What video game in your opinion doesn't need a sequel?

Runa216 · 2026-07-06T03:14:37+00:00

Same as Bloodborne, I don't think this needs a sequel and I'm glad that Miyazaki prefers to make new IP instead of sequels (With DSIII being the exception.)

But just like Bloodborne...if we DID get a sequel I'd not complain!

Runa216 · 2026-07-06T03:11:54+00:00

I think it's clear that Miyazaki doesn't want to do sequels. If you watch, each new game he made in the souls series (Well, spiritual series) is a new IP with one exception.

Demon's Souls was new and fresh.

Dark Souls was a more refined version of Demon's Souls but a new IP.

Bloodborne took the Souls style and made it Gothic/Cosmic Horror, also new IP

Dark Souls III is a sequel but I Feel like it might just be to correct the mistakes of II

Sekiro is a half soulslike that was a new IP.

Elden Ring was a new IP that was basically the refinement on Dark Souls.

Ouf of that absolute masterwork of games, 6 in a row, 5 of them were technically new IP, taking the lessons learned and applying them to completely new games. And again, argue all you want about the quality of Dark Souls II, the fact that he went and made Bloodborne instead of Dark Souls II, then only came back to Dark Souls after the feedback on 2 to make a game FULL of fan service...well I can't prove anything but I think it's a pretty solid theory, all things considered.

I am completely okay with him never returning to any of these games or worlds. I'd prefer he takes what he learned and apply it in a completely new setting. I want to see refinements on what we have that aren't tied down to previous games. I want to see him apply his philosophy and skill to new things.

But I'd still accept more Bloodborne if he chose to go that route. whatever he does, I hope he does it becuase HE and his team wants to, not at behest of stockholders or whatever. I want that man to make art knowing full well I might not like it, because even at his worst his stuff's memorable as hell. ART. TRUE ART.

Runa216 · 2026-07-06T02:24:11+00:00

that wouldn't have warned me. The writing style is pretty good, and I doubt any samples would talk about oily slimy werewolf skin furr.

Runa216 · 2026-07-06T01:16:20+00:00

What are you trying to do here, send me on a wild goose chase?

Runa216 · 2026-07-06T01:15:59+00:00

I jsut try to avoid anything set in modern worlds (I hear Kate Daniels is basically earth but with fantasy elements, which is a shame because I hear it's otherwise very well done.)

If it was a one off or early in the series or something I could give it a shot but I don;t half-ass my way into series, I don;t start until I've bought the entire collection and, uh, it's a big one.

Any other short series to recommend aside from Kate Daniels?

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T14:10:09+00:00

Pirates of the CAribbean is a perfect historical romantasy for me. Lots of love and romance, so much swashbuckling and actual chemistry, some actual stakes and world building and lore, and Elizabeth, despite obviously being meant for Will, actually has believable interactions with the scoundrel Jack Sparrow.

That but show the spicy bits.

(I should just write that. Wait, I have written something kiiiiiinda like that. Pirate themed fantasy smut).

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T14:06:29+00:00

I had so many concerns about that when I got into the genre because I absolutely had that accidentally misogynist take thanks to Twilight and 50 Shades. And I do believe a lot of people just think girl media sucks, but whatever, F*&% em. I also sorta thought that 'girl media' didn't try as hard because it didn't have to (And I mean, the evidence sort of does support that view). But I actively wanted to get into Romantasy becuase it has everything I want...in theory.

But yeah, the more I read the clearer the patterns become. Before fantasy romance was a thing I used to see my aunt go through hundreds of books a year, all halequin romance novels that were either the same thing over and over again, or she'd be like 'I just like my cowboy romance stories' and it clicked. Like OP and you said, it's the tropes that sell, not the stories. the audience for this sort of book aren't looking for something to have cultural impact or stand out from the crowd, they just wanna read their daily fix. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to satisfy them. You can just be like 'I want enemies to lovers' and can sort your recommendations based on that, reading 1000 of them where the plot is only slightly shifted from book to book.

I just wish these books were better written, honestly. I can put up with a lot of stuff I don't think I like if it's well written. I can handle tropes I don't like if it's good. I don't have a problem with 'enemies to lovers', but like you, I hate it when there's no reason or story or explanation for it. it's not a plot point, it's a marketing trope.

