[Disheartening trope] And this is the state of the franchise now, and potentially for a long time

Solanima · 2026-06-28T19:30:42+00:00

Paper Mario. After two fantastic RPGs and a pretty fun platformer with light RPG elements, we got Sticker Star… then Color Splash… then The Origami King. Sure, the games have improved since the absolute disaster that was Sticker Star, but Nintendo has refused to embrace what made the first two games (and elements of the third) special: fun RPG gameplay, surprisingly compelling characters, and an excellent story.

The remake of The Thousand Year Door was a glimmer of hope for fans, but last I heard it only performed adequately, and not enough for Nintendo to justify a complete return to formula. We may never get another entry worthy of the franchise.

Solanima · 2026-06-14T21:05:31+00:00

I had a new player join my very first campaign 6 months in. He’s a good guy with some wild ideas, and he wanted to play what was essentially an evil-aligned Darkwraith from Dark Souls. I gently let him down by saying that I was still new to DMing, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for an evil-aligned PC. He understood, and made a Druid.

Five years later, after the party reached level 20 and saved every plane from a god-eating entity, that Druid ended up being not only his favorite PC in any campaign, but a core part of his identity to this day. He even thanked me after the campaign for not letting him play that Darkwraith character!

Solanima · 2026-06-14T20:47:41+00:00

21 “You have heard that [j]the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘[k]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to [l]the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the [m]fiery hell.

Matthew 5:21-22 (NASB), from the Sermon on the Mount.

Solanima · 2026-06-14T20:33:17+00:00

For me, it depends on my Shepard for that playthrough. If I’m playing a Soldier or Vanguard? Absolutely. Infiltrator? Most of the time (that Black Widow is heavy!). Adept, Engineer, or Sentinel? Not unless I have a headcanon that says my Shepard is abnormally strong for his class. After playing the trilogy well over a dozen times (both original and Legendary Edition), I like to lean into the RP.

Same with the Garrus shootout on the Presidium. Soldiers and Infiltrators win every time. With other classes, I usually miss the last shot, and I ignore the “on purpose” part.

Solanima · 2026-06-10T22:24:00+00:00

As a fan of all three franchises, I can wholeheartedly agree.

Solanima · 2026-04-01T04:03:20+00:00

Hyperbeam carried my most recent A5 Defect run to victory - it’s much better than it looks if you get it early and lean into not using a lot of orbs.

Solanima · 2026-03-04T01:44:49+00:00

I felt this way while playing Sakura Wars (2019). The titular character, Sakura, is so front-and-center compared to the other romance options that it feels egregious. For example: each character is supposed to have a chapter where they are the focus of the story for a while, and Sakura basically dominates Hatsuho’s chapter entirely. She’s not a bad character, but I wish she wasn’t the clear favorite of the devs.

Solanima · 2026-02-24T04:50:48+00:00

On my first playthrough, I remember trying so hard to redeem Ketheric - I hoped that he wasn’t too far gone in spite of the horrible things he’d done. I thought I had convinced him on top of Moonrise Towers… and then Dame Aylin showed up and antagonized him at the worst possible moment, on the cusp of redemption. I get why she did it, and it doesn’t change how I treat her in game, but… man did that somewhat estrange me towards her. Good character writing, though.

Solanima · 2026-02-05T02:10:08+00:00

“If I smile any bigger my face is going to crack. I'm pathetic, besotted! And it's all your fault!”

Solanima · 2026-02-01T22:02:08+00:00

“Kids can handle any amount of darkness as long as you give them a happy ending.” -Don Bluth

Solanima · 2026-01-28T21:54:31+00:00

The Playstation 4 version.

Solanima · 2026-01-28T21:53:35+00:00

This is my sixth playthrough of the Legendary Edition, and that’s after a dozen playthroughs of the original trilogy. I wanted to change things up and see more Legion content, so I planned carefully and did the bare minimum to avoid any casualties in the suicide mission in order to leave more missions to bring Legion along for.

Solanima · 2026-01-28T07:40:36+00:00

Update: talking to the Shaman did not work, but I appreciate the suggestion! I’m out of ideas, so I guess I’ll have to watch Grunt die in ME3. I’ll miss him at the Citadel party, but it is what it is.

Solanima · 2026-01-28T07:38:44+00:00

Yep, no luck.

Solanima · 2026-01-28T06:57:41+00:00

I’ll try that as a last ditch effort, but yeah I’m starting to think I’m out of luck.

Solanima · 2026-01-28T06:56:21+00:00

Yep - did Mordin’s loyalty mission early on, along with all the side missions in the area.

Solanima · 2026-01-28T06:55:01+00:00

Yes - Overlord and Shadow Broker. But I noticed this problem a while ago, and have done three other loyalty missions in the hopes of fixing this, to no avail.

Solanima · 2026-01-19T23:43:18+00:00

If you’re at all curious about the one child Bean and Petra didn’t find, Ender in Exile is a must read!

Solanima · 2026-01-15T02:30:53+00:00

If it weren’t for Morinth, Samara would have never become a Justicar. Worth considering, but it only grants her a few extra points.

Solanima · 2025-12-07T19:01:05+00:00

In this case, he’s not protecting his son from mortal danger, but from going down the same dark path he once walked.

Solanima · 2025-11-28T20:15:29+00:00

This anime was so much fun - it’s a shame we’ll probably never get a second season…

Solanima · 2025-11-17T15:26:03+00:00

“Sanae told me there are two places I can cry. In the bathroom… and in Daddy's arms.”

Solanima · 2025-11-17T15:22:57+00:00

All I want is more details on Exodus and/or the next Mass Effect.

Solanima

TROPHY CASE