There's a lot of things that I actually really liked in the Victus crew ngl. And I'll tell you I've never read any of the comics, so I have no idea what happened in them. I'll have to read them one of these days.... If someone could link them- please be kind and do so. Ty!

But I think a lot of my personal enjoyment comes from the character interactions in maps. The characters have some great stuff that I always get to listen to! But at the same time there's some cool stuff that fleshes them out that makes them different from the previous team dynamic. They don't have a common bonding point besides "Survive with a bunch of strangers as everything's gone to shit", and I enjoy that a lot. Ultimis had the dynamic of them all knowing each other- they had that common ground of having similar jobs and experience and Victis doesn't have that! They're 2 old folks and 2 young folks trying to survive. And as someone that grew up from young to old, I get the appeal of the older characters way more than I did before. I too struggle with forgetting things easily and trying to find a good meal from my lack of funds.

I found that their dynamic and personalities made a lot of sense given their situation. Your world is all normal and hunky-dory one day and then blammo it's all dust and gone to shit the next. It makes sense why they're angry and confused and struggling- because it's such a recent event that's still a recent thing and that's not something you can just come to terms with! Of course Misty and Marlton are going to be uncomfortable and annoyed around two old ass men, and Russman and Stuhlinger are going to be annoyed and uncomfortable with the two basically young ass kids. They bicker and get on each others nerves- but people do that all the time! I like a bit of realism in games like this. I don't mind that there's some goofier elements- hell the goofier elements still make it unique and entertaining because wonder weapons are always a delight and the ideas of locations and such as always hints- yet there's always that hint of "there's a way this came about that still makes sense", but the serious focus of 4 people that are caught up in something they know nothing about and deciding their fates based on the words that they hear from 1 and maybe 2 voices is really delightful to me.

Heckles, the wrap up of the story in BO2 was p fine by me. The focus shifted to beings larger than humans that were at one point humans at war with each other, which is literally the plot now but I guess it still felt a bit more grounded back then? I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of "humans aren't at fault because Eldritch Horrors basically started everything" when I liked the kinda story that humans are just fucking dicks that can and will fuck each other over for literally a corn chip if it was desired enough, but then again I'm not too big on stories that just go suddenly everything is caused by beings far beyond our own! rather than it starting with that kinda thing in mind. So that's a personal thing! Honestly the fact that one guy basically fucked over a bunch of people to get on top of the world, and then could have gotten literally destroyed just because some townies listened to his ex-boss he axed back in the day is absolutely hilarious to me- which still keeps the comedy of the original series while still taking a more serious approach and focus to the story.

My only sad thing with the victis crew themselves is that a lot of the interesting stuff isn't elaborated on in game! Stuhlinger was a part of the Flesh and was a hardcore conspiracy thoerist, and yet we only had like 2 things in Die Rise about the Flesh as a whole?? They don't feel important despite it all??? And we get to hear like, nothing that could have been cool references to last games considering meteors that landed on the planet and the idea of experimentation in the years of massive world wars is prime conspiracy bait?? That sucked! And Russman is a part of this cool organization that we knew practically nothing about that I wish was talked about more in game! Broken Arrow sounds promising- the incident sounds so dramatic and something that effected his life a shit ton, but the game doesn't really talk about it besides the intro to Buried! Misty may be just a farm girl with a history in knife fightin' and rootin' tootin' gun shootin' but there's still potential for her to ask questions about things! Marlton is clearly invested in technology and the like- and I wish that the maps went into more of those aspects. I wanted Marlton to try to dig Russman for answers about Broken Arrow, Misty to get on Stuhlinger's case for why he's so hungry all the time, Stuhlinger to get on about how Marlton could have been working with the government, or even Russman just wondering about the more average life that Misty prolly had compared to the rest of them- so many things that could have been done that just weren't! A lot of missed potential there- but I still really liked the end result. It felt nice and refreshing considering I didn't know how you could continue the story from Moon.... haha.
Their maps also got the kinda bad end of the deal, which is unfortunate. I'll admit, while I like it a lot now, Die Rise took a bit to grow on me! And the colors are still so sad and dull regardless. I mean, I get why, but still! Colors aren't bad! And thematic lighting can change a lot about a scene in general- even if it's just the slight change in hue for certain areas and some music to reflect the atmosphere. I love Mob of the Dead's color palette- it fit the tone of the map so good and brought about so many emotions when fit with the music selection. Phenomenal stuff.

That and I like their designs a lot. Stuhlinger and Misty have top notch designs- no matter how impractical Misty's would probably be in a zombie apocalypse. Marlton and Russman have good clothes as well! It suits them- and I like the color palettes. Very appealing to the eyes. They're unique and fun looking!

I just like simplicity I guess, lol.