Community Showcase - December 2017 Submissions

Hello Brandon, Brad and fellow Allies! I'd love to share a song from my new solo music project Plastic Heart Radio. The song is about my experiences growing up as a transgender person in a country where being trans was effectively illegal. My main influences for this project are Takako Minekawa, Le Tigre, LCD Soundsystem and They Might Be Giants. Love & Respect, El P.S. Incase Ian is by any chance watching the stream, the song prominently features a Korg Minologue. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P64Xbpdf3cE" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P64Xbpdf3cE</a>

Elle

Season's greason's, Allies! For today's showcase I am presenting to you my top five games of 2017! Not only am I listing my favourite games, but every game is also receiving one unique Small Leviathan Award, highlighting some of my favourites features in each title. That said, I won't be featuring OneShot, because I already spent last showcase talking about why that game is my all-time favourite. The number five spot goes toNight In The Woods! Gaming's best coming-of-age story to date, this game really captures the spirit of disenfranchised youth. The main selling point to me is the diverse main cast, because of which NITW wins the Small Leviathan Award for BEST LGBTQ REPRESENTATION. Number four is a rather overlooked one: Hiveswap: ACT 1. The first chapter of the point-and-click game based on the popular webcomic Homestuck leaves a strong first impression with beautiful enviroments, a catchy score courtesy of James Roach and Undertale's Toby Fox and gut-busting writing, which is why it wins the Small Leviathan Award for BEST WRITING as every little interaction results in a unique quip from the fantastic protagonist Joey Claire. Number three goes to Splatoon 2! I don't generally like shooters, but the squids had me hooked. The commitment to the totally radical aesthetic invokes a youthful energy that is unlike anything found in today's market. Splatoon 2 gets the Small Leviathan Award for BEST SIDEMODE, namely Salmon Run. Number two goes to what else but Persona 5! Improving on the previous games in almost every way, P5 sets the new standard for what JRPGS can and should be. Extra attention should be given to the score, as Persona 5 wins the Small Leviathan Award for BEST SOUNDTRACK, because I will be humming Last Surprise on my deathbed. And finally, my GAME OF THE YEAR is: Hollow Knight. This game is not just another Metroidvania, it is the culmination of the entire genre. It also borrows from the Souls series, creating a mellow, oppressive atmosphere that I would personally say, tops even Dark Souls itself. This is in part by giving the story more direction and drive, which leads me to the fact that Hollow Knight gets the Small Leviathan Award for BEST STORY MOMENT. I'm not gonna be specific as to avoid spoilers, all I'll say is that it's the one in the birthplace. Love and Respect, Small Leviathan

Small Leviathan

Hello Brandon and Brad, Happy new year. It was great to see you guys watch the Mario odyssey video me and my buddy made last month. We're just a two-man team working our butts off to make cool video game videos. Like i stated before, you all inspire me to work hard and help me get through long days with your positivity and creativity. We haven't finished our new video yet but here's a super short clip from our upcoming Pokemon video that will be up in a couple weeks. L&amp;R <a href="https://vimeo.com/249610485" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://vimeo.com/249610485</a>

Hi allies, OK so just a couple quick questions, I'm working on a little EZA project that I'm hoping to get done before your second anniversary, it involves partially recreating the garage but I'm not clear on 2 things: 1) what's framed above the white door you can see in the group streams and podcasts (where Lightning usually stands) and 2) the colour of the floor. Odd? Maybe. Worth it? Definitely... hopefully it will all become clear! Love &amp; Respect, David

I used the Christmas Steam Sale to stock up with VR games - so this month's comment will focus solely on VR. Note that none of these games is brand new - so it is possible that I cannot bring something completely fresh to the table. However, I think that those games deserve a shoutout. The first game I played is "theBlu", which technically is not a game in the classical sense: there is (almost) no way of interaction. You are simply virtually beneath the ocean and can watch three different (short) underwater scenes involving sea life. Even though it is not really a game, I think it is a great way of introducing non-gaming people to VR. Seeing a life-size blue whale in front of you is pretty amazing in itself and watching virtual wild life is maybe something non-gamers can more easily relate to. The second game I played is "Cosmic Trip" which is an action RTS with a comic look &amp; feel and cute robot units that puts you right in the middle of the battle. It might be due to the fact that I am bad at RTS games, but I felt a bit lost in the game. The tutorial was easy, but didn't introduce all necessary mechanics and once you finished it, you get directly thrown in harder battles. I hope that the game "clicks" if I put in some more hours in, but a campaign that slowly introduces the units and buildings would surely help. That being said, I am sure that VR-RTS is something that could very intriguing (maybe something in the vein of Supreme Commander). The last game I played is "The Assembly", an adventure game with puzzle elements similar to "The Gallery: Call of the Starseed". From all the VR adventures I played this is my favorite one: You play as two different characters and classical adventure sequences (in which you have to find certain objects to progress) alternate with puzzle sequences in which you have to solve various mini-games and even a murder mystery. This results in a great pacing of the game. Additionally, the story, which revolves around a secret facility for scientists is better than expected. This scenario results in a Half-Life-esque look and feel of the game that I greatly enjoyed. So all in all, I had great (VR-) Christmas holidays. Love &amp; Respect, Thim

