Kaldheim is the first set of 2021, taking inspiration from Norse Mythology and Viking Folklore to create their major themes. As such backstory is rich in different types of creatures, Kaldheim is a tribal set with ten different tribes, each corresponding to their own colour pair.
Whilst people may not be able to gather currently to play in a prerelease tournament, the boxes are still on sale for people to add them to their collection or to take part in virtual prereleases. The one I bought was acquired from the UK retailer Troll Trader Cards (not sponsored, just a fan).
So, I decided to record what I opened this time and try build a deck out of it. Will I have built a deck worthy of the top prize? Or am I doomed to enter the Milkshake Bracket once more?
Set Mechanics & Quick Review
Returning – Tribal Mechanics: Pretty straightforward, different creature types have bonuses based on other creatures of the same type being in play. Tribes are humans, spirits, zombies, demons, trolls, giants, angels, elves, dwarves, and changelings (all creature types simultaneously)
Returning – Snow Mana: Mana produced by a Snow permanent can be used to pay for other Snow cards or activate abilities requiring Snow mana
Returning – Modal Double-Faced Cards: Double-sided cards that can be played as one side or the other from the hand, cannot shift during play
New – Foretell: Think of it like Morph for all sorts of cards. Foretell cards are exiled from hand by paying two mana, and then can be played for a “Foretell” cost later on, sometimes having additional benefits if a card was foretold
New – Boast: An ability that can be activated once per turn and can only be used after a creature has attacked (note: attacked, meaning this can be used in response during combat)
Being the first fully tribal set since Ixalan block, Wizards of the Coast had a lot to learn from the missteps that set made. (Rosalia’s note: this sentence hurts to write because as much as it is true, this is the set that I got into Magic on, and gave me my favourite tribe of Merfolk. I’m sorry Ixalan T_T)
In my opinion Kaldheim learns from these mistakes and sets up a standalone tribal set on a par with Lorwyn block. Each tribe being assigned to a colour pair allows for less hoarding of one particular tribe during a draft, and the additional of changelings in Simic provides more versatility to change path and/or shore up a struggling tribal deck.
Whilst I appreciate the inclusion of God cards from a Commander perspective, there are some strange design choices around their inclusion. This is especially highlighted in the card “”Forging the Tyrite Sword”, which I find strange for being a card that references a specific card by name. Designs like this in draft are fun to chase after, in theory, but ultimately dilute the pool of usable cards.
Speaking from the commander perspective entirely, there are some amazing legendary creatures in this set, especially at the uncommon level. Whilst it does lead to some power creep in certain areas, having more good legendary cards at uncommon grants more accessibility into commander and expands the potential for budget decks.
Promo Card
Taking inspiration from Yggdrasil itself, the World Tree is a pretty nice card to open as a foil promo. It gives a surprising amount of versatility in a draft environment mainly for the middle ability, as it provides an unconditional mana fixing solution after the sixth land. The last ability is unlikely to see much use, more for the steep activation cost as opposed to the actual effect.
Pack 1
Two major potential bombs right off the bat in the first pack. Both Eskia’s Chariot and Maja, Bretagard Protector are very powerful cards in a limited environment. Maja’s cost holds her back from being massively impactful but both cards ability to constantly generate additional value gives heavy indication towards building Green/White.
Pack 2
Pack 2 brings further indicators towards a green deck. Masked Vandal is a good cheap creature with the additional benefit of potentially removing an opponent’s threat, and Path of the World Tree is a decent pick considering this deck has the actual World Tree and can activate the last ability after a period of time.
Pack 3
Broken Wings is a great piece of green removal to find in Pack 3, especially as it offer more versatility than a Plummet or Naturalise would in the same setting. The Golgari modal double-faced land provides an out into expanding into said colour pair with a great piece of fixing.
Pack 4
In Search of Greatness is… an interesting card in a draft environment. With a focus on low mana creatures it could provide some rapid and aggressive tactics in the right deck, but it would require a very specific sort of deck. Usher of the Fallen is a great aggro pick for a potential green/white deck, being a cheap creature that can be used to generate more value.
Pack 5
Giant Ox and Colossal Plow in the same pack? And a fantastic white rare bomb? That settles it, this is going to be a green/white deck. The Giant Ox and Colossal Plow combo may not even be that good, but the fact they came in the same pack seems almost like a sign for me.
Pack 6
And finally, we finish off with two decent white evasion cards but not a whole lot else. Battlefield Raptor is a great early game card to start putting pressure on an opponent (similar in a way to Healer’s Hawk from Ravnica Allegiance), and Goldmaw Champion can use it’s Boast ability during combat to potentially remove a powerful blocker.
Deck Building
For this deck build, I’ll be running through the BREAD acronym to go through how I built my theoretical prerelease deck. BREAD stands for:
Bombs – Powerful cards, usually at rare, that make an impact the turn they are played
Removal – Cards that are able to get rid of an opponent’s permanent without much fuss
Evasion – Flying, trample, unblockable. Anything that gets past an opponent’s defenses and to their life
Aggro – Cheap, effective creatures that can be played on curve and start putting pressure on an opponent’s life total
Duds – Usable cards, but definitely not the first choice. Normally used to fill up a deck near the end.
B – Bombs
Sigrid and Eskia’s Chariot are definitely my most powerful cards here, with Sigrid being a removal bomb with First Strike and a relevant protection ability in this set, and Eskia’s creating more value as time goes on. Clarion Spirit and Maja are less potent, but the amount of value each can generate in addition to the anthem effect of Maja can lead to extremely powerful boards.
R – Removal
Bound in Gold is your expected Pacifism type card in a set, with the very relevant point of it being unable to crew vehicles or activated abilities, completely locking a creature down. The potency of Broken Wings has already been discussed, but Struggle for Skemfar is a Hunt the Weak with a potential discount if it is able to be foretold.
E – Evasion
Sigrid appears again for her First Strike and protection ability, but aside from the cards discussed during pack opening there is very little else. Goldmaw Champion can tap something down but this cannot be used on an opponent’s turn due to the limitations of boast, and Battlefield Raptor is a good early start but can be quickly outpaced.
A – Aggro
It is not a good combo, but Giant Ox and Colossal Plow is something I want to run in this deck, and Ox is a decent early game creature that can hold up as a blocker for a good part of the early-mid game. Story Seeker is the best card here, as a two mana 2/2 with a very good keyword ability, Lifelink providing a bit of longevity as it attacks or blocks.
D – Dregs, Duds, or Da Rest
As we come to the final five cards, we find some usable cards but nothing entirely great. Path to the World Tree provides some function due to the fixing The World Tree provides. Ravenous Lindwurm is a decent stat body with a reasonable ability, but it is no Colossal Dreadmaw. And finally Arachnoform can be used to enhance a strong blocker like Giant Ox, or to give a bit more aggression/pressure on Battlefield Raptor.
Final Deck Evaluation
This is… not a great deck honestly. There is a handful of good cards that would provide an impact on the field when played but there is very little in the way of solid core cards to provide a decent early game to give way to those cards. If this was in a four round prerelease tournament at my FLGS I reckon I would go 1-3, not exactly Milkshake Bracket territory but still far from how I have placed before. Let us see what my consolation prize packs would have been then:
Prize Pack 1
Prize Pack 2
End Step
This was honestly a really fun project to try undertake, though it was slightly rushed due to having a day delay on receiving the prerelease kit, so, apologies for the messy photos (taken on a not great phone) and for some of the analysis probably not being entirely logical.
This was done as a way to get the prerelease experience I have almost gone a year without now (if any of my MtG friends are reading this, know I miss you greatly right now) at home, and to create a more unique piece of MtG content on my site. It was a bit disappointing to find no mythic rares in both kit and prize packs, though I reckon that foil Snow Covered Island is worth quite a bit to the right person.
After a period of time, sometimes it is best to go back to the core of what made a game great in the first place.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is an arcade flight combat game and was released in 2019. Developed by the Project Aces division of Bandai Namco could the team capture what made their previous works great, and provide a gameplay experience as a generation of consoles entered their twilight years?
Gameplay
The no-frills core gameplay of previous Ace Combat games is intact, with every plane feeling both tight and responsive to player input while also including enough distinction in how a plane rolls, pitches, and yaws. Adding onto this gameplay are three major control tweaks to give players plenty to master:
Flares, allowing players to deflect imminent missile hits that they may not want to manoeuvre to dodge
High-G Turns, quick responsive turning to conquer obstacles easier and to bleed speed in a dogfight
Post-Stall Manoeuvres (PSMs), advanced mobility techniques on certain planes, allowing for unbelievable manoeuvrability at low speeds
Rather than aircraft being available to unlock after certain milestones, the game now utilises a system called the “Aircraft Tree”. Points are earned after each mission which can be used to buy planes or parts (upgrades to improve mobility, weapons, or provide passive buffs). Unlike previous AC games, planes are unable to be sold to buy new ones, but the addition of Free Mission not requiring campaign completion allows players who wish to push themselves to one particular plane or weapon to earn points by playing the game.
Missions are diverse and well-designed, with the majority of them being built as “easy to clear, hard to master”, giving plenty of replay value for both new and old players alike. Level gimmicks are (mostly) introduced safely to players to allow them to adjust to what is required, and then ramps up their integration as time goes on. None overstay their welcome and can provide needed relief after more intense sequences. The much needed addition of checkpoints also punish players less for making mistakes in the endgame of a mission.
