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I know I should spend more time with Final Fantasy XVI, but no one I know is saying anything interesting about it. Where did all the Final Fantasy people go? Are they not playing this game?
So, with an eerie wall of silence surrounding FFXVI, I continue to play Elden Ring simply out of curiosity to see how far I'll get this time.
Having successfully drained the swamp of Liurnia (through murder), King Spinach has now ventured into the wilds of Caelid, a continent-sized area that's technically optional. The theme of Caelid is "mushroom hell." And not a fun mushroom hell, but like: What if there was a beautiful forest, and then the beautiful forest got nuked, and all the irradiated organic remains were covered in horrible fungus, and also everything is on fire. The ambient background music of this region consists low-pitched hell chords and literal human screams.
One of the things I like about Caelid are the giant murder crows perched around the piles of burning bodies. I guess they're waiting for the corpses to get crispy? Anyway, if you get anywhere near them, the crows will swoop down and attack you. Even for the mighty King Spinach, being noticed by a crow is almost certain death, as these crows are extremely large and extremely social. When one of them is chowing down on you, it will call others to come join the party. At least someone's having a good time in Caelid.
The design of the giant crows is really interesting. On one hand, they're a thoughtful exploration of what a contemporary dinosaur might look like. On the other hand, there's a deliberate jankiness to them that reminds me of the puppets in the 1984 movie adaptation of The Neverending Story. If King Spinach had actual stealth skills, I'd love the study the giant crows, because the way they move is super creepy.
As things stand, though, the only thing I've been able to study is the artistry of the plaque on the birds' rotting teeth as they devour King Spinach. Did I mention the giant crows have horrible sharp teeth? Because of course they do.
So, with an eerie wall of silence surrounding FFXVI, I continue to play Elden Ring simply out of curiosity to see how far I'll get this time.
Having successfully drained the swamp of Liurnia (through murder), King Spinach has now ventured into the wilds of Caelid, a continent-sized area that's technically optional. The theme of Caelid is "mushroom hell." And not a fun mushroom hell, but like: What if there was a beautiful forest, and then the beautiful forest got nuked, and all the irradiated organic remains were covered in horrible fungus, and also everything is on fire. The ambient background music of this region consists low-pitched hell chords and literal human screams.
One of the things I like about Caelid are the giant murder crows perched around the piles of burning bodies. I guess they're waiting for the corpses to get crispy? Anyway, if you get anywhere near them, the crows will swoop down and attack you. Even for the mighty King Spinach, being noticed by a crow is almost certain death, as these crows are extremely large and extremely social. When one of them is chowing down on you, it will call others to come join the party. At least someone's having a good time in Caelid.
The design of the giant crows is really interesting. On one hand, they're a thoughtful exploration of what a contemporary dinosaur might look like. On the other hand, there's a deliberate jankiness to them that reminds me of the puppets in the 1984 movie adaptation of The Neverending Story. If King Spinach had actual stealth skills, I'd love the study the giant crows, because the way they move is super creepy.
As things stand, though, the only thing I've been able to study is the artistry of the plaque on the birds' rotting teeth as they devour King Spinach. Did I mention the giant crows have horrible sharp teeth? Because of course they do.