Hey all, I've always wanted to participate in this, but never knew what to do. I know other people talk about the games they've played, but I think it helps if people are even vaguely familiar with mine (I am quite sure everyone's eyes would glaze over with polite boredness if I yammered on about my jumping puzzle prowess in Guild Wars 2). I also happen to possess zero artistic ability. All I can do are really bad stick figures. But wait - you know who else does bad stick figures? Birdcough! Bingo! This idea came to me too late to put in the TTE art episode, but in time for this! Plus, at least one TTE cast member(Brad) is here and will understand the context, since I figure Brandon probably doesn't follow TTE and has no idea why he has random stick figures dancing across his screen. So, behold my lousy attempt at capturing the last scene in TTE Ep. 79, with Birdcough cheerfully drawing away at the nekkid citizens of Pitterpatter - with the addition of imaginary cats. Also, bonus Uncle Vapors with his famous letter (do I know how to draw dwarfs? No clue. Lackluster gray beard is the best I can do.) and Sandstorm with her birds and four quarterstaffs. <a href="https://i.imgur.com/RsHhkw5.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/RsHhkw5.jpg</a> Apologies to all for making you stare at bad stick figures. Here's to a super successful 2018 for EZA! L&amp;R

(Please use the name "WickedPony" in the vid. thanks) Happy New Year 2018 from Thailand. Wish you all a great year :) More Gunpla updates <a href="https://imgur.com/jNdtaDv" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/jNdtaDv</a> This is a MG(Master Grade) Turn A gundam and Turn X from the anime show: Turn A Gundam. Fun fact, the majority of mobile suits that appear in the show, including two that are shown here, was designed by Syd Mead of Tron, Blade Runner, and Alien fame. Many fans didn't take well to the design and the show was received poorly. But due to word of mouth, the show has gained a cult following in recent years and is considered to be among the best in the franchise.

Wicky "Pokkuti" Salsa

As I have previously said, I'm a video game cheapskate; also I haven't been able to purchase a new gaming computer, so no modern PC games for me for the last two years. The only game I played that came out in 2017 was Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. So...GOTY? I jest but I was very happy with the direction they took with the game, especially the full voice acting and the explorable environments. It gives me hope that Fire Emblem 2018 is going to be pretty good. With that said I guess I should say what I'm looking forward to in 2018: Sea of Thieves, Metro Exodus, Psychonauts 2, Octopath Traveler, and Fire Emplem 2018. Plus who knows what else I'm forgetting. While I'm waiting for these games to release I'll be happily playing (and finishing) LOZ: Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy IV, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Xenoblade Chronicles X, some Professor Layton game, and Rayman Legends. Thanks to all the Allies for keeping me abreast of all things video games, Here's to a great 2018!

Hi Allies, Jones, &amp; Brad, I'm going to trying linking this image to you guys. It's a tabulated chart and some other data that I've kept track of since you started your EZA Reviews. I know that not everyone is in love with the 5-Star system and you have considered at least discussing whether it needs to be changed. Feel free to use this to help in your decision as to whether or not the specific score, or the matter of which it is encapsulated, is important. L&amp;R, Alex Castellanos <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexCastePiano/status/948214177788809216" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/AlexCastePiano/status/948214177788809216</a>

Alex Castellanos

When December started, I imagined I'd be writing about the latest game I've been playing from my backlog, Stardew Valley. Though I have found a lot of comfort and joy in that game, Christmas came along and made my backlog grow even bigger when I was given a Nintendo Switch. Straight out of the box, I immediately jumped into Super Mario Odyssey. From the first trailer, I knew that Odyssey was the game for me; a feeling that would grow with the reveal of the hat's powers and the overwhelming positive reviews. Someone got me sick during Christmas, so I was off work recovering when I ran through Odyssey's main story in a couple of days. When I saw the credits, I started crying. I have never been good at Mario games, even though the original Super Mario was the first game I played. The controls have always felt just out of grasp for me (it took an upsetting number of years before I learned those older games had a run button) hat wasn't the case with Odyssey. Every movement felt precise, felt good, felt exactly how I wanted it to. Odyssey says, "What have you always wanted to do in a Mario game?" and then it gives you the ability to do it. Because of my decades long struggle with Mario games, I hope you'll understand the overwhelming emotion I felt when the credits rolled. Not only did I beat a Mario game, I beat one of my new favorites that I'll revisit for years to come. Though it has made going through BOTW difficult without yearning to throw Cappy around Hyrule, which is an unexpected side effect. I will never forget the journey that Mario and Cappy went on with me. But for now, I go back to attack the stack, with BOTW up first, followed by Nier Automata. L&amp;R