There is online multiplayer in this game. And whilst it is a little disheartening to see that there are no co-operative ground based missions, this fact can easily be overlooked by how powerful multiplayer can make a player feel. Work with up to three other pilots in team deathmatch, coordinating a response against an enemy ace to knock someone down a peg. Stand your ground in an all-out air battle royale, fighting to be the top pilot, all the while missiles are whizzing past in all directions.
Presentation and Sound Design
Built on Unreal Engine 4 the developers put great effort into making sure everything looked spectacular as the previous generation came to a close. Even on a standard PS4 the game looks absolutely beautiful in areas, with advanced lighting providing a fitting mood to each mission. Special mention goes to Simul’s trueSKY plugin, handling clouds, lightning, and god rays coming through said clouds.
Years worth of experience provide an unrivaled level of authenticity to the sound design. Engines, guns, and missiles all have the raw feelings of power that comes from piloting a fighter jet, allowing for full immersion during dogfights. One particular sound design of note I wish to highlight is the Electromagnetic Launcher (EML). The sound of the gun discharging, the whoosh of the high-speed projectile, and the loud bang it creates on impact all work together to provide cathartic feedback to firing a railgun.
And of course, the signature music of Ace Combat remains as fantastic as ever with Keiki Kobayashi acting as lead composer once more. Whilst Kobayashi most certainly carries his weight with some of his best work yet, the track I wish to highlight here is “444” by the wonderfully talented Mitsuhiro Kitadani. To me, this is a perfect amalgam of modern Ace Combat, classic Ace Combat, and fits the mission at hand beautifully.
Again, my thanks and admiration goes out to Zaptroxix. You do amazing work my dude, keep it up.
Plot
Taking place once more in the world of Strangereal (the term for the Ace Combat alternate reality) the game begins with the Kingdom of Erusea declaring war on the Osean Federation, with the former seizing a valuable land asset on their continent, the International Space Elevator. In doing so they also seized control of two superweapons called the “Arsenal Birds”, sweeping airborne aircraft carriers armed to the teeth with advanced weaponry.
Whilst some may claim that it is difficult to understand the story of Skies Unknown without playing previous Ace Combat games, the themes are written well enough to convey their intent to all audiences.
Osea can quickly be deduced as an analogue to the USA, being a large federal nation that has a hand in peacekeeping operations around the world. The Erusean’s declaration of war on Osea being justified by the Space Elevator infringing on the sovereignty of Erusea brings further analogues to countries resenting the heavy hand the USA can have in international matters.
Between mission cutscenes, pre-mission briefings, and mid-mission radio chatter all helps towards world building. Providing alternative insight on events just witnessed by players, giving indirect updates on how the war effort is going and what players are doing to impact it, and how your other squadron members view different situations, providing everything from snarky banter to near-speechless horror.
Debriefing
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown has everything for anyone who may be interested. Whilst some minor flaws hold the game back from true perfection, there is enough content for new players to ease themselves in and for veteran players to be welcomed back with open arms.
It is easily my favourite game in the franchise at this current point in time, and I intend to revisit for years to come.
“Did you know… there are three kinds of aces? Those who seek strength. Those who live for pride. And those who can read the tide of battle. Those are the three. And him… He was a true ace.”
Larry “Solo Wing Pixy” Foulke, Ace Combat Zero, 2006
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (released sans Zero in PAL regions) released in 2006 and was developed by the Project Aces division of Bandai Namco. Helmed by first-time creative director Naoto Maeda; can this change in leadership live up to the opening slogan of “New Blood. New Battles”?
Gameplay – Those who seek strength
Being the third and final entry into the PS2 holy trinity the core gameplay continues to be top-notch. Pre-existing issues surrounding the analogue controls of the Dualshock 2 are still present, leading to potential discomfort when needing to consistently hold down the brake or throttle. Everything else remains as tight and responsive as ever.
The cumbersome system of aircraft having a single special weapon is reverted to the tried and true formula of multiple specials on each plane, allowing for greater customisation when deciding both player and wingman loadouts. Wingman plane selection has also been scrapped in favour of having an F-15C at first and later an F-16C. Whilst I did enjoy the customisation aspect of wingman configuration; having such a powerful plane to back you up early game is a massive boon.
Wingman and enemy AI has been improved massively since the last entry. They can reliably target what his current command is, sometimes leaving players quite surprised at how efficiently the battlefield can be cleaned up. Enemy improvements lead to the pinnacle of dogfighting for the PS2 trilogy, with battles against rival Belkan aces being heart-pounding spectacles in the sky.
One of the major gameplay changes in Zero is the introduction of the “Ace Style” gauge. This gauge reacts to a player’s actions during a mission, specifically how they interact with new “Yellow” targets:
Spare and destroy roughly equal numbers of yellows? You are a Soldier, feared for your efficiency and skill in battle
Refuse to target yellows? You are a Knight, famous amongst your rivals for strict adherence to the rules of engagement
Destroy yellows with reckless abandon? You are a Mercenary, reviled for your bloodthristy nature… whilst also being loaded to buy new planes
Whilst the game allows players to select a difficulty that will determine enemy behaviours, and if a plane will explode because of a stiff breeze, Ace Style can also influence difficulty by introducing more targets the further players slide into Mercenary and will change up the rival Ace squadrons encountered during certain missions.
Sound Design – Those who live for pride
Surprising no one, the sound design found in previous entries remains in this game. Engines firing up their afterburners on the runway sound as guttural as ever and the satisfying kaboom of a missile impacting into an enemy plane remains extremely cathartic.
The signature Ace Combat sound is included with the addition of flamenco guitars providing a welcome mix up. This new instrument features heavily in duels against rival aces, increasing the tension as fighters try to tail one another. There is healthy fan debate on whether this game contains long-time composer Keiki Kobayashi’s magnum opus (most significant work), a track appropriately titled “Zero”.
Plot – Those who can read the tide of battle
Rather than the events of the war fifteen years ago being recapped, now it is the player’s turn to actually live those events in the pilot seat of Galm 1, callsign “Cipher”. Cipher is not permanently affiliated with any air force in game, instead the viewing battle through the eyes of a mercenary and how various pilots perceive mercenaries.
Belka is a small principality on the Osean continent, with analogues to 20th century Germany in being an economically struggling country embarking on a rapid expansion campaign leading up to the events of the war. From the early days of liberating occupied territory, to the lighting offensives against key strategic territory, all the way to the worst man-made disaster in Strangereal history (“Strangereal” is the fan-originated term for the alternative reality the numbered Ace Combat games take place in).
Radio chatter continues to be a vital source of information, and will give an insight to your wingman’s perspective on things, with Solo Wing Pixy either offering his insight on a terrible situation or making a snarky comment about having enough experience flying home with one wing.
Between-mission cutscenes now take the angle of a documentary for an Osean news channel, with the reporter conducting interviews with important people who had encountered Cipher. Primarily these are the Belkan aces fought during the game, and therefore cutscenes can change depending on what Ace Style certain missions are tackled with. A large change in these cutscenes are their live-action nature, leaving behind both the watercolour paintings of AC4 and the CGI sequences of AC5
Debriefing – He was a true ace
Improving massively upon the sins of its predecessor Ace Combat Zero takes the arcade style game of the franchise and ramps it up massively with AI improvements for enemy fighters, the Ace Style gauge influencing what planes are unlocked providing massive replayability without feeling forced. Whilst control issues persist, they are not enough to dampen the absolutely awe-inspiring sequences that transpire within game.
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (released with the much more inferior subtitle of “Squadron Leader” in PAL regions) is an arcade flight combat simulator developed by the Project Aces division of Namco. After making a huge splash in the PS2’s release year with Shattered Skies in 2001; could the team replicate such success three years later in 2004?
Having been a complete newcomer to this series back in August it still surprises me how much love and praise I have for this franchise, even when there are some rough edges in this particular entry.
On a distant continent, in a faraway land
Starting on the Osean continent in the year 2010, The Unsung War starts solemnly by recapping the events of a war fifteen years ago. During a conflict known as the “Belkan War”, the eponymous Belkans set off seven nuclear detonations on their soil, killing thousands and shocking the world into a ceasefire and eventual peace treaty.
After this, players are directly thrown into the action with a cutscene depicting a sudden encounter and the rookie “nugget” pilots of Sand Island Base needing to engage numerous unidentified bogies. Out of everyone who took off; only the flight instructor, Captain “Heartbreak One” Bartlett , and three nuggets, Blaze (mute, faceless player character), Kei “Edge” Nagase, and Alvin “Chopper” H. Davenport returned alive.
Routine operations resume after this incident. All remaining pilots are assigned to the Wardog Squadron and undertake straightforward missions, such as trying to escort a spy plane to a landing and destroying reconnaissance drones. During each mission though, Wardog is engaged by more unidentified bogies, the only hint to their origin being an airbase across the sea, in the country of Yuktobania.
These are not harmless incidents though, because as soon as Wardog completes only their second sortie Yuktobania declares war on Osea, beginning a lightning offensive.
Key themes to the plot in The Unsung War are mistrust and how rapidly the tide of battle can turn. Whereas the previous entry would frequently present scenarios where victory seems incredibly distant; this game prefers to drip-feed victories before violently taking it away and resetting any meaningful progress.
