young lady with a massive, massive crush on Link.

Let’s see what makes her tick!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Paya →

The Zelda Diaries

The Zelda Diaries: Part 1 – A New Beginning

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I’ve had The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sitting on my backlog for a long time now, and I’ve been trying to work out the best way to cover it, because I knew that I definitely wanted to cover it in one form or another.

Was a Cover Game feature right for it? Perhaps, but with one or two exceptions, I tend to prefer to reserve the Cover Game slot for games that don’t get much attention from the mainstream press. And Breath of the Wild has certainly had plenty of mainstream attention.

The other consideration was that Breath of the Wild is a massive game, so doing something a bit more… “long term” was perhaps in order. With that in mind, then, I welcome you to the first installment of The Zelda Diaries, chronicling my journey through this ruined Hyrule, and the thoughts that occurred to me along the way.

Continue reading The Zelda Diaries: Part 1 – A New Beginning →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Yukino Tsubaki

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Despite PQube’s excellent Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa not being a romance-centric visual novel, it has no shortage of characters — both male and female — designed to be very appealing.

My personal favourite from the ensemble cast after completing the whole thing — that is, after finding out all of their respective dirty little secrets, anxieties and woes — was, without a doubt, Yukino Tsubaki.

Allow me to explain further! Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Yukino Tsubaki →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Pokégirls, Vol. 1

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With Nintendo’s recent showing of Pokémon Sword and Shield at E3, I thought today would be a fine time to celebrate an aspect of the series that I’m rather fond of.

It’s not the variety of new Pokémon to catch in each new installment. It’s not the new world to explore. It’s not the prospect of battling and trading in an attempt to assemble an invincible fighting team.

It is, of course, the fact that Pokémon as a series is absolutely overflowing with cute girls. And as a relative latecomer to the series (Moon was the first I really played seriously), clearly I have some catching up to do in this regard… so I asked my good friend and podcasting partner Chris who were some of his favourites. Let’s explore them together in no particular order!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Pokégirls, Vol. 1 →

Cover Games, Our World is Ended

Our World is Ended: The Harmony of Chaos

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Doubtless many of us have thought at one point or another what it would be like to lead a “perfect” life, with nothing to worry about, nothing to fear or perhaps even nothing to think about.

Chances are these thoughts were followed up in fairly short order by the conclusion that such an existence would actually be rather tedious and boring, as desirable as it might seem when contemplated from afar. Human beings are at their best when confronted with some sort of adversity, after all, whether said adversity is something that is about to kill you or a particularly tricky error in a piece of JavaScript.

A core message at the heart of Our World is Ended is one of true diversity: the acceptance of others, regardless of how unfathomably different they might seem to you and how much of a problem it might seem to bring such disparate elements together — and how those differences, when assembled into something greater than their individual parts, can actually create something incredibly strong.

Continue reading Our World is Ended: The Harmony of Chaos →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Yuno Hayase

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Who doesn’t love a good girl? That, it seems, is the angle that Yuno Hayase, valued member of game developer Judgement 7 alongside her sister Asano, is going for.

Throughout the early hours of visual novel Our World is Ended, Yuno represents a source of relentless positivity and optimism. She’s always there to encourage protagonist Reiji and her comrades in Judgement 7, whether the situation is simply enduring a hot day or fleeing for their lives from mysterious men in black.

But, unsurprisingly, there’s a bit more going on beneath the surface than her airheaded first impressions might suggest. Make that a lot more.

Spoilers and heavy mental health stuff ahead.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Yuno Hayase →

Cover Games, Our World is Ended

Our World is Ended: Who Wants to Live Forever?

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Immortality or eternal life is often depicted in fiction as some sort of grand, ultimate goal — both for heroes and villains under various circumstances.

Normally, achieving such a lofty ambition involves any combination of magical power, epic quests, battles with mighty gods and/or fairies, but here in boring old reality we’re actually much closer to achieving that goal than you might think — albeit in a rather more mundane manner.

It all depends on your definition of “mortality” and “life”, and that’s one of the more interesting subjects that Our World is Ended explores over the course of its complete runtime.

Continue reading Our World is Ended: Who Wants to Live Forever? →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Natsumi Yuki

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It’s fair to say that “insecurity” is a pretty core theme to Our World is Ended, and the different characters all express this trait in one way or another to varying degrees.

To date, we’ve seen how Tatiana is a walking contradiction in terms of the clash between her naturally childish nature and her genius-level intellect, and how Asano’s past trauma haunts her sufficiently to affect the person she is today.

Today, it’s time to take a look at Natsumi Yuki, seemingly one of the most unapproachable members of the main cast, but one who undergoes some of the most significant changes as the narrative progresses.

Some spoilers for Our World is Ended ahead!

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Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Asano Hayase

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If there’s one type of character voice actress Eri Kitamura knows how to play well, it’s the seemingly aggressive but actually terribly insecure tsundere.

Asano Hayase from Red Entertainment’s visual novel Our World is Ended is a great example, affording Kitamura the opportunity to demonstrate her full vocal range over the course of the character’s development and narrative threads.

Asano is also an incredibly interesting, unconventional character in her own right, so she takes her place in the spotlight this week.

Some spoilers for Our World is Ended ahead!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Asano Hayase →

Cover Games, Our World is Ended

Our World is Ended: First Impressions are Lasting Impressions

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A common theme explored throughout the visual novel medium in general is the idea of people not being quite what they appear at first glance.

The reason for this is mostly a practical one: the very nature of the visual novel medium makes deep dives into multifaceted, layered characters a viable thing for creators to explore. Enthusiasts of visual novels are already accustomed to the medium’s slow pace and relatively limited interactivity compared to games with a stronger emphasis on their mechanical components, so writers and developers are more than happy to allow us the opportunity to get to know the main cast extremely intimately.

That doesn’t mean those first impressions the characters set don’t matter, mind you. On the contrary, they are extremely important for setting expectations as to how those characters will behave and interact — and then, in some cases, subverting rather than confirming those expectations. Let’s take a look at how Our World is Ended’s cast presents itself in the early hours of the game as the narrative is getting underway.

Continue reading Our World is Ended: First Impressions are Lasting Impressions →