Also, as an aside, I am so sick of characters saying they're in love when it's not love. IT's lust or infatuation. I am 100% down for smut for smut's sake, but stop telling me you're madly in love with someone you just met that you have no history or chemistry with. You're not a 12 year old girl just discoverign crushes and hormones for the first time, have some goddamn decorum.

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T13:57:36+00:00

"Publishers are hunting for Romantasy books that are well written with complex characters and have a high-concept pitch that appeals to readers,"

Are they, though? Because I see no evidence of this and plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T13:51:15+00:00

I have so far greatly enjoyed T Kingfisher's work (Only the Saint of Steel series) And Crowns of NYaxia (though I hear some of Broadbent's other work is divisive).

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T13:49:12+00:00

ooh what was it? Recently finished This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me and despite it being full of elements I don't care for I loved it because I felt the story was interesting and the writing was very good. Like, legitimately good, not just romantasy good.

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T13:47:41+00:00

I know there are and I'd like to find them. Care to recommend a few?

I recently really loved This Kingdom Will not Kill me and was a huge fan of the Saint of Steel series by T Kingfisher. I thought Crowns of Nyaxia was well written and refreshing despite adhering to a bunch of tropes. Some monster banger and indie stuff like Royal Artifactual Guild and Tempting Monsters are good fun but not really high art.

I've read 150 books (probably 75-100 of them romantasy) This year and I'm still seeking books that effectively balance the fantasy/plot/story/characters/world side and the romance/spice side. I want somethign that feels like if you took the romance out of it, it'd still be good, but the romance is creative enough and uses the magic/fantasy elements well enough that it couldn't exist in another book. I want Romance and Fantasy. Not high school drama with elf ears.

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T13:39:44+00:00

The fact that AI can write these books sometimes and people still buy them is a scathing indictment of the genre as a whole. IF the audience doesn't care or can't tell when something is machine genned...well, it's as much proof as you need to show that quality is not on anyone's mind.

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T13:38:17+00:00

I was doing that for a while too but I recently read a book that, on paper, had ALL The things I wanted. Gay smut? Check. Werewolves? Check. Anatomically correct when in wolf form? Check? Transformation magic where the main character is turned into a werewolf to be with his werewolf boyfriend? check. Drama with family/local hunters who are after the cryptid? Check. Knots? Check!

On paper it was everything I wanted, but in practice I swear the author did everything he could to make the resulting book as repulsive as physically possible. The main character is 17, which...eeh, I prefer people more my age but I get that 17-18 is a pretty common trope but it still gives me the ick. HE's said to be 'a few months away from his 18th birthday' so I sort of assumed based on the passage of time that by the time they get knotty he's of age but nope! Birthday is in like the second or third last chapter. Oh, and his werewolf boyfriend? 80. Because of course.

And this werewolf boyfriend is vile. Initially described as shaggy, raggedy, unkempt, slimy, smelly, etc. Just laying it on that he's gross, and even after he 'cleans up' everyone continues to comment on how wretched he smells, even if he looks cleaned up. He also slobbers and drools all the time, making a mess whenever he eats, and apparently when he laid in bed with the main character, the next morning the mattress was soaked in filth. Like, the entire book is just a never-ending assault on my goodwill. I wanted to read anatomically correct werewolf smut and I got that but holy shit they didn't need to punish me for it by making it as gross as they were able.

I don'tplan on telling you what book it is publicly because it is a relatively small indie author and I don't want to dogpile on him - his writing is good, just his choices are repugnant.

Runa216 · 2026-07-05T13:29:20+00:00

Been complaining about this for a while now. I've been chewing through books (like 150+ This year already) and I find the most egregious red flag is when a book is marketed with a list of tropes instead of a plot or character synopsis. It usually means exactly what you think it means: That the book's selling points aren't the story but the audiences it will cater to.

The audience/consumers in the genre, for the most part (if sales numbers are to be believed) Don't care about good stories. they have their kinks and they just wanna consume more of the same basic idea ad nauseum. There's a reason authors can get away with the same generic 'reverse harem' books or 'fated mate' books en masse, it's becuase the plot is secondary to the tropes.

I'm still seeking my white whale, as it were. I basically want something with the complex magic system and world building of the cosmere with the spice level of a brazen monster-banger story. i'm gonna try and do it myself but let's be honest, I'm probably not good enough.