Mistrust develops from these incidents as both Wardog and players suddenly become unsure of who to trust. From the mysterious 8492nd Squadron, ghosts in the wind around major incidents, to the base commander and other military personnel around Sand Island. Throughout the entire progression of the war, doubts start to manifest, even to the point of wondering why this war began and who is perpetuating it.
A motormouth, an action girl, and a hopeful mechanic
The key characters players will be spending time with throughout the game are their three wingmen. Whilst they serve a gameplay purpose which will be elaborated on later; their characters and personalities are more fleshed out than in Ace Combat 4.
Instead of cut-and-paste mission dialogue talking about how one of them is going to earn their ace wings today, or telling you about their radio failure over their radio, each wingman has their own distinct personality that will come across during missions and between-mission cutscenes.
Chopper is notorious for being a non-stop chatterbox, to the point different commanding officers and AWACS Thunderhead have often asked him to kindly shut up. He even chose his callsign based on having a tendency of “shooting his mouth off” over comms.
Using this gift of speech; he is the loudest anti-war voice of the squadron. Whilst he follows through with the mission, Chopper often questions the nature of war, specifically when following orders would endanger the lives of soldiers and other pilots.
Nagase offers a similar perspective, but she does so in a more restrained way. Whilst Chopper strikes hard into the issue of modern warfare; Nagase simply wishes to enjoy the feeling of flying with equally skilled pilots, lamenting what it would have been like to fly alongside enemy pilots during peacetime.
This wish extends to other parts of her personality. She lodges her objections to the Arkbird, a large white spacefaring vessel initially designed for removing Ulysses asteroid fragments from orbit, being used for wartime purposes instead. These feelings can almost amount to disillusionment as she interrogates the Osean president on why the “beautiful white bird” had to be used for war.
Finally, comes Hans “Archer” Grimm, the replacement as your fourth wingman once Captain Bartlett is no longer in the picture. When he joins, Grimm is not even a fully trained pilot yet, simply a mechanic wishing to stop the destruction of their home base and quickly making up for his lack of formal training in the skies.
Whilst he shares the anti-war opinions of the other wingmen; it is presented in a more subtle way. Grimm instead is shown as an almost ideal soldier, they will follow their orders if legal, and they will want to minimise casualties on both sides in doing so. This detail is expanded upon further through mid-mission radio chatter where Grimm reveals he has a brother on the ground, perhaps worrying about the possibility of never seeing him again.
To cap off characters, talking about the narrator seems like a good idea. As opposed to being a nameless child in an occupied town, the game offers us Albert Genette, a young freelance journalist/photographer. (Fun fact: Genette is one of the first credited roles for all-round badass Matt Mercer.)
Genette fulfils the role of an outside witness to the game’s events, taking photographs of key moments throughout the story, and acting as the catalyst for the reputation of the main characters through his piece “The Four Wings of Sand Island”, written after one of the major opening events of the war.
Planes! You want them, we got 53 of them this time!
Yes, that’s right. Ace Combat 5 has 53 unlockable planes for players. This is a massive upgrade when compared to the total in the previous entry being 21. However, with this many planes there is almost certainly going to be a catch, and in this case it is the progression system being woefully unsatisfying in areas.
Whilst the system is still in place for players to unlock new planes after specific missions; certain planes now carry a varying number of “branches” leading off from the base plane you can buy, said base plane having an empty gauge beneath it. This gauge is the “kill rate” of that plane and fills up with kills and minigame completion. When full, the next plane on the branch is unlocked.
In theory, this system is a good idea. Rewarding players with better tech for just using the planes in missions is a great boon to replayability, but in the end it comes off as feeling grindy and unfulfilling.
A prime example: why commit to the F/A-18 when the F-35 is right there?
Throughout my initial playthrough I found it incredibly difficult to reliably commit to filling up the kill gauge on most planes. Usually because as I came close to unlocking the next branch on one; a better aircraft would have already unlocked and it becomes more worthwhile to invest in that rather than stick to what was already in use.
This feeling of grinding is amplified by what is, in my opinion, the worst part of Ace Combat 5: there are no special weapon options on the planes.
When considering buying a plane, players not only have to take into account the statistics of that plane; they also need to wonder if they will get good usage out of its singular special weapon. This can provide some interesting decisions when deciding wingmen loadout but ultimately it restricts the potential of some amazing in-game planes.
Much like a WSO, gameplay is taking the back seat
In a prime example of quantity over quality, Ace Combat 5 has the most missions out of the PS2 trilogy, but a lot of these missions are bland, unsatisfying, and in some cases poorly designed.
The majority of missions carry very little gameplay weight, ultimately becoming formulaic in the worst possible way. Complex missions from the previous game have been traded in for focusing more on wingmen character development mid-mission, supplying intermittently entertaining dialogue at the cost of feeling engaged with the task at hand.
Instead of leaving players exclaiming, “oh my god! What could happen next?”; quite often they will find themselves asking aloud, “is anything going to happen, or is this it?”.
When a mission is done well, the impact it leaves is noticeable. A handful of ground attack missions (12A and 26 of particular note) stand out beautifully as both intense and being the perfect length, whilst full-scale dogfight missions (17 and 18+) make their mark despite the dogfighting in this game leaving players wanting.
It is honestly a damn shame that the AI in this game can lead to aerial battles feeling sedentary. Unless you specifically lead them on enemy planes will rarely try to get behind players, and when they do acquire a radar lock there is a very high chance that they will just not fire a missile, allowing plenty of time to manoeuvre behind them and quickly pop them with two/three missiles.
That last bit is of note, as some enemy planes are more resilient than others. Now, this makes sense on some attackers/bombers that can be encountered throughout the game… but there is honestly very little reason why Tornados and MiG-31s should have more resilience than Su-47s. The rival ace squadron, in advanced Russian fighter jets, are easier to shoot down than a small European multirole developed in the 70s. This should not be possible.
One of the main selling points for Ace Combat 5 is the wingman command system. Using the D-Pad players are able to issue three tactical orders, and decide whether special weapons are free or safe. The tactical orders are:
Cover. The default order that players start the mission on. Wingmen will stay close to the lead plane and attempt to shoot down anything that attempts to tail them.
Attack. Useful for missions involving large resilient targets or clusters of escaping fighters. Wingmen will target whatever the lead plane is currently looking at.
Disperse. My personal most-used command. Wingmen will spread out from the lead plane and attack targets on their own volition.
Wingman commands are somewhat divisive within the Ace Combat community, and players are split whether they are a gimmick serving no gameplay purpose, or that they add a layer of tactical depth to missions. Personally, despite defaulting to the disperse command, I find myself in agreement with the latter category, enjoying having to make decisions on the fly whether to adjust my command or not.
The D-Pad is also used to answer yes/no questions posed by the wingmen and other NPCs. For the most part these have no impact on gameplay and are mainly used to further build characters throughout missions, though in some cases answering a question about splitting up or focusing firepower will result in wingman tactics automatically changing.
There is also a case where answering yes or no will change what mission is tackled next, and there is no indication this is going to be the case and is honestly a bit stupid.
Before each mission players are able to choose both their plane, and what planes their wingmen will be flying in. A box in the bottom right will inform whether or not the formation is suitable for both the air enemies and ground enemies expected to appear, and a wingman will comment if a formation is not up to snuff.
This is genuinely quite a fun system, as it allows players to determine how they want to play the game and use wingmen loadouts to help cover whatever weaker areas may remain. Want to fly escort for a flight of attackers? You can do that. Fly in a badass formation of jet black Rafales? Go right ahead. Make your wingmen defend you as you use a Warthog for everything? It is your God-given right to do so.
Under pressure (sensitive controls)
So… bit of a confession to preface this segment, when I initially played Ace Combat 4, I actually did it with a Dualshock 1 controller, as opposed to a Dualshock 2. This means my control analysis of the game was a little bit off due to how the pressure sensitivity works on the DS2. I hope to rectify this now.
The pressure sensitive controls for the bumpers do work to bring a level of realism to the game. Lightly holding down L1 will slow the plane gently without deploying the airbrake whilst a firm press down will enable rapid deceleration with said airbrake, and acceleration can be precisely controlled from gradual acceleration to full afterburners.
(NB: the following points are made from personal experiences/controller handling issues)
However, I do wish there was an option to turn this setting off. Quite often I found myself holding the controller in an awkward way to enable flying at full speed with afterburners consistently, leading to mild-to-moderate hand pain. This is not helped by a history of grip issues with controllers, and whilst the DS designs are fairly ergonomic; it is a struggle to balance comfort against efficient gameplay.
Similar issues were found with how extending the radar range worked. The level of pressure on the Square button would determine how far the radar would show, and unfortunately for me I really struggled to get a hold of this system. I would never know if I was applying too much pressure on the controller itself whilst trying to get the radar open, often leading to quick presses to determine where to hit next.
These issues are resolved for me in the digital remaster for the PS4. The superior trigger design of the DS4 controller along with the controls no longer being pressure-sensitive provide an overall better gameplay experience.
(personal experiences points end)
Outside of these issues though, everything else is absolutely spot on. Analogue stick movements control the plane to the letter of the player’s intention, swapping between regular missiles and special weapons is extremely responsive, and changing between third-person, first-person, and cockpit view is handled simply through a quick click of R3.