Kate Bishop

(399 word count) Persona 5 is a perfectly executed video game experience in all aspects of game play, design, sound, music, visuals, and Art direction- all of which are spectacularly expressed with style within the context of the narrative journey with an interesting setting, engaging story and memorable characters connecting to &amp; driving the player forward. While not directly pressuring you, time is a vital factor, and living a dual life as both a remarkable high school student and a phantom thief of hearts may seem complex or even overwhelming.  However, Persona 5 does an excellent job in teaching you how to find equilibrium in your unassuming daily life activities, and your other more mischievous endeavors. With a perfect balance of pacing between, game play and narrative, it’s no wonder Persona 5 becomes so engrossing to play.  Along with a soundtrack that creates a universal melody to fit every moment in the game, it is easy to get lost in its waves of emotional composition day in and day out. The combat system in particular is a fantastic conduit that allows every function in the game to reinvigorate itself with every foray to and from dungeons and daily life.  All the while vanquishing demons by mastering your own has never felt so cool, so fast, so sweet, so smooth and just so good in a turn based combat system that you may even feel a little bad for the enemies you are stylishly slaying. Persona 5, narrates twists, turns and climaxes as it showcases the journey of the human spirit and what it means to defend the condition of integrity as a human being oneself. An enrapturing game filled with moments of mischief, tension, mystery, courage and heart, Persona 5 opens your mind to define what playing a game could possibly mean to someone, and what a unique emotional appreciation it has on the individual. Overall Persona 5 has so many excellent qualities for the player to feast one’s imagination on, that 150 hours will pass like the blink of an eye while playing it. Persona 5 will in fact take your heart, is the Best Game of the Year, and gives the player such a wonderfully rare experience that they will undoubtedly be remiss when it’s over.  Listen to your heart and believe it, if not someone might come along and steal it. Love &amp; Respect- Tegan Combatti

Tegan Combatti

That's me. No idea why it kept failing.

Dark Cloud 3 will be announced at E3 2019, mark my words. P.s. Shout out to SomeGameNews and their 'Best of Easy Allies 2017 special', nothing but pure joy, can't wait for the second half.

POKEY CLYDE

With 2017 over and done with its been interesting looking back at the cavalcade of games that released last year, Yakuza has finally started to gain major traction in the west, Resident Evil 7 put the survival horror back into survival horror, the mere fact that Nier even had a sequel released let alone one that that was well received by the general public, Zelda came and shook up the whole series foundation, Horizon was one of the most interesting new IP's this year (that I need to try and find more time for), Persona 5 just oozed with style and substance, PUBG somehow took the world by storm (I don't get how), EA somehow fucked up Star Wars twice this year, Sonic Mania brought the blue blur back to prominence only for Forces to put him back down, Mario helped to bring back the 3D platformer, Bubsy somehow came back from the grave, and everything else that I don't have time to include. With that said I deiced i'd make a little game in the forums and figured I'd at least make you aware of it Brandon, basically its a thread where everyone can post their predictions for 2018, and once January ends I'll ask for the thread to be locked after posting a giant compiled list of everyone's predictions . With all that said i'm curious to know what the allies might be hoping to see in 2018, maybe consider it a larger version of Final Bets like with consequences based on how many didn't happen throughout the course of 2018. The proposed Allies rules, 40 predictions total, 10 for Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft apiece, and 10 for Third party/other events. Anyway with all that said, December has been interesting to say the least in my personal life, and with Christmas having passed I have received a PSVR headset and I have been trying out what I can when I can afford it (which thankfully a lot of stuff is on sale right now) Superhot VR alone has sold me on VR, Doom, Arizona Sunshine, and Mortal Blitz (don't let the cover fool you, its basically Time Crisis VR) has given me plenty to play around with for the time being. Along with previously released VR games. Here's to 2018 being another awesome year in gaming, here's to another year of Love and Respect for the Allies

Your missing out on Persona. It is a scientific fact that Persona is everyone's thing after they actually give it a shot and play it for 10 to 20 hours. Then the following 100 hours you pretend to yourself you were just kidding about not liking it at first, and realize it is one of your favorite series of all time.

