Exordium Games

The State of the Writer: 3/19/23

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<–The State of the Writer: 3/5/23         The State of the Writer: 4/16/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Working on tangential ideas

I don’t remember where I found this picture.  Maybe on Pinterest or Twitter?  It was probably Pinterest because that’s where I have it saved and of course there’s no source ugh.  He’s probably from some game or manga I should know about but don’t.  Anyway, I immediately thought he looked like he’d make a beautiful bride and I wanted to write about him lol.  Because my brain will just hyperfixate on something and stay with it until I take enough notes to appease the shit sponge, I’m currently writing some background for this.  Will it make its way into my WIP?  Who TF knows.

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Bear With Me: The Lost Robots

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More video game reviews and analyses can be found here.

Title: Bear With Me: The Lost Robots
Series: Bear With Me
Genre: Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Mystery
Developer: Exordium Games

System: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: August 8, 2016

Bear With Me is a point-and-click adventure developed by Exordium Games, an Croatian indie studio founded in 2014.  The original was released in three episodes in August 2016 with this particular part, a prequel, The Lost Robots dropping in July of 2016.  All of the iterations are best described as “episodic noir adventure games,” drawing obvious inspiration from the genre of film noir (per Wikipedia).

This was one of those games where I absolutely loved the demo, immediately bought it, and then instantly forgot about it.  Since I’m nearly always in the middle of playing something (often more than one something), I won’t start another game right away, but I want to be able to as soon as a “slot” opens up.  The main issue is I only have so much energy, including emotional energy, to dedicate to something, and once I’m in I’m all in.  Granted Bear With Me was more relaxing than taxing, but you don’t necessarily know that beforehand.

The aesthetic of the game is perfect for the film noir mien with everything in black and white,

and the voice acting is excellent.  Ted, or Ted E. Bear, the one referenced in the title, has the hardboiled detective persona down pat.  His voice has a bit of a flat effect, but it fits the character of the jaded PI.

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The State of the Writer: 3/5/23

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<–The State of the Writer: 12/11/22         The State of the Writer: 3/19/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 2

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Updating Scrivener with details about merfolk

I have been on this merfolk/seafolk kick for a good two or three months now.  I already had ideas about hybrids in the series combined with needing to create lore for people who live by the sea on the other side of a mountain, and I was able to tie that in with other previous lore.  I’m at the part where I put everything into Scrivener, which is the last step, but I still have at least two other demographics to do after this.  Eh, slow progress is still progress.

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The State of the Writer: 12/25/22

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<–The State of the Writer: 12/11/22         The State of the Writer: 3/5/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Updating language details on Scrivener

Since I’m working on updating my term glossary with Ravic surnames and they use a lot of jewels/gems/precious stones, I figured this image would be fitting.  I’m finally putting the language notes into Scrivener, which is the final part of the update.  I did each separate group, but now I’m doing a more general language notes with gender markers.  I’m still debating doing a separate post that kind of explains some of the world, but it would definitely be after we move lol.

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The State of the Writer: 12/11/22

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<–The State of the Writer: 11/27/22         The State of the Writer: 12/25/22–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Working on surname details

I really hope I have the name of the piece and artist correct.  I checked some images with the titles and artists in English to match up where this information was.  I’m fairly certain the characters are Chinese (I went to Google translate and I put them into Traditional Chinese and I think I might be right), but it’s one of those situations where I recognize the language but don’t know it.

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The State of the Writer: 11/27/22

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<–The State of the Writer: 11/13/22         The State of the Writer: 12/11/22–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Working on surname details

Image is just one of the many I have for character ideas.  I love Pinterest as someone who uses artwork for inspiration, but I hate it for the sake of visual artists.  It’s almost entirely made up of stolen art and even if you do find the source, you can’t leave links in the comments.  I have seen more people being called out for it though.  With all visual artists are going through now with this AI generated art bullshit, I don’t blame them for mass exodus from sites like DeviantArt, which forces you to opt out of having your work used for such, and you don’t even know if that makes any difference.