One minor change that feels a bit illogical is the removal of the satisfying plink plink plink sound that played whenever machine guns were used against enemy planes in AC4. It provided audible feedback that shots were actually hitting the plane players were firing at, but instead this game handles it with standard “Hit” indicators which struggle to consistently indicate if the guns are finding their mark.
The man who can never retire
A major new addition in this game is “Arcade Mode”, a short series of levels with limited ammo, fast-paced objectives, and a choice of progression paths for an easier or harder time. The average playthrough time will be about thirty minutes depending on how many restarts are needed on later missions.
There is also only one plane available for this mode; the F-22 Raptor. This is because players are once again assuming the role of the legendary ace from the previous game, Mobius 1, and nothing else would suffice.
The story is brief, those Young Erusean Officers(TM) have refused to acknowledge the surrender to the Independent State Allied Forces (ISAF) and have reformed under the banner of “Free Erusea”. And the task is for Mobius 1 to go in alone to diffuse this risk to peace.
Yes, alone. Because as the briefing officer says, analysis has proven that Mobius 1, with the assistance of AWACS Sky Eye, has the same operating strength as an entire ISAF squadron. And the high-octane action of this mode definitely proves that.
Whilst the problems with dogfighting will lead to some missions feeling a bit unsatisfying; it almost feels appropriate here. Cleaving through targets with ease fits the legend of the Ribbon Fighter, especially in the first mission where upon seeing Mobius 1 you can see fighters turning around on the radar to run away from him.
The mini-campaign culminates the same way regardless of which route is chosen by players. Assault the port facility Free Erusea are operating out of, after which Mobius 1 is ambushed by unmanned X-02 fighters, the superplane from the previous game. Is it disappointing to have such a dogfight be in this game’s mechanics? Yes. Is it nonetheless fun and cathartic? Also yes.
It also serves a purpose to the campaign mode as finishing an Arcade run will unlock the F-22 for purchase as early as Mission 5, a whole twelve missions before it should unlock, along with making the ISAF livery available for New Game+.
Use this knowledge, and power, with discretion.
A sweeping score for an unsung war
This should come as no surprise. Ace Combat 5 has a fantastic soundtrack, and whilst the quality of missions vary; the music backing them up remains absolutely beautiful and in contention for being the best soundtrack of the PS2 trilogy.
(Again, my thanks to Zaptroxix for making these extended OST videos. You are doing valuable work every day.)
Rendezvous falls into the category of “early game Ace Combat mission with music greater than it has any right to be”, think Blockade in AC4. The track starts off tense, with fast-paced strings playing with brass sounding off every so often, giving the impression that despite the mission starting off at the “end” of an operation; something is about to go down.
Percussion kicks in as the strings increase in intensity, all building towards a crescendo for the chorus to present itself as a perfect accompaniment to an early game furball against enemy fighters and bombers looking to destroy the carriers you were tasked to protect.
Tetsukazu Nakanishi, I bow to your ability to make sonar pings fit perfectly within a song.
Both Scinfaxi and Hrimfaxi (the superweapon subs in the game) share leitmotifs and composition structure in their themes, so why does Hrimfaxi win out here?
Scinfaxi projects an aura of unease, unsure as to what the true capabilities of the sub might be. It starts out slow, with string scales and the aforementioned sonar pings before transitioning into a brass section that will fade in and out as the song progresses, everything soon cutting out as all that remains are synths and sonar, anticipating what the sub may do next.
Hrimfaxi throws all pretence and preamble aside, instead choosing to open with the signature sonar ping before launching into a distorted electric guitar with the string scales taking a back seat. Whereas Scinfaxi wanted to create tension; Hrimfaxi is creating despair. Wardog are not enjoying the same tactical support they had in the last encounter, and if Hrimfaxi cannot support the Yuke frontline they will do everything in their power to go down fighting.
Admittedly though, this guitar is also probably in contention with the solo from Comona (AC4) in how hard it goes throughout the song. It very rarely breaks off aside from the shared synth and sonar section from Scinfaxi, acting as amazing boss battle music as planes strafe the large sub.
Spoilers in the next section
The war is over. With the threat of nuclear annihilation abated, the Ghosts of Razgriz can finally rest.
Or they would, if the orbital cannon carrying said nuke was not on a collision course with the Osean capital city of Oured.
As their final sortie, the heroes take off from city highways to fly out towards the SOLG. Dispatching elite Belkan air force aces on the way and eventually reaching the massive structure as it descends to a vulnerable altitude. And then the music kicks in.
The Unsung War conveys multiple emotions. Sadness that no one will know the true story of the Ghosts until they have long since faded from memory, a sense of duty in carrying out this one last mission despite the struggles faced previously, triumph knowing a new dawn will come as they end this war for good on New Year’s Eve.
The way the song progresses reflects how a player might be feeling throughout this mission. Four pilots, officially listed as killed in action weeks ago, take on a task they can never be recognised for. A single male voice comes in, singing the legend of the Razgriz, reflecting how alone these pilots may be in their task.
But before long, a female voice joins in, and over time there are more voices added to the choir with the singing growing in intensity. The Ghosts are not alone. Everyone who has looked up to the sky and saw the black shadows zooming by are with them. They cannot be there in person, but they can add their spirit to wish them victory.
“After a period of slumber, Razgriz returns. This time, a hero.”
My only criticism? It does not have a fitting mission to go alongside it. Destroying the SOLG is impactful, but it has the structural integrity of a toilet paper loincloth and after the Belkan fighters are eliminated; there are no threats to players aside from accidentally flying into the SOLG.
…and despite my tendency to fly into slow moving objects in this game I somehow managed not to do that.
Debriefing
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War is an amazing game and a worthy entry into the Ace Combat franchise. Whilst unnecessary mechanics and potential control issues do have some impact on the core game itself; there is still infinite replayability to be had and hours of fun awaiting players. It is definitely the weakest entry in the PS2 holy trinity by a wide margin, but when it hits its stride there is the signature Project Aces love and dedication to their craft.
If you have a PS2, it is usually quite easy to find a secondhand copy online or at trade-in shops. If you have a UK registered PSN account, buying a Digital Deluxe edition of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown will bag you a digital copy of AC5, which comes with enhanced resolution, better controls, and trophy support.
And believe me, when the time is right, I will be tackling the absolute beast that is Ace Combat 7. But before that, someone needs to go check if their buddy is still alive.
Personal note
Hey everyone. I’ve tried out some new techniques with this review. Rather than the usual “Plot, Gameplay, Controls” heading I’ve tried to make them a bit more entertaining and engaging whilst also relating to the content I wanted to discuss in various sections. I’ve also limited my usage of addressing the reader directly to try give this review a bit more objectivity and provide a more neutral sort of vibe.
If you have any feedback on how these things feel to you, I’d love to hear it, as coming up with different section headings was pretty fun.
And, again, I want to express thanks to my friend Clara. Without her I wouldn’t be playing Ace Combat today and would have missed out on so many amazing games. I appreciate you massively. (Follow her at @ClaraDotH on Twitter for progress on her own arcade flight game.)
Jump over that log. Roll into the landing. Keep moving.
“Fuck!” Izumi said, grunting in pain as she tried to put pressure on the bleeding wound on her torso, a series of red puncture marks indicating a vicious bite, “No good bullshit bastarding bears…”
Having embarked on an assassination mission that went wildly wrong; the shadow fey now desperately tried to flee her pursuers whilst in grave amounts of pain. Darting between twisted trees and through canopy clearings, she only briefly looked behind her to see if she was still being followed, roars and heavy stomps confirming her fears.
Eventually she broke out of the forest into a large open plain, initially cursing the lack of hiding spots before noticing that someone had set up a camp on the forest outskirts. As she stumbled over she tried to assess if it was going to be friendly or not. The tent was large, and made of deep purple canvas fabric, similar to tents used by shadow fey ranging parties.
Though this was no temporary encampment, for a makeshift fence had been built around the entrance to the tent, forming a cozy yard where a cooking pot, improvised washing line, and woodcutting station had been set up. As Izumi approached; no one came out of the tent to meet her, but at this point, the pain had become too great and she collapsed against the woodcutting log.
The two bearfolk who had chased her all this way caught sight of her in this vulnerable position and began approaching slowly with weapons drawn, bearing their teeth in excitement of the kill. Closing her eyes, Izumi braced herself, waiting for the killing blow to come…
…it then came as a surprise then when she heard the whoosh of an arrow, and a roar of pain coming from one of the two bears, who shortly fell to the ground, dead.
“Excuse me,” a feminine voice said, sounding rather annoyed upon seeing the uninvited guests at her tent, “I’m sure you have a good reason for wanting that poor girl dead, but two things.” She nocked another arrow into her longbow and drew the bowstring back, “first, I’m not letting you kill a fellow shadow fey. Secondly, and more importantly, you’re trespassing on my house.”
Letting out a snarl, the remaining bear turned to face the mysterious interloper and brandished their greatsword in a threatening manner. “You don’t need to die today girl,” he said, “but if you keep that bow pointed at me, this is getting ugly.”
There was a brief pause as both sides stood ready to engage. “It’s already pretty ugly, considering I’m looking at you right now.”
With that snarky comment pushing their rage to a breaking point; the bearfolk let out an intimidating war cry before charging his opponent. She let loose her arrow at him but quick reflexes allowed him to slash it to the side as he continued his advance, slowing slightly just a small distance from his target to raise the massive blade above his head to deliver a devastating downward slash.