Tegan Combatti

Patreon is being weird and Pepijn's post keeps disappearing so here is a copy/paste in case it doesn't show up! Hello Allies! I bring you the results of The Official, Unofficialized Easy Allies Discord; Unofficial Alliance: Waifu of the Year Award 2017. Made possible by user Thyvan From a strict pre-selection 28 candidates were selected, including but not limited to: Tifa Lockheart, Kyle Bosman, Haru Okumura, Makoto Mijima, Kizuna Ai, Ben Moore and Estelle Bright. The bracket was divided into two groups. In group 2, 2B from Nier:Automata fame was easily powering though the rounds. However, a dark hore emerged. Ben Moore was beating favorites like Best Girl(boy) candidate Astolfo hailing from the Fate series and leaving Rem from Re:Zero forgotten in the dust. Butt in the end 2B was too strong for Ben as she made in into the finals. Group one was a harder fight. Makoto Nijima (Persona 5) was beating others with good leads including the future of Youtube content producers, the super intelligent virtual Youtuber Kizuna Ai. However, Kat was making her way to the top. She had a more difficult fight, but after just narrowly beating Pyra/Homura/Mythra/Hikari she flew past Makoto and into the finals. In the end, Kat went by with weightless momentum as 2B’s 148.8kg body left her thinking about the gravity of life and death. Making Kat the winner of this award and crowning her as Best Waifu 2017. Congratulation Kat. Link to bracket: <a href="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/383935425523482624/397016219535933451/WaifuWars2017Finale.png" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/383935425523482624/397016219535933451/WaifuWars2017Finale.png</a>

December is the typical time to look back to the whole year and see how it did. I'm not sure why we do that, but I'll play along. I played some memorable games this year; for most Jones has already given a voice to my thoughts, so there is little more to add than a honorable mention. Sin &amp; Punishment &amp; its sequel Virtue's Last Reward &amp; Zero Time Dilemma Samus Returns. The one other game I played this year that I haven't mention here is The Witness. I don't usually play PC games, just because my PC sucks, but a friend from work found out I wanted it and gave it to me as a birthday present in January. I installed it in the work laptop thinking it would run better there; without suspecting it would consume my lunch time for almost 2 months. I just couldn't stop playing! The mystery of that island and why all those panels are there is one that I will never understand; but, man, did I had fun figuring out the rules for each section and solving all of those puzzles. At some point reminded me of the movie Arrival, when Jeremy Renner's character asks Amy Adams' if she is already dreaming in the alien language; not long after starting playing I stared having dreams about panels and line puzzles; and just like Ian said in one of the earliest Easy Update episodes; suddenly I looked around and noticed shapes in my surroundings that could easily be puzzles from the witness. What a game.

César Villa

Hey Allies, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! I'm a Computer Science major in my final semester, but as a huge Disney nerd, I've been getting more and more into animating in my free time the past couple years. As I'm trying to add things to a possible portfolio should I try to pursue animation in the future, I decided to take a couple weeks in December and make a Christmas-y/winter-y 2D short to share with my friends and family. I hope this is an acceptable submission and that you enjoy it. Here's my short, "Starlight." <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K26i69ao5lI" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K26i69ao5lI</a>

Hey Allies! A few months ago while Kyle was streaming his play through of Psychonauts, I asked him what which gunpla I should build next. I asked him if I should build either Master Grade Burning Gundam from G Gundam or 1/100 no grade scale Dynames Gundam from Gundam 00. He picked the Dynames. Since I was not happy with the original color scheme and it seems that the base kit lacks detail, I repainted the entire thing in a color scheme that is appealing to me. So, with my handy dandy airbrush and 60 hours of work, here is the results of my effort: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BcxfVdMnylH/?taken-by=otakudan" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/p/BcxfVdMnylH/?taken-by=otakudan</a> Note: No stickers were used on this kit, water slide don't count. As for the Master Grade Burning Gundam, that is my current build and which I'm going to repaint as well. You can follow my progress of me working through my massive backlog of gunpla at my instagram: instagram.com/otakudan I can't wait to see more gunpla streams in 2018. Have yourselves a wonderful new year. Love and Respect Dan

Daniel M

<a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/TimBashen/status/941302389331542017" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://mobile.twitter.com/TimBashen/status/941302389331542017</a> Because of my traveling I mostly had to rely on my switch and 3ds this year. But I can’t complain. What a stellar Nintendo year! This photo was taken in kyoto. One of my favorite places

Tim Bechen

Just finished Persona 5 recently so did a bit of a rushed job on art. <a href="https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/947292663937716224" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/947292663937716224</a> And right now going through Nier: Automata but I won't be able to finish it before the year ends. 2017 has been amazing playing Nioh, Persona 5 and gotta give a big shout out to Gravity Rush 2, which exceeded my expectations. Longest falling in my gaming history and I enjoyed every moment of it. Biggest regret was I never got around Trails in the Sky 3rd since it didn't come to Vita and could've easily become a GOTY contender if it's as good as previous ones. Thanks to SEGA we got Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, and Sonic Mania and their year would have been awesome were it not for two bad ones: Sonic Forces and Valkyria Revolution. Luckily next year Valkyria is getting a sequel true to it's name. Thank you all at EZA and community for this wonderful year and a year 2018, which looks like to be another good year for gaming. Love and Respect Tearju Engi PS. Hyped for the return of Megaman <a href="https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/947927170495770624" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/947927170495770624</a>