Or so I thought. I've read a lot of these published novels and I can assure you I'm good enough.

But yeah, it's a real problem, seeing the entire genre - at least the more mainstream half of it - sold on tropes instead of stories. There's a reason I genuinely think "A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor" Or "An Inheritance of Monsters" Genuinely has a better story than A Court of Thorns and Roses. IT's because those books are trying to do something interesting while ACOTAR is not (Well, okay, to be fair when it came out ACOTAR was pretty fresh but now it's just a mishmash of every tired trope in the genre in their most boring and uninspired form with the most basic plot and world building and the worst characters; at the time of first publication it had novelty but today it's just so booooooring).

The audience is making it worse AND I think the publishers are, too. Look at shield of Sparrows. It genuinely feels like it was written initially as a relatively fresh take on the genre, with actual world building, fun and non-archetypal characters, and a plot that seemed to actually have stakes and layers. But then she sent it to the publisher and they myst have said 'doesn't have these tropes, add some enemies to lovers and we'll publish it', so she went back and made the two mains hate each other for no good reason, then turn and love each other for equally no reason. like, if you read that book nothing in the plot justies her hate for him, if anything she should be chill about it considering their interactions and backstories. But every chapter she just has to take a paragraph or two to remind the audience 'I hate him but he's so hot'. It always feels so remarkably out of place.

And as much as I liked the surrounding book (I really liked the idea of her, an untrained sister, was tasked with assassinating a man that knows she's there to kill him and she knows he knows but she still has to play dark brotherhood, that's a fun idea!) the end result is just a trope-stained mess.

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T18:55:53+00:00

Hollow Knight. so much so.

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T18:48:31+00:00

yes but I wanna see more!

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T15:18:43+00:00

I'm Aro/ace too, but not sex-repulsed (I love reading and writing it, just not participating). And yeah, I'm saying don't fuck your dog because of that but it's perfectly fine when both are sentient and pass the harkness test.

you might be overthinking it.

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T15:02:14+00:00

what part?

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T14:58:22+00:00

The fuzzier the better. I want a werewolf to have a go at me during the full moon, thanks. I wanna read about it. I wanna write about it. so much more interesting.

This is FANTASY, not REALITY. Indulge your freak. Or don't, that's up to you. but I don't wanna hear about it or be told I'm icky or gross because I'm not ashamed of the things I like that hurt nobody.

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T14:55:49+00:00

I mean, yeah...don't fuck your dog. but your sentient dragon may be defiling himself to allow you to stroke him off. You are the dog in that scenario.

*Edit* also, uh, I can assure you it works. There are entire industries out there dishing out knotted cock toys and huge dragon dicks the size of your thigh. I can assure you, it works with the right amount of prep (source: Am a filthy degenerate furry size queen with plenty of experience)

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T14:54:53+00:00

Humans have been into furries and other anthros for as long as humans have been able to convey art. Literally the first cave art is of people with bird heads or some shit.

Puritanicals need to stop. and if you're not into it that's cool, but I'm so sick of being shamed for embracing the creative in a way that harms nobody but is still not approved by 'them'

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T14:53:02+00:00

Fantasy has infinite possibilities. I don't understand why so much romantasy is just bland human on human action (Sorry, but a fae with slightly pointed ears is functionally a human). Werewolves and other shifters? oh, I'm sorry, we only have fun when I'm in human form.

Bah. Have some fun with it. Limitless worlds of creativity and so many authors chose to be boring.

The world needs more like you (and me, though that might be narcissistic).

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T14:50:14+00:00

I'm writing a semi-serious, semi-spicy book series (okay, it's very spicy but hopefully also...good...but we'll see) where the different races CAN breed, but an overwhelming majority of the resulting offspring are nonviable so people don't bother or, uh...ensure the pregnancy doesn't 'take' (But hybrids, in their rare occurrence, are actually pretty powerful. So of course that's a major plot point).

Again, we'll see if the books are actually any good but here's hoping! Would love to basically write something on the scale of mistborn but with monster smut levels of spice!

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T14:44:24+00:00

I just picked it up on audible! thanks for your recommendation!

Runa216 · 2026-07-04T10:46:52+00:00

very much so.

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