Fury soon became shock as the weapon bounced back off an intense red-hued magical shield that seemed to materialise instantly against the angle of attack. The girl smirked, “Shouldn’t have gone for the head.” Whilst the bearfolk was disoriented from the failure of their attack; she manifested crackling energy around her right hand and landed a perfect right hook, enhanced through the power of lightning.
Bloodied and bruised, the aggressor collapsed to the ground, barely maintaining consciousness as they grunted in pain. Wasting no time the girl walked around the back of the bear whilst unsheathing a rapier, driving it through the base of the bear’s skull, killing them instantly.
Ambling back towards her camp the girl cast two bolts of fire, setting the dead bearfolk alight and making sure they would not be coming back. She leaned down to inspect the semi-conscious Izumi, closely examining her wound, “Can you hear me?”
The rogue groaned as she opened her eyes. “Yeah…” she said, her voice strained as she looked at her saviour, “who… who are you?” The girl smiled as she quickly dipped into her tent and grabbed medical supplies, “My name’s Marieya Ebontide, yours?”
“It’s Izumi… first name basis only please.”
“Sure, no worries,” Marieya said as she sliced off Izumi’s clothes and started patching up the wound, “how the hell did you get a bite like this?”
“Gah… sent to assassinate a bearfolk commander, got into the encampment fine, and then as I prepared to slash the fucker open I kicked a stool over and they saw me, with the bastard you nailed with an arrow biting down hard.”
“Ouch, that really must’ve hurt. Surprised you made it all the way to my camp.”
“What can I say? I’m a stubborn bitch who can surviv-oh shit that stuff burns!”
“Oh quit complaining, it’s just to clean the bite of any dirt that might’ve got in there.”
Izumi rolled her eyes back as Marieya continued to tend to the wound, cleaning it out completely before wrapping her torso in bandages. “There we go,” she said, making sure everything was secure, “you’re all patched up, but you’re welcome to stay the night to rest up properly.”
“Thanks, I guess” Izumi said, following Marieya into her tent, “these are some pretty swanky digs you got here, who you sharing with?”
Marieya looked slightly forlorn as she sat on a stool, gathering some food up, “Oh, no one…” she said, her voice lowering and sounding slightly upset, “I’m uh… kind of reviled for my powers by most shadow sorcerers… and people generally… so I just live out my days as a hermit.”
“Shit, sorry for asking,” Izumi said, lying back on a bedroll. “So you got no real friends then?”
“Not quite,” Marieya said, using another bolt of fire to light her cooking pot outside, raising her voice again to be able to converse properly, “I have a handful of friends, I’m on good terms with the ranging parties, the great ranger Vardal usually makes my camp a rest stop.”
Shifting on her stool slightly, Izumi adopted a look of unease, “Vardal huh… may have had a few worrying run-ins with the guy.”
“Good run-ins or bad run-ins?” Marieya said as she dumped some large chunks of onion and quartered mushrooms into the pot, sizzling as they hit the hot cast iron.
“Both really. We’ve worked together on some ranging missions, where I’ve helped clear out guards from an encampment. But also my employer has a bad habit of asking me to kill folks Vardal needs to bring back alive.”
Izumi hobbled close to the tent entrance and took a long, deep, inhale. “Fuck me,” she said loudly, peering over into the cooking pot, “that smells great already!”
As she added a bit of salt, pepper, and crushed garlic, Marieya giggled as she stirred things round. “Yeah, when you have to become mostly self-sufficient, you learn a few good things about cooking.”
“Mostly?” Izumi said with curiosity, sitting down on the woodcutting stump as Marieya worked.
“Yeah, I gather vegetables and go fishing down by the river for freshwater prawns,” and as if on cue, several peeled prawns were added to the pot, “but more luxurious things like seasonings, bread, cheese, and wine I get whenever Vardal comes by or when Ancil comes to visit.”
“Pardon the fuck?” the rogue said, raising her voice so much a flock of birds flew off, “Ancil? As in, the legendary pit fighter Ancil?”
“The very same, they were training in the forest as I was gathering one day. We got to chatting and despite being a stoic person, I really got to know them. We’ve been friends ever since, definitely my longest-standing friend too.”
Izumi looked at Marieya in complete shock, her mouth agape as the meal was finished with a knob of butter and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. “The Marieya special”, she said, handing a plate full of garlicky prawns and vegetables over, “simple, wholesome comfort food.”
The pair joyfully shared the lovingly prepared food together, Izumi telling more stories of the different jobs she had been sent on and listening intently as Marieya shared as many stories about Ancil as she could recall before they retired back to the tent for a good night’s rest.
A dusky morning shined over the tent as Marieya gave her new friend a final check on her wounds before sending her on her way, with the promise of good food and shelter if she ever needed it.
Marieya thought to her herself, “this… is a pleasant memory.”
*****
Awakening from her trance, Marieya sighed and looked across her current travelling companions, before smiling to herself. “You guys really are some of the best friends I could ask for.”
Inspiration
What’s this? A Marieya story where I end on a positive note? What is this heresy! (Ignore the fact that all other named characters in this story are canonically dead.)
My main goal with this story was developing the character of Izumi primarily, and going through the process of Marieya making a new friend through sheer serendipity.
When writing Marieya pre-incident, I lean heavily into a line from the Sorcerer Tweaked homebrew I acquired her origin from. “Such sorcerers are wanderers by necessity … If a fire breaks out in town, a phoenix sorcerer had best flee, whether guilty or not.”
I’ve tried to strike a balance with Marieya in this makeshift forest camp she makes a home in. From the way she talks about having no one to share with, I wanted to evoke the feeling of being an outcast. When no one comes around to visit; she is truly alone in this world.
However, she is more than an outcast. She laments the scenario her powers create, but she does not allow herself to fall into despair completely (marking a contrast to her post-incident character). Able to survive, care, and nurture her abilities away from the influence of magical colleges, she is thriving as a solitary individual.
This is why she hits it off so well with Izumi, because she does not push further onto a sensitive issue once she realises she has hit a nerve. She instead chooses to get to know her mysterious saviour, sharing a meal with her and finding out more about how someone goes about living in this scenario.
I had initially planned to include meetings with Ancil and Vardal as part of the story, but felt that for showing how someone like Marieya developed a friendship would be more informative to her character. Izumi herself is loosely based off Kainé from NieR:Gestalt/Replicant, specifically taking the brash personality traits and rapid-fire rude mouth.
Once again, I am going to end off with some amazing art from my mate Brett (Bretticus.Llewellyn.art on Instagram – seriously, go follow this beautiful chap. He’s made my stupid ideas come true.)
With a story focused on friends, few things could be more appropriate than the disaster duo of Honesty and Marieya rocking shades, looking away from an explosion like the badass buddies they are.
At time of writing there are about seven days left in the year, and I figured I would use this time to evaluate what I have done this year, what I have achieved, and look forward to what may be coming next.
So, two of the biggest things to happen this year to me were fully accepting that I am definitely more feminine than my assigned gender (I am still trying to figure out the more specific details of how I feel – it has been an up and down journey) and finally graduating from university after three years, coming out with the best possible result of a First class degree.
Both of those are massive accomplishments, especially in a year living in the shadow of a global pandemic and the looming spectre of repeated lockdowns. There have been a good smattering of smaller successes too, namely setting up this website and trying to collect my various writing works together into one hub.
However, where success lies, there are bound to be failures that scatter the path towards them. And as alluded to, this year has not been easy for a lot of reasons, and I have definitely had a lot of realisations and challenges that came along the way.
First off, coming out as gender nonconforming is really difficult. It took a lot of courage to work myself up to telling my major friend groups, to the point I deployed a meme to do most of the initial talking for me. Obviously because I am friends with some amazing people; there was no real question on whether or not I would be accepted but the doubts still creep in from time to time.
Secondly… mental health troubles. Whilst I have always struggled with mental health issues for a long time, discoveries and potential disasters through the past couple of months have opened my eyes to how bad things got sometimes.
At some points during the year, there had been a risk of me permanently damaging some of the relationships I shared with people, through a bit of pigheadedness and a lot of despair; I came close to losing touch with one of the closest friends I have nowadays. Things got better over time, and a massive change in their life has made both them and me extremely happy, but I still worry how things could have gone if I did not snap out of that funk.
Same time, different trajectory was coming to terms with the fact I am almost definitely neurodivergent to some degree, specifically being on the autistic spectrum somewhere and having a form of attention-deficit disorder. The latter of which is why content was so plentiful in the early days of this website and why it dropped like a brick when I got burnt out realising it was very difficult trying to do three 4000 word articles plus research and media in a single week.
Whilst a positive change in my life (going on SSRI tablets) have helped manage some of the symptoms I experience on a day-to-day basis; there is definitely still more to be done in terms of developing healthy coping mechanisms and potentially acquiring medication to specifically manage the ADD symptoms.
And generally I have lost a lot of initial direction I had back when I first started university. For various reasons (stresses of final year, stresses outside of final year, and the job economy as a whole) I have lost a lot of my drive towards game development as a career. I know for a fact that programming and academia is a combination I do not wish to return to, but, watch this space all the same for if I relent and go in for a Master’s degree.