Trung Nguyen

I'm playing Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Chloe Frazer is sneaking through an enemy outpost at night, and she's taken out every guard in the place. Now she's pinned behind a waist-high wall, hiding in the shadows from a roaming APC tank, and she's fresh out of ammo. I pelt grenades overhead like a kid in a rock fight, but nothing happens. I realise why: they're actually ground mines, so they're now stuck in the dirt, a few feet short of the tank. I keep Chloe out of sight, praying that the lumbering metal beast turns its spotlight away long enough for me to get out of there and find a weapon. The spotlight doesn't move. The enemy knows I'm here. I am sweating. Slowly, deliberately, the tank rears up. Now it's facing the wall head-on. Suddenly, it charges at full speed. I panic. I mash a button. I hear a bang... Chloe detonates the ground mines, and the tank is blown sky-high, milliseconds before impact. The coast is clear. This is my favourite video game memory from 2017.

DaleBastion

2017 is over, so it seems fitting to reflect on a game that really helped me get through a tough year, my favorite game of all time actually. A game with a story so compelling, it changed how I view life, and characters so intensely likable, complex, and relatable, that I would take a bullet for any of them. It blessed our world with what I consider to be the greatest soundtrack ever created. That game is Persona 3 Portable. A lot of people disregard Portable because outside of dungeons, gameplay is 2D and functions like a point and click adventure. But I view that as a strength. The new gameplay style greatly cuts down play time making it more accessible for people with time constraints, and is easier to navigate. Not to mention, you can take it on the go. Portable is the only version of the game where you have full control over the other party members in battle, which improves an already enjoyable battle system. It has exclusive music tracks that I feel are among the best in the series. It offers a new opening cinematic, new battle costumes, new skills and abilities, new difficulty settings, more Personas, more refined battle mechanics, and a new optional Velvet Room Attendant. The most important addition is the new Female Protagonist option (Western fans call her Minako). Minako brings entirely new social links, new characters, and altered story events, even changing who lives or dies. Playing as Minako is the only way to social link with every party member. The new social links for party members turn commonly ignored or disliked characters like Shinjiro and Junpei into some of the best characters in the game, and give greater depth for others like Mitsuru, Koromaru, and Akihiko. In my opinion, Minako’s social links solidify P3’s party as the strongest cast in the series. Additionally, Minako is one of few JRPG protagonists with a clearly defined personality. I believe that in general, Portable elevates just about every aspect of Persona 3’s already phenomenal experience and creates something truly special. For your listening pleasure I created a playlist with my favorite songs from Persona 3 Portable, that I will post in a blog on the forums. I dare you not to jam to “Sun” and “Wiping All Out”. P.S. Thanks so much for using my Fiasco playset this month! Persona 5 is GOTY. L&amp;R!

Michelle Jackson

G'day Allies. In the early 2000's I loved taking screenshots of all my favourite television shows, movies and video games and editing them into tiny images. These would became the avatars I would use in forums, chat clients like Yahoo Messager, as well as just something I could browse through to bring back cherished memories. By 2007 my collection had grown into the thousands and I created a website to share them with others, The Avatar Continuum. I would frequently update this website over the next 5 years before finally closing it in 2012 after creating over 30,000 avatars. Last month I decided to re-upload my old website for people to see. I have also been working on creating new avatars to release throughout 2018 and hopefully beyond. It may have taken half a decade to return to this hobby of mine, but the Avatar Continuum is finally back. <a href="http://www.avatarcontinuum.com" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.avatarcontinuum.com</a> Love &amp; Respect AvatarContinuum

