u/VanceVibes

What I love about Grimgar is how grounded it feels. The characters interact in a way that feels natural and believable. In a lot of modern isekai, the characters act as if they already know all the tropes, so the pacing is rushed and everything ends up feeling generic and uninspired.

Grimgar takes its time. The world is beautiful, the backgrounds are stunning, and I love how it acknowledges that killing a living creature isn't as easy as defeating enemies in a video game. You can feel that from the very first fight. When the party finally starts working together and earns a victory, it's incredibly satisfying. In many other fantasy shows, the main character is so overpowered that the stakes never feel real. I enjoy a good power fantasy now and then, and I liked Solo Leveling, but it always felt more like fast food entertainment compared to Grimgar.

My only real complaint is the fan service. I found it really distracting, and it didn't fit the tone of the series.

Can anyone recommend something similar to Grimgar? It doesn't have to be an isekai. I'm mainly looking for a grounded fantasy world with believable characters and meaningful stakes. It's incredibly rare for me to rewatch a series, and Grimgar is the first anime I've watched 3 times!

I've already seen:

• Mushoku Tensei
• Sword Art Online
• Re:Zero

Please don't recommend:

• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
• Overlord
• KonoSuba

I've been a Senna fan since before I even played League. I was obsessed with the True Damage's Giants music video and watched it hundreds of times, and Senna was the character who stood out to me the most.

When I finally started playing League, Senna became my first main, and she's still my most played champion after all these years. I love everything about her. She's serious, determined, and her voice lines portray someone who has been through unimaginable hardship yet refuses to give up. She always clings to hope and keeps fighting the darkness, and I also love her relationship with Lucian. Riot absolutely nailed her character.

I also love her cinematics. The moment where she fires her gun to protect Lucian still gives me chills every time I watch it. Across League, the cinematics, and other media, Senna has a very distinct identity and iconic design. That's why I think 2XKO completely missed the mark.

I've given 2XKO two chances already: once during the closed beta launch and again when Akali was added. I actually enjoy the game's overall vibe. Seeing League champions with expanded movesets and all the extra character interactions is really cool. The problem is that the gameplay is a bit too fast and difficult for me, so I couldn't stick with it, especially since none of the characters were champions I truly loved.

So I decided to wait until one of my mains got added.

When I heard Senna was coming, I was incredibly excited. I couldn't wait to see her reimagined in 2XKO's amazing art style with an expanded moveset. But when the first leaks appeared, my initial reaction was disappointment. I didn't like how she looked, but I wanted to keep an open mind and wait for the official reveal.

Then the trailer came out, and my excitement completely disappeared.

She barely feels like the Senna I've grown attached to over the years. her face look different, and I honestly think the hairstyle is awful. It's distracting enough that I don't even enjoy looking at the character. Her gun also feels bland and weightless.

I'm not a fighting game player, but even then, something feels off. Her Wraith Form is a cool idea, but it's tied to a resource that runs out way too quickly, so it never really feels like you're embracing that fantasy.

More importantly, her Mist powers barely exist. I imagined her dissolving into Black Mist to reposition herself, using souls as part of her attacks, or leaning much more into the spectral magic that defines her. Instead, she mostly throws a Mist orb. Meanwhile, Thresh gets the flashy Mist teleportation effects, and the Black Mist souls as projectiles, even though manipulating souls is one of Senna's defining mechanics in League (her W). She even transforms into a tornado at one point, which just feels completely random.

The colors also don't feel right. The white is too clean, and the green is far too saturated. Instead of communicating death, decay, and the supernatural, it gives off more of a vibrant nature magic aesthetic. It loses the eerie feeling that has always made Senna stand out.

Thanks for reading and letting me vent. I know a lot of people will say I care too much about a fictional character. Yeah, I do. Senna is one of my favorite characters in gaming, and seeing a version of her that doesn't capture what I love about her is genuinely disappointing.

If you like her design in 2XKO, that's completely fine, and I'm happy for you. This is just how I personally feel.

It's just so convenient and only takes 2 slots!

BTW how's my build? I used this for the true final boss, and it worked really well for me.

I randomly stumbled upon Sheepy: A Short Adventure, and it was so good it actually made me tear up lol. The fact that it was free made it even better. After beating it, I decided to check out other free (not free to play) games to see if I could find more gems.

I ended up enjoying quite a few of them, but I noticed that a lot of these games lack polish, which is a big deal for me. I really value consistent visuals and responsive controls, which is why I enjoyed The WereCleaner so much. I also loved POCO. I don’t usually play point and click games, but this one felt special and never got frustrating, which is rare for me with that genre.

For the games I rated around [5-6], I’d call them "Decent." I enjoyed them, but they had some issues. I’d still recommend them though.

For example, I highly recommend Bloody Hell. It’s really fun, with great boss fights. I even replayed the final fight a few times after getting the 100%. My only issue is the presentation, it just needed more polish and a better map layout.

Pumpkin Panic was also really cool. It reminded me of Don’t Starve (which is in my top 5, so I’m a bit biased). The gameplay was engaging and genuinely scary, it always got my heart pumping. That said, it has some major balance issues, and I wouldn’t recommend going for 100% since it’s too punishing.

As for the games below a 4, I don’t really recommend them. Some felt too boring or more like demos, like Pineapple on Pizza, and others just weren’t for me, like Mr. Rabbit Magic Show.

Anyway, let me know if you have any must play free games I should try, and what’s your favorite free game of all time.

On my wishlist so far:

- Paper Lily

- The Children of Clay

- Please, Touch The Artwork 2.