But, other than a single QA role I have an interview coming up for, it is hard to envision myself working professionally within the games industry in the next couple of years. I am trying to ease myself back in with light work on a friend’s arcade flight game (go follow @ClaraDotH on Twitter for more updates – she does great work!) but the next big real step I need to try conquer is using Rambles as a content platform for my portfolio work too.
In terms of current career trajectory, things are definitely a bit jumbled right now. I know I definitely have a passion for writing and would love to be able to do that full time in some capacity, be it copywriting for a marketing company or games studio, or going off on my own and trying to freelance things.
But aside from that, my main goal is finding something relatively regular and decently paying enough to get my foot in the door and fund other projects. Council jobs, admin roles, something professional enough to round out my skill set and improve my employability.
Through all those rough patches though, in the end things have always turned out alright. I have amazing groups of friends to rely on for advice and support when I need it, when the weight of depression relents I know I am able to create beautiful and detailed pieces of writing, and even though things look cloudy now; I know my passion for wanting to create entertaining games will return one day.
And that is not to mention all the other good that has happened to me this year:
Met and befriended quite a few new people, and learnt a lot about the ones I already know
Got introduced into the amazing Ace Combat franchise and ended up becoming a huge fan
Started to play in two ongoing TTRPG games which are both amazingly fun and spectacular muses for my writing work
Considered starting up my own TTRPG game to both experience the thrill of DMing and guide my friends through great stories
And started actually filling out my wardrobe with non-cosplay items to achieve a well-rounded (but still very WIP) female outfit selection
Going forward, I definitely hope to keep creating content for Rambles, but definitely at my own pace for I certainly do not currently have a lack of ideas. I have several pieces planned about Ace Combat 7, needing to review both Ace Combats 5 and Zero, finally getting around to doing MtG based content and even branching out into cosplay posts at some point in the future too.
Things have not been easy this year, and with the way things are going, it is looking like they may not properly relent for some time either. Regardless, I intend to keep plowing on the best I can, knowing that soon everything can, and will, work out in the end.
The battle was long, a lot of people had come out to join us and try to assist in fighting off Cunning in the crab tank. Fauna… Fauna had taken a torpedo straight to her body and had collapsed, in the panic I forgot all about stabilising her and just focused on running with Honesty.
You failed once more…
Even when Honesty went down, I didn’t help him… I was so incensed in the moment that all I did was pray to Seggotan for guidance, beseeching that his power keep us all going… that maybe, just maybe, he could help save Vantar from death.
Little Marieya, slowly losing all her friends again. One. By. One.
I thought we had won! I thought that after putting that crab, machine, thing out of action that we’d have been able to get the soul gem back, but somewhere along the way, or even when Cunning was in the machine, it got cracked. Meaning that he was gone. Gone forever.
And you did noth-
Get out of my goddamn head! We tried, I tried, all of us tried to be the heroes in this story. Travelling far and wide to work towards a solution, risking life, limb, and all manner of dangerous monsters. We tried our best, and after all this time, our family can never be reunited again.
Reaching into her bag, Marieya grabs a large tome, gold etched writing on the front displays the title as “A Definitive History of the World: As told by Mharoti Scholars”. The book is the Mharoti Empire’s retelling of history, making things appear more favourable to their causes in the hope of sowing dissent amongst other cities and nations.
She didn’t care for the book, she had plenty of opportunity to sell it at Prawn’s Pawn whilst she was offloading plenty of other such items. However, for all the pain and misery the dragons had brought her, in the back of the book was some writing
One paragraph read, “Izumi… Vardal… Ancil… Charax… I miss all of you… I hope one day we can be reunited, and on that day… I can tell you how sorry I am for letting you down.”
Another, written just below: “Marieya, you have a duty to protect your new friends. Honesty may be anything but, and Vantar seems to be going along with whatever schemes he has cooking. Jorgen is mildly antisocial but seems to be screwed on straight, and Fauna… well Fauna seems okay actually. But you need to know, keeping these people safe and close to you will help you to see how much better life can get.”
Grabbing a quill and some ink from a nearby nightstand, Marieya scribbled a little bit to make sure she had got the ink on right, before going to write a new paragraph.
“Vantar… is gone now. For everything we did, we couldn’t save him. I tried to comfort Honesty in the moment, but, he needed to be alone. Goddamnit… I should’ve stuck around anyway, I know what it’s like to feel the loss of friends, I know what it’s like and I failed to help anyway.”
A tear dropped down onto the page and more soon followed, as Marieya tried to suppress her sobbing to avoid waking up the others before moving onto another paragraph.
“Is this what the life of an exiled phoenix is? No… I’m not a phoenix. Phoenix’s are majestic, honourable, with the misfortune I’ve brought to everyone around me I’m more like an albatross around their neck.”
She slammed a gloved hand into her face hard, the sound travelling through the room but not stirring anyone who was asleep.
“I have to stay with them, when I told Honesty that we’re family, I meant it. Sometimes though, families have those who are not the most welcome and I know I’m on my way towards that. If it comes to it, I’ll sacrifice myself for them. Maybe in death I can earn a smidge of redemption, and finally get a chance to be useful.”
Clasping her hands around the back of her head; Marieya allowed herself a few brief moments of unrestrained bawling. Keeping the noise to a minimum, she allowed herself the relief that comes with crying, letting all the negative feelings and emotions that had been boiling up through the aftermath of the battle out, before finalising her writings with a short sentence.
“Even in death, you are still my friend. Goodbye Vantar.”
Seggotan, lord of the sea and mentor of the waves… please, I beg of you, protect Vantar’s soul as he drifts through the tide, he is not one of yours, but I ask you to guide him to the other side. And please…
Don’t make me bury anyone else.
Inspiration – Content Warning
(Note to my DM, Albert: You handled this session amazingly friendo, the battle was tense, enjoyable, and ended up being a good level of difficulty despite original intentions. The preceding work and proceeding explanation is no bearing on your ability to tell a story… this is something I needed to write for me.)
This entire session was not going to be easy, we were up against an enemy we had never encountered before, and even then, we all knew that our efforts were going to be in vain. A lot of this campaign had been dedicated to getting a Gearforged party member revived, when the player decided not to continue with the campaign, it left a dilemma of how to resolve things. Rather than having a character change for the person playing Honesty, it was decided that killing off Vantar would be better.
Now… that is why it was difficult for the characters and scenario, but, this fight ended up taking a toll on me mentally as well. Admittedly, the fact that Marieya is very much a projection of myself did not make anything better.
In the lead up to this session, one of my closest friends had gone through some grief, and because of how close I was to the person he was grieving for, I felt a lot of similar feelings as well… and it took a lot to try resolve my “feeling bad about feeling bad”. I had locked into a mindset that because he had way more reason to grieve, I should just shut up and lock everything inside. It took a late night vent, some reassurance from friends, and a lot of virtual explosions to pull me out of that rut.
However, there was something else as well. About two days before the session, I had my personal issues regarding abandonment triggered by an event within a social circle (since I know these people may also read this blog, this is also nothing on you), which meant that losing Vantar in the session really ended up hitting a nerve hard around my own loneliness.
I feel I really struggle with making and keeping friends sometime, some of it conscious, some of it blissfully unaware until it is way too late, which is why when I am presented with the possibility of having friends fade from my life things start to go a bit haywire. Tried to portray that with Marieya, especially through the line:
“Even in death, you are still my friend. Goodbye Vantar.”
Even when people fade from my life, and for all the memory problems I have, the good times I have with friends will always remain, and I can hold that close as a memory of positivity.
To try end this off on a more positive note, I am going to showcase some art my friend Brett (and Honesty’s player) did in the lead up to this session, involving the party reacting to the scenario. He absolutely nailed the reference expression for Marieya I gave him along with making her incredibly beautiful even in sadness. His instagram is bretticus.llewellyn.art if you want to check him out.
Whatever had caused that loud of a noise could not be good news, and Marieya knew that her friends were in danger. She didn’t know what it was or how powerful it could turn out to be, all that mattered to her was grabbing her gear, channeling her innate shadow fey powers to quickly teleport from where she was keeping watch before dashing towards the source.
It only took under half a minute for her to reach where the combat was taking place. Jørgen was attempting to cast an ice-based spell and having it pass through the ineffable form of the ghost that was assaulting the rest of the party. Honesty and Milo were using their ranged weaponry to try to damage it, and whilst the arrows & bolts were leaving visible trails of web as they exited the spectral opponent; it was not having nearly enough of an effect.
The same could be said of Fauna’s attacks, with her choosing to adopt her war ostrich form in the hopes of maximising damage to similarly frustrating results as the ranged attacks.
“Alright,” Marieya thought to herself, “It’s just an undead, you’ve dealt with these before.” She raised her hand and channeled a spell, a skeletal hand forming itself into existence before launching at the ghost and latching onto it. “Right, that’s the spell done, now-”, Marieya’s thoughts were cut off by the ghost turning around and screaming at her and Fauna.
“…that did nothing except piss it off…”
In its rage, the ghost chose to ignore the two members of the party at the other side of it and charged straight at Marieya and Fauna. Passing through the former harmlessly apart from some shivers and being slightly freaked out.
When it came to passing through Marieya however, that is when the situation became a little more complicated. Instead of continuing on its path the ghost pulled itself into the shadow fey’s body, possessing Marieya and locking her into her own mind, this change confirmed by the glowing blue eyes and the piercing scream that was emanating from her.