Avatar Continuum

Greetings Allies, Just wanted to drop by to share my thoughts on my personal Game of the Year. Needless to say it’s been a fantastic year for games with a wealth of engrossing titles for fans of just about every genre. Personal highlights of mine have been Cuphead, Wolfenstein: The New Colossus &amp; Prey. However there is one game this year that has resonated with me in a way that no other has. That game being Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice The use of binaural audio as a means for expressing the symptoms of Psychosis to the player is nothing short of masterful. As the game progresses you really feel the weight of these voices not only to Senua herself but to you the player. I found that I couldn’t play the game for long periods of time due to the overwhelming feeling of stress and anxiety caused primarily by these voices, there was even a point whilst solving a particularly intricate puzzle that I had to pause the game for 2-3 minutes just to clear my mind from the noise. It was at this moment that I had the revelation related to the second major strength of the game, its portrayal of mental health issues. Throughout the game we see through the voices, visions and excellent motion capture performance just how much mental anguish Senua has to cope with in her life. During this brief pause however is when it all clicked. Whilst I could pause this experience to have my 2-3 minute breather away from it all, there are people out there who don’t have this luxury. People who have to deal with their own visions/voices in their mind without any way to escape from them, people who have no other choice than live with these conditions for the rest of their lives. It was at that moment that I knew that this was my Game of the Year as no other title this year has provided this level of introspection for me. There are numerous other strengths within the game beyond the portrayal of these themes and ideas such as the simple yet satisfyingly heavy feel of combat and it serving as a beacon of hope for game creators in an industry primarily dominated by small indie experiences or large AAA blockbusters. However the emotional resonance and insightful teachings by this game is something that will stay with me for some time and something that I would have not experienced in any other medium. Note: You don’t have to include anything below in your reading as it’s over the word count limit I know. Just as a general aside as I’ve wrapped up my thoughts with Hellblade, I just wanted to say two things. As the game I’ve discussed deals with numerous aspects of mental health I just wanted to express to everyone reading this that if you are dealing with any mental health issues at the moment know that you are not alone. Know that out there is someone who does care about you, whether it be a relative, friend or loved one. If you truly feel that you don’t have anyone that you can turn to then I urge you to reach out to someone, whether it be professional help or even someone from within this very community. I know for certain that this community is very inviting and accepting so don’t be ashamed or afraid, as there are people who will accept you for who you are and treat you with love &amp; respect. Also I just wanted to express my gratitude and thanks to everyone within the Easy Allies community. I’ve never been one for getting involved into online communities a great deal as I feel I never have anything meaningful or insightful to share. However with everyone here it’s been very open and respectful which has pushed into wanting to get more involved. Of course all of this wouldn’t be possible without the 9 lovely gentlemen that produce some of the best gaming content on the web. So I want to share a special thanks to everyone at EZA as you are all amazing and unique in your own ways and I always love hearing your opinions on everything game related or otherwise. Whether it be chilling with your live streams on my days off or keeping me company in the evenings with any one of your podcasts, just know that you’re making the world a jollier place. Love &amp; Respect Jack Price

In December I was able to get to some games I missed out on due to Black Friday sales. The first of those was Nier: Automata. It was alright. It's good. I've come across a few bugs, but I had fun with it. The only things that really bothered me were the invisible walls and 9S's character being a bit inconsistent, as well as annoying. The gameplay was fun and the environments were neat, especially when I came across areas I was not expecting to see at all. I also nabbed Hellblade: Senua's Sacrafice. I had a bit of trouble discerning what I could and couldn't. Early on there was a small ledge that the character could easily step onto, but the invisble walls said nay. I decided to use headphones as well. The sound design was fantastic and was easily worth the price alone. The combat was also pretty solid. Also, finally got the Platinum trophy for Final Fantasy IX. Yes, I used a script for the damn jump rope challenge, but screw it, damn thing was BS. The Game Awards were fun to attend. It was a fun show and it seems to be getting better each year. Maybe less time given to side conversations and more to awards. Also, the Bayonetta 3 and Bayonetta Switch collection trailers should have 100% been swapped. While the meetup was lots of fun, PSX kinda sucked. They had Transference to play on the floor, so that was cool at least. Thankfully, they gave a water bottle again in the grab bag when I picked up my pass. It made the show more fun, and this year, tolerable. Hint: I didn't put water in it. Looking back at 2017 as a whole, it was a solid year for games. My personal game of the year would have to be The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. What Remains of Edith Finch, Super Mario Odyssey, Sonic Mania, Statik, and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy were all stellar. Looking forward to 2018, there are some games I can't wait to play; Spider-Man, Transference, Kingdom Hearts III (Haha, sure Square Enix, sure...), Dreams, and One Piece: World Seeker. Finally, a Happy New Year to you all! As we move forward from the days of known to the unwritten ones that lay in wait, I wish you all the most healthiest and happiest of days. Cheers!