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The State of the Gamer: 11/3/22

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<–The State of the Gamer: 10/20/22           The State of the Gamer: 11/17/22–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

Games Demoed: 0

Games Purchased: 3

  • Harvestella – $59.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • The Journey Down: Chapter Two – $11.24 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Bear With Me: The Complete Collection – $9.99 @ Nintendo eShop
Total: $81.22

Games Finished: 0

Games On Hold: 1

Title: Cris Tales
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of Cris TalesDate Started: October 24, 2022

On one hand I should make my own decisions about games and not follow the comments/critiques.  On the other hand I was already meh on this game anyway.  It’s very pretty; cel shading holds up so well (see Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker), but graphics to me are like icing on the cake for other people (I…love icing; it’s better than cake for me lol).  It’s a nice addition (no one has heard me complain about FFVIIR’s aesthetic), but it won’t keep me interesting in a game.

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The State of the Gamer: 10/20/22

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<–The State of the Gamer: 10/6/22           The State of the Gamer: 11/3/22–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

Games Demoed: 0

Games Purchased: 1

  • Dinogotchi – $1.99 @ Nintendo eShop
Total: $1.99

Games Finished: 2

Title: The Journey Down: Chapter One
Series: The Journey Down
Developer: Skygoblin

Cover of The Journey Down: Chapter OneDate Started: October 18, 2022
Date Finished: October 20, 2022

I finished this so quickly it didn’t even make it to a Currently Playing.  The world of this game is really interesting, and I like how it weaves in the lore without beating you over the head with it.  You get enough information to make you really curious.  Like what is the Edge?  Is it some sort of Discworld situation?  What is Underland?  What’s there that’s so dangerous and why is the Armando Power Company so interested in it?  They’re giving me Shinra Electric Company vibes tbh especially since they’re controlling everything and looking for something in this weird, off-limits place.  All the characters’ faces are more like masks, and there’s a section in the game where you can see that’s exactly what they are.  Bwana and Kito, the main characters, have faces inspired by real African masks.  More than inspired by actually.  Their faces were based off the masks.  I was afraid the game was going to end once I finished up with the airplane lol.  I’m definitely getting the next chapter.  Oh, and the music slaps.

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The State of the Gamer: 10/6/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Gamer: 9/22/22           The State of the Gamer: 10/20/22–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

Games Demoed: 2

  • Harvestella – I wanted to include this again as a game demoed because I hadn’t decided on whether or not I was going to buy it, and now I’ve made a decision: YES.  First off I’m mad it doesn’t come out until 11/4/22 because I am all in.  I was getting into the rhythm of it with the action RPG elements and the farming ones.  It’s a really good balance.  I’m both invested in the story and my crops, and the music is of course *chef’s kiss*  I’ve already pre-ordered it, because after I finished the demo I didn’t know WHAT to do.  The data transfers over, which is really awesome, and I like that they give you 15 in game days.  It’s just the right amount to get you hooked.
  • Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris – This is another one I’m not sure about, but I’m leaning towards yes.  You can set the battle options to semi-auto to enjoy the story, and I am intrigued.  I know literally nothing about SAO, my only experience with it an AMV crossover with Advent Children I saw years ago that was fucking seamless.  I still have more demo to play so I’m hoping they’ll show more game elements like cooking et al.

Games Purchased: 2

  • Picross S8 – $9.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Regular Factory: Escape Room – $3.99 @ Nintendo eShop

Games Finished: 1

Title: My Brother Rabbit
Developer: Artifex Mundi
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of My Brother RabbitDate Started: September 26, 2022
Date Finished: September 29, 2022

I almost gave up on this because I suck at finding things lol, but I’m glad I stuck with it.  It’s a poignant metaphor about a little boy trying to help his sick sister through his imagination.  He’s the rabbit and she’s a little, sick plant.  The puzzles are pretty intuitive, though I’m not ashamed to admit I needed a little help with finding some of the elements.  It was actually quite addictive.  I’ll probably write up a quick review for it at some point.

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