“Oh Seggotan. Oh crap. Oh fuck.” Marieya said out loud in her mindscape, able to perceive what is going on through her eyes but completely unable to control herself. “Come on,” she said, panic lacing her voice thoroughly, “I can break free of this, all I’ve got to do is…”
“There’s no getting out of this one killer,” a similar voice echoed from behind Marieya, and she turned to look at them in horror, “This time, you aren’t stopping me from taking control.”
Before Marieya stood a mirror of herself, a manifestation of her past mistakes, guilt, trauma, and fears. A self-created image of what could have happened if she let her loathing and hatred get out of control, they wore a long black robe covered in red gemstones, a hood pulled up to shadow the face entirely except for eyes glowing a fierce orange, carrying a red staff emblazoned with fiery imagery and a flame burning at the top that seemed to never need fuel or stoking.
“No!” Marieya cried, trying to conjure a geyser of water underneath the manifestation standing before her. In response, they waved their hand gently, and the beginnings of the geyser faded into nothing.
In a fit of fury Marieya tried another spell, this time hoping to use an intense ribbon of water to throw the manifestation to the ground. With but a stomp of their staff a wall of fire blazed into life in front of them, quickly evaporating the ribbon into nothing.
Before even letting their opponent try cast another spell, the manifestation used their quicker reflexes to lunge forward with their staff, tripping the shadow fey onto the ground and pinning her. Outside of this mindscape the others were trying in vain to non-lethally bring down their friend, attempting to grapple with her and similarly knock her prone on the ground, but the ghost was utilising its host’s natural reflexes to dodge out of the way.
“Would you look at that?” the manifestation said, laughing gently in a mocking tone, “your little friends are trying to save you, aww, that is so cute…”
“It will make all the sweeter when I kill them.”
Marieya tried to struggle free from under the staff, attempting to use what little strength she had to break free, as the ghost attempted to use her weaponry against her friends, thankfully failing in this pursuit. Faintly, she heard Jørgen speak to her, “I’m very sorry for what I’m about to do.”
And in that moment, he placed the tips of his thumbs together and spread his fingers apart, blasting out a cone of red hot fire against his possessed friend, causing a scream of pain and intensifying the sweating Marieya had been experiencing.
In any other moment, confronted with that much fire directly in her face would have caused her to lose her nerve and consequently lose control over her suppressed powers. But faced with the prospect of the darkness within her hurting her friends, her resolve steeled, and she was able to focus on keeping things in control.
“Oh that is just too fucking good!” the manifestation said, raising their voice and laughing loudly at its prey still pinned under the staff. “One of your allies is using your worst fears against you, all because you couldn’t hold your nerve against a ghost!”
Scared, and worried for the safety of her friends Marieya managed to briefly pull the staff off of her and roll away, launching herself to her feet and assuming a combat stance as her real life counterpart dodged Fauna’s snake staff that had attempted to constrict her.
“There’s no use fighting this you pathetic girl,” the manifestation said, chastising the cleric before them, “you’ve failed in keeping me suppressed, and now, all of them are going to see you for the monster you are, what a sight… seeing little Marieya, all scared and alone, becoming a cold, ruthless, murderer.”
Rage boiled up inside Marieya, as she felt her dominant hand warming up and the outline of fiery phoenix wings formed around her. A blaze conjured itself around her hand and soon spread across her arm as the wings fully formed and the visage of the phoenix formed around her head.
“No. One. Messes. With. My. Family!”
She lunged forward as the manifestation turned to face her, trying to quickly prepare a counterattack but failing as the flaming punch impacted hard onto their face, knocking them to the ground where they quickly evaporated into black smoke, once again retreating to the recesses of Marieya’s mind as her vision turned black and she fell to the ground both in her mindscape and reality.
The others had caused enough damage for Marieya to become unconscious, the finishing blow coming from Fauna using a spell to heat the sword within Marieya’s hand to both disarm her and damage her, forcefully expelling the ghost from her body.
Initially everyone else planned to go over to her and quickly stabilise her condition, but this was cut short by a spark releasing itself from her chest, rapidly forming into a similar phoenix-like form that had appeared in her mindscape and exploding in a ten foot radius around her, hitting the ghost with a burst of magical flame that did moderate damage to it before she fell onto the ground heavily damage, but conscious.
“Oh no…” Marieya thought to herself as she touched her hand to her chest and flooded her system with healing energy, “I have to explain what the hell just happened to them, Jørgen’s gonna be so angry that I hid this from him, I’m gonna have to leave the others and go back into isolation…”
Whilst she went through internal panic on the ground; everyone else used this opportunity to launch an all out attack at the ghost to prevent it from either repossessing Marieya, or possessing anyone else. Fauna’s snake staff bit into it, Jørgen bashed it around with his quarterstaff and Honesty snuck up behind it and dealt the fatal blow with a cunning surprise attack.
With the situation now much calmer, the rest of the party turned to Marieya, looking concerned but in more of an “are you okay?” way than feeling threatened by her. In between sobs of panic, she was able to speak, “So… before I was cleric, I was a sorcerer. A phoenix sorcerer, to be precise. The power of fire literally lives within my veins.”
She paused, taking a sharp breath before carrying on, “and it’s caused me nothing but grief ever since… an incident, so, I just lock it away, and it only really comes out under stress.” She turned to Jørgen with pleading eyes and began crying properly, “I… understand if you hate me now Jørgen, I know that I’m nothing but a filthy mageblood to you now… I can also understand if you want me to leave…”
Jørgen adopted a soothing tone, and sought to assuage his friend’s worries. “Marieya”, he said, not a hint of anger in his voice, “when I spoke those words, I was referring to those with uncontrolled wild magic in their veins. You both make an effort to restrain your powers and your innate ability comes from the phoenix, a most noble creature.”
Fauna concurred, saying, “Yeah, we honestly don’t mind that about you, we’re just glad you’re safe and that you felt comfortable telling us.”
And finally, Honesty chimed in. “Big fire bird go boom?” he said, having the point well and truly go over his head.
Marieya laughed, still with a hint of worry in her voice but relieved she hadn’t alienated or harmed another group of friends, pulling herself to her feet as they all went off to resume their sleep for the night.
As she lay down in trance, it quickly became a very easy rest to get through. No nightmares, no intrusive thoughts, no dwelling on the past, only a single phrase passing through her mind:
“You’re my family now, and I promise you, so long as I’m around, no one is going to hurt you. Absolutely no one.”
Inspiration
It has been far too long since I’ve written a Marieya story and it honestly feels great, especially as the last session I had it was finally time for the full party to uncover part of her backstory, specifically her Phoenix Soul sorcerous origin.
Though I will admit it was also completely anxiety inducing considering that I essentially had control ripped away from me as this ghost attempted to attack my friends whilst the DM informed me that I was completely aware what was going on in this state.
Whilst that is terrifying, it gave me a bit more room to expand on Marieya’s Manifestation, previously introduced in one of my backstory articles (Marieya’s Torment if you’re interested).
Writing for the manifestation is interesting, because I treat them as both a physical and nonphysical entity. Physical in the fact I keep a sideline character sheet for them to inform me of their looks, abilities, and equipment, and nonphysical in the fact that they’re essentially just a figment of Marieya’s psyche.
Admittedly, the way that I write her is based off my own mental struggles.
Because what’s a better coping technique than projecting your issues onto your characters right? (This is sarcasm, pay no attention to me, get the help you need if you need it.)
In seriousness, the manifestation is based off my own problems with intrusive thoughts and how they can be based on things that have happened in the past or paranoia about things that you feel could happen. Marieya has lost quite a few friends for various reasons, either by her own selfish actions, or through inability to take a meaningful action, and this ends up weighing heavily on her with the rest of the party because she feels that these actions are doomed to repeat themselves and she’ll lose the new friends she’s grown incredibly close to.
This is also why I made it a point to put try put emphasis on Marieya calling her friends “her family”, because this is also an important point to her character and another thing I’ve lifted from myself. Whilst I get on with my family, it’s often my friends I tend to rely on more for support, guidance, and a lot of things generally.
In general the concept of “found family” is always something I enjoy seeing, as when done right it allows people and characters to find a place where they are comfortable. Home doesn’t have to be four walls and a roof, home can be a hug and a heartbeat.
Unrelated to anything, I did a lot of dialogue in this story, and was specifically using a worksheet/guide to try help me, as dialogue is one of my weaker areas when it comes to punctuation. Let me know how it turned out, as always I’m very happy to hear whatever feedback you may have.
In life, even in the far future, two things are certain. Whilst death can be circumvented through various arcane means, taxes remain a dominating factor, though as always where there are taxes; there are those that will stop at anything to paying them. Various illicit organisations exist to aid such individuals or groups of individuals, one of the most successful being Midas Touch Security Solutions.
On the surface, MTSS presents itself as any normal security firm would. Pristine receptions, pristine receptionists, and pristine receipts ready to present to any discerning tax collector, those in the know however all it takes is a password to gain access to all seedy services available.
From extortion, to racketeering, to blackmail to “competitor disincentivising”, MTSS offers it all with the promise of a discreet golden touch.
At the galactic headquarters, in an office on the third floor, many peons worked away tirelessly at desks. Fabricating records and finding loopholes in galactic tax codes to ensure all clients were able to hold onto as much of their money as possible. In the corner office, the most successful of these individuals was a Vect, going by the name of Blaze.