Jason A. Sackel

2017 has been a fantastic year for many and while the likes of EA and YouTube personalities courted controversies, there still were the games. Because of my budget and general focused interests, only seven games made my GOTY list this year. At #7 is Resident Evil VII. I’m not a survival horror fan, but something about this game is fascinating. It’s at the bottom of my list because I haven’t played it. Actually, I have watched every full playthrough stream EZA has done. I believe it’s a better game than my numbers 6 and 5 entries, but I can’t in good conscience place it higher without playing it myself. #6: Mass Effect Andromeda. I went on a long tirade in the March 2017 Community Comments video, so instead of repeating that, I’ll just say: The unequivocal disappointment of the year that I’ve played (I did not play Battlefront II. #5: Prey. Prey was interesting with thought provoking moral choices and setting. But two loading screens clocking over a minute and glitched out quests put a damper on my experience. #4: Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. Easily the one game on my list not many others have talked about. Probably the last Dishonored we’ll get, it was a great sendoff to a solid franchise. #3: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Brutal and unforgiving, the newest exploits of B.J. Blazkowicz were a pulse pounding ride and for those that have played it, Mesquite and Los Angeles held the two most satisfying moments of the year, if not this console generation, for me. #2: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. The last Naughty Dog Uncharted was a great sendoff to the series. Proving Nathan Drake wasn’t needed, the story went from ok to great at the beginning of Chapter 6. #1: Horizon: Zero Dawn. Everything about this game clicked with me and I’m eager to see what’s next from the franchise. The story, machines, combat, world, and everything in between all make it my personal Game of the Year. As you probably have noticed, allow me to quickly address some obvious omissions: No, I do not own a Switch. No, I have no interest in ANY Nintendo property. No, Persona is not my thing. No, I don’t game on PC. No, I’m not an Assassin’s Creed fan No, Nier doesn’t appeal to me. And finally, No, I’m not into Cuphead.

Brandon K Gann

My girlfriend and I finished Trails in the Sky, which Ben Moore did a "Don't Skip" on, and it was a ton of fun. I had low expectations going into playing an old PSP RPG and found a really interesting RPG story with great world building. It's kind of a contrast to Yakuza 0 which is a new full priced PS4 game which is pretty much designed like a PS2 game and has been hyped up online to no end. Both of them are pretty simplistic and shine in their quirky interesting worlds, but my expectations going in really had a big affect on how I felt about each. In reality they are both probably 'swimming in 7s' types of experiences, but my feelings towards Trails in the Sky are much more positive.

Ian Alexander

I want to use my spot to recommend a game. While I've played it before, I really got into it during December. In these times of excessive micro-transactions I want people to check out a game that does them right. Path of Exile. It's a Diablo-like game that's completely free to play. It's entirely supported by optional micro-transactions, all of which are cosmetics and a few Quality of Life improvements. No Pay2Win whatsoever. Path of Exile proves it's possible to do MTX right as long as you make a good game first.

Olf Himself

PART III What the f*** did just happen, one moment i'm sleeping a peaceful nights rest and the next i'm free-falling from what must be a world record. 'Is this it ? Is this how you die and get send to Hell ? It can't be heaven, right ?' It appears i'm heading straight for the lake; that's good, then at least I won't make much of a mess when I brutally hit the water like a concrete block. no poor soul will have the fine job of cleaning up the crater I would leave when i'd land on solid ground. I hope some shark or other cool sea dweller gets to feast on what will be left of me in the deep blue. People always say that it's not the fall that kills you, nor is it the landing; you get a heart-attack from the fear and you die before you get close to the ground.... when is that going to happen ? That might be one of the problems i'm having right now, i'm not really scared, my mind has not caught up yet, fear is still sleeping next to my wife.

Randy Verschueren

Hi Allies! With a new Metroid game on the way, I wanted to try redesigning some of the characters and creatures. This is still a work in progress, but I wanted to show the concept stage this month, and next month I'll be able to show the finished product. Since it's possible the new Metroid game could be shown in a January Direct (crosses fingers), it might be interesting to see how these compare to the real deal. <a href="https://www.artstation.com/artwork/AeW6q" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.artstation.com/artwork/AeW6q</a>

Ian Barker

Huber's DNA tests are back, and the results are 50% Ryuji (Persona 5) and 50% Makoto Naegi (Danganronpa). Also... nothing quite like getting waxed by my 10 year old niece in Mario Kart and having her thrilled about it. Hope everyone had some fun gaming memories this holiday!

Brogan Trull

Hello Allies well I don't have a video this time that is short enough for submission and I want to spare Brandon any pain of doing editing on my behalf :) I love screenshots of games but I normally don't take many. In some cases if the game captures me I do take some. Xenoblade 2 was one of these games. It is the first game that I have spent so much time in my first play trough. after 203 hours I finished it and I had around 741 screenshots (I might have gone overboard a bit). My favorite 3 are these <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fettouhi/38514073205/in/album-72157664152291808/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/fettouhi/38514073205/in/album-72157664152291808/</a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fettouhi/39361930362/in/album-72157664152291808/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/fettouhi/39361930362/in/album-72157664152291808/</a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fettouhi/27614869529/in/album-72157664152291808/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/fettouhi/27614869529/in/album-72157664152291808/</a> I have a photo album people can check out and screenshots from other games that I have played <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fettouhi/albums" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/fettouhi/albums</a> L&amp;R Fettouhi