As with all vects, they chose their own name. Though in the many years of service rendered to MTSS everyone had wondered why Blaze had not chosen to adopt a name more suitable to their role in life. Until a fateful day when Midas’s activities caught up with them…
A smart dressed man and two android police officers walked down the plush carpeted corridors all the way to Blaze’s office, where they were still diligently working away on ensuring taxes were not paid.
“Mr Blaze, we are here to place you under arrest.” the smart dressed man said, flanked by the android police with their hands on holstered phasers “You have the option to come quietly, or my friends here can deal with you”, smirking at the vect still silently working away.
It took a while until they finally decided to respond. “If you please,” they said, “in accordance with Planetary Law AJP232P, can you read the charges to the suspect?”. The left android simulated a sigh before taking out an official-looking document.
“The first charge,” he said, “is for aiding and abetting tax evasion. This is the definition of the crime; however, you are being charged with three-thousand-four-hundred-and-twenty-three counts in this case.”
“The second charge is for the murder of planetary tax officials. Again, this is the definition of the crime, and you are being charged with four counts.”
“And the final charge is…” the android paused, flashing a puzzled expression and turning to his colleague, whispering, “Uhh… is this right? Do they have… y’know?” The other officer shrugged before the reading of the charges resumed, “the final charge is for… public indecency… only one count.”
Grinning, the smart dressed man said, “Oh, what a pity, that all amounts to life in prison… and a ten gold fine for the indecency thing,” he approached the desk slowly, with a menacing gait. “Now, are you coming quietly, or is this going to be difficult?”
Another pause settled between the parties in the room before Blaze reached down and placed a hand on their desk.
“Come get me, punks.”
With that boast Blaze used their hand on the desk to push it over, knocking prone and pinning the smart dressed man beneath it. As the police officers drew their phasers, the hand not on the desk had reached down for an explosive device and threw it as they ducked behind the toppled desk as makeshift cover.
So focused on drawing weapons the two androids did not notice the explosion device hurtling towards them, detonating mid-air and spreading burning goop all over the office as the shockwave shattered all the windows both out and inward facing. The flaming formula stuck to their uniforms and slowly consumed them, screaming as they tried to pat each other out.
Seeing an opportunity for eliminating them; Blaze reached for a swarm pistol they had stored in one of the desk’s drawers. Holding the foregrip tight and taking aim, they fired two short bursts, one per officer, to put an end to both their suffering and existence.
Now the vect’s focus turned to the man still pinned under the desk. “Who is your source?” they asked.
The man coughed, struggling to try push the desk off himself, saying, “Go to hell you tax dodging bastard!” In response, Blaze fired a quick burst of fire into the man’s right hand, before leaning down closely and asking the question again. “…your boss,” the man said, “Knox Knave.”
“Thank you for your co-operation.” Blaze said, reaching for another bomb and placing it gently into the breast pocket of the smart dressed man’s suit, ignoring the pleas for mercy as bloodied hands struggled.
Blaze went over to the safe in the corner of their office, unflinching as a person was turned into chunky salsa behind him, and retrieved its contents. These included an outfit suitable to the seedier side of the universe, a laser claw, and all the tools and reagents they would need to keep on making bombs.
Up on the forty-fourth floor Knox was relaxing in his office, letting his amoeboid body drape over a plastic-wrapped sofa, and enjoying a cold drink.
That was until he heard screaming, explosions, and blaster fire ringing through the wide corridors. Instinctively he scurried over to his large ornate desk to press the button for calling security, barely reaching it, and pressing the button before an explosion ripped the double doors off their hinges.
“Knox, it is time to pay, you slimeball!” Blaze said, striding through the smoking wreckage of the door.
“Ahh, Blaze, buddy!” Knox said, pressing the security button a few more times, worried no one has turned up yet.
“They are all dead Knave. Everybody is dead Knave.”
“All the security guards?”
“Everybody is dead Knave.”
“All my elite security too?”
“Yes Knave. They are dead. Everybody is dead Knave.”
If amoeboids could sweat; Knox would have turned into a puddle of slime by now, as the vect approached him, swarm pistol in one hand, the other free to reach into a bag filled with dangerous explosives.
“S-surely we can work something out!” Knox said, surveying the room to see if there was a vent he could try escaping into. “Money? Weapons? A better office? Anything you want!”
Standing but a few feet away from their boss, Blaze only had one question: “Why did you sell me out?”
“Eh, well, you see…” Knox said, trying desperately to both find a way out and a good story to cover his, before sighing, and saying, “it’s just the cost of doing business, I had to bribe some bigshot tax admin to ensure MTSS stays afloat, I threw you in as a way of sweetening the deal with them!”
Blaze stared for a moment, processing this new bit of information, and after a while they said, “Thank you for telling me. You can die now”. With those words they lunged over the desk and grabbed Knox tight, making sure they could not slide out of the grapple.
Knox tried to struggle and began grovelling harder than before. “Please! Stop!”, he said, “I told you why, we can just start afresh somewhere, you can be my second in command!”
This time, there was no pause in what Blaze needed to say. “I will not do business with someone who is a proven snitch.”
Reaching into the bag of bombs Blaze grabbed and primed a shrapnel-based device, shoving it right inside Knox’s gelatinous body before throwing him across the room, watching as the force of the initial detonation and the fragments that came after it tore him asunder, splattering purple ooze all across the opulent office.
Knowing better than to leave an amoeboid unattended; Blaze bided their time until they saw the chunks of their former boss tried to reform, taking the opportunity to use their swarm pistol to permanently end any last vestige of life.
“Add one more count of murdering a tax official, and eleven more counts of homicide.”
Inspiration
First off: I’M BACK BITCHES!
Okay, that is a bit crass, but this is my first original work in over a month. I’m still dealing with burnout, demotivation, and a laptop keyboard with several malfunctioning keys which doesn’t really help anything, but hopefully over the coming weeks I can inspire myself back into action.
This story is a bit off the wall I’ll admit, it’s supposed to serve as a backstory/inciting incident for my character in a Dark Matter game. During character conceptualization I was definitely leaning towards the robotic Vect race, for some of their racial feats and how they interact with the graft system.
After that, I looked at the Dark Matter included backgrounds and found “Exile”, which seemed quite interesting. On the list of crimes included is “tax exile”, leading to the very silly idea of a robot using themselves to aid in committing tax fraud.
Then came deciding on a class, which is where I got hung up for a while. I initially had wanted to go barbarian, as I play a dexterity/wisdom based character in Marieya and wanted to see what the more aggressive side of things would look like (plus, I could’ve beaten people over the head with a giant wrench).
Upon suggestion from some of the other party members, I decided to go with a class also made by the people who make Dark Matter: Mage Hand Press, and the Alchemist class.
Alchemists seem really cool, this is going to be my first time playing an intelligence based character and there seems to be a lot of creative potential in the bomb formulae sections and the potential discoveries to take. Combining this with some of the Vect racial feats, I have the potential to make a really fun character.
Now, the story itself, which, as I’m typing, dawns on me has some similarities to Marieya’s inciting incident: both Blaze and Marieya start their major arc/journey based on murdering a lot of people and using fire/explosions to do so.
The main difference here is that Blaze is going through this more like an action hero, rather than enduring terrible trauma. Action film tropes definitely inspired a lot of this story, from the tactical moves pulled off by Blaze to the cheesy one liners they say upon doing things. And yes, that is a poor attempt at a Red Dwarf reference near the end, thank you.
One final thing to note, I’ve been using they/them pronouns for Blaze throughout the story, and will be using them if I decide to write any future stories. There is some inner conflict there, as I feel I’m falling into the mainstream trope of “nonbinary character is robot/shapeshifter/fey” a little bit.
At this point in time I haven’t really decided what kind of gender identity Blaze has, I’m not even sure if I want to say “pronouns are they/them” and instead just use those for writing convenience and run on the assumption that Blaze just accepts all pronouns.
Either way, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this short story, and I hope to be back to making the content I love properly soon enough.
So, if you follow my blog regularly; you’ll have noticed that I didn’t do a post yesterday. I do normally adhere to a schedule of Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday for posting content but recently, things have been a little difficult for me.
A lot of what I write tends to be long form content with an average word count of about 3000 words per piece of fiction or review. I frequently exceed these numbers as well, and whilst I do consider myself an okay writer, approximately 10,000 words a week is not sustainable especially when taking into account the amount of research I do per piece.
You may have noticed some grammar issues, spelling errors/word order errors, and that is because I was often up late trying to finish work in time for self-imposed deadlines. This almost always lead to me cutting corners and proofreading time, leading to the overall quality of my work to suffer and to burning out incredibly quickly.
Going forward, things will be different. I’m not going to adhere to a strict schedule at all, whilst I did initially going back to my Wednesday/Sunday schedule; I think for the time being having no set schedule at all will allow my creativity to flourish a bit more.
I’ll try my best to do short update posts every so often to let people know what I’m working on and what sort of content can be expected in the near future. I definitely want to do more music reviews, talk more about some of my favourite older games, and finally start doing the Magic: the Gathering content I’ve always wanted to write.
If you want to stick around through this uncertain time, you will have my eternal gratitude. Watch this space to see the next stage of Rosalia’s Rambles.
Rosalia Rambles 