Christophe Fettouhi

I'd like to take this opportunity to relay a simple message to the creative people out there that are struggling: it's totally fine if your creative outlet isn't your full time job. I'm an accountant, and there's no way to deny that it's very boring stuff, but it pays the bills and is relatively stress free. Thanks to the Easy Allies community I have a small but passionate audience to my little pet projects like music remixes or video tributes that I work on in my limited free time. There's freedom in being able to create whatever you want without having to be judged by someone paying you for something they want. If for whatever reason you're unsure that you'll ever be able to turn your talents into a sustainable career, it's okay to take the safer route, and it doesn't mean you can't still exercise and express those talents. My office mate is a skilled painter, and even though she takes commissions, she often just hangs her work in our shared office, and I get to appreciate it every day. Another one of my coworkers had a joke he made make it to the 2nd highest post on the front page of Reddit one day. He was upset when it was removed by a moderator but I reminded him that some of his favorite celebrities probably saw it and laughed. This may be hard to believe but I've honestly had two separate people inform me that their lives were changed by watching one of my videos. Who says you can't be a boring pencil pusher and still emotionally move people?

Joseph Caruso

Big change since last month. Previously I had just got Final Fantasy 15 and then I went on holiday to Florida. When I got home, I bought a Switch with Mario Odyssey. This is my first Nintendo console (excluding NES and SNES Classics) since the Wii. I wasn't taken by it at first, but then I got a Pro controller and it made a huge difference in comfort of playing. I just reached New Donk City. The important part to discuss though is obviously Disney World. The new Avatar Flights of Passage ride is amazing. Just make sure to get a fastpass 60 days in advance as it seems to always have a minimum of 2 hours wait otherwise. My personal favourite ride there is the Aerosmith Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Getting blasted to 57 miles per hour from nothing is a lot of fun. As we went with a 4 and a half year old, we spent a lot of the time waiting to see Princesses and other characters. I got to hug Chewie. They were not impressed when my son hugged Kylo Ren.

BeardedScotsman86

After a year of owning "Bloodborne" and nearly 20 hours of grinding to raise my stats, I finally defeated Father Gascoigne! Immediately it felt like the game has now opened up to me. I really am not good at actually playing the game, but I love the art direction and the lore so much it pained me to only enjoy it through YouTube videos. Now at last I can finally explore a new area - until a new boss keeps me busy for another year.

Robert I.

Just edit your comment with the link to your video.

Olf Himself

Last year I had to think awhile to find 5 games for my personal GotY. This year I had to make really hard cuts to pick my top 5 games. I will mention the rest of my impressions in the next month’s post, because today I want to focus on the best of the best. Full disclosure: my 2017 backlog still has one game - Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Obviously it can surprise me, but I’m pretty sure that it will not beat the following 5 games in my personal 2017 GotY race. 5. Pyre. I’ll be honest, this game has so much lore, that its story lost me pretty quickly. But its characters did not. In fact I’ve picked certain characters for certain actions without even considering their combat skills. Also the art and animation in Pyre is pure beauty, and its soundtrack is simply amazing. Especially, the final song that changes based on the choices you’ve made during the game. 4. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. At first I didn’t like hearing voices in my head and tried to shut myself from them. But as game progressed I’ve started to embrace them and rely on their guidance. And finally I understood the importance of acceptance of who you are and finding strength in your weaknesses. Not many games can teach you valuable life lessons, and Hellblade is one of them. 3. Horizon Zero Dawn. I like playing stealthy and I don’t like optional fights and grinding. Yet in Horizon I’ve fought countless optional enemies and was enjoying every encounter. Also I like Aloy as a character, I love main story and its lore and… I can’t stop taking beautiful pictures in photo mode. 2. Persona 5. I’ll say it simply: when you finish 100-hour game and decide to play it again in near future, you know that it’s a strong GotY contender. 1. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. I thought a lot about which game is better: Danganronpa V3 or Persona 5. Both have fascinating and meaningful story, great soundtracks and bold art design. Yet only with Danganronpa V3 I’ve got completely new understanding of game events when on next day I’ve thought about one image I saw during ending credits. Surprising player after he exits the game is what makes Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony my 2017 Game of the Year.

Alexander Zyryanov

EDIT: Hello Allies. Here is my submission that will hopefully make the cut to the Showcase. In honor of what is easily my favorite game of all time and one of my favorite bands of all time, I made a Coldplay-esque remix of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's main theme. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&amp;video_id=zuvpobZ7s4s" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&amp;video_id=zuvpobZ7s4s</a>

irene035

That works! We like to keep the submissions current, timely, and hopefully relevant to EZA, but if it's your first submission we'd love to see what you've created.

Easy Allies

Do submission have to be related to Easy Allies or could I post some art I've made based on a videogame? :)

MarziiBarks