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Time to start swapping out that 1 for a 2 at the end of the date because it's almost a whole new year, allies! With team members swapping responsibilities to take time off during alternate weeks, it'll be a bit before we get around to January's Showcase. I'll be co-op couchin' it with Michael Damiani on Monday, January 10th at 2 PM PT. So while New Year's Day is right around the corner, you have a week and a half to get those GOTYs picked out and resolutions finalized for the big stream. See you then!

- Jones


SHOWCASE GUIDELINES

No submissions will be accepted past January 9th at 11:00 PM PT.

While you retain all rights to your content, by submitting here you’re giving Easy Allies the right to show the content in our monthly Community Showcase live stream.

You may submit a comment, an image, or an audio/video file. If you’re submitting anything other than a comment, please host the file elsewhere and link it on Patreon. You can make a tweet or Instagram post with your image, or link the audio/video from a YouTube account, etc.

If you’re posting a video, photograph, or drawing, keep your comment limited to a description of the work. Leaving a piece of art, or a video, in addition to a long comment is a bit disrespectful of people who just leave comments. If you’re posting a lot of images, we will only show a maximum of 9, of our choosing unless you specify otherwise.

Comments have been known to disappear from Patreon posts, unfortunately. Double check that your post remained active before the day of the Showcase. Leaving a reply to your original comment helps to keep it from vanishing. If you’re submitting text, save a copy locally in case you have to re-post. You can also message us on Patreon with your submission.

Any text to be read should be 500 words or less. Any video or piece of music should be 3 minutes or less. If the entry is longer, we will edit it down to a manageable length. We reserve the right to remove any content we find offensive.

If you're going to create a safety post, it would help me organize things if you let me know what kind of submission you plan to leave (comment, music, drawing, photograph, screenshot, voice over, or video). That way I can make sure you're all placed in the correct order if I make time to start collecting submissions ahead of the deadline.

Only one entry per month. Unless you specify what you’d like us to focus on, we’ll always use the last post from each Patron.

You may comment on any submissions, but keep original posts focused toward the Showcase so no submission is overlooked.

Comments

Anonymous

Hey Brandon and Damiani, For this month I was a bit too hoarse to record any voiceover, so I decided to share some of the pictures I took when I attended the World Juggling Federation competition and convention in December in Las Vegas. I was not there to compete, just to attend and juggle with my friends, some of whom are really amazing and with skill far exceeding my own. For my part I am always trying to get better at things, and this was another chance to work on my photography skills. It's not enough to just take the pictures, but to crop and edit them down to the be the best version of themselves. I can't say I got there, but that was the goal this month. I hope you enjoy! 1. Jonah rocking a very difficult 5 ball pattern and connection to other patterns with the same number of balls 2. Joe going from a juggle of 5 rings and transitioning into a balance that relies on very delicate tension to keep them from falling 3. Jack rocking 5 club backcrosses out of a pirouette, where every throw goes behind the back towards the front, one of the most coveted and difficult tricks. I've been working on it for over 5 years and my record is 8 catches. 4. Jonah doing 5 ring outside reverse cascade 5. Jack flashing 8 clubs, with one throw and catch of each to a collect 6. Jack letting his muscles recover during his half-hour exhibition (honestly my favorite picture of the event, which just lets you see the toll it takes to be one of the very best in the world) 7. Joe doing a 3 ring thing 8. Spencer just RUNNING 7 clubs like it's nothing. One of the hardest tricks ever done is throwing all 7 into the air and completing one pirouette, and Spencer is one of only 3 people who have ever done it, and he's 20 years old and works at Chipotle 9. Everyone juggling 6 balls and seeing who can juggle the longest without dropping. It ran for about a minute. Thanks so much for all you do, allies! L&R Eric Jackson aka JacksOnDeck 1 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434646265446400?s=20 2 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434591202635776?s=20 3 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434717203701765?s=20 4 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434851798937602?s=20 5 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434785042382850?s=20 6 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434748602216449?s=20 7 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434821453123585?s=20 8 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434881549135872?s=20 9 https://twitter.com/AllyEricJackson/status/1480434688233590784?s=20

Anonymous

Hello allies. I’m continuing highlighting my favorite Apex Legends characters. Earlier we saw Loba, Rampart and Wraith. Today I’ll show you Crypto, who is one of the best choices if you want to play slow and steady. Orphans Tae Joon and his foster sister Mila Alexander escaped a life of squalor by becoming computer engineers, designing drones used by the Syndicate to transmit the Apex Games. One day they stumbled upon an algorithm that could predict the result of any Apex match, hidden away in the Games’ own computer systems. That caught the attention of the wrong people, and the next day, Mila disappeared, and Tae Joon was forced into hiding after he was framed for her murder. With his reputation destroyed, and powerful people after him, he gave up his identity, his face, and his family in order to facilitate his redemption. Wanting to get closer to those who framed him, Tae Joon hacked into the games' mainframe and put himself in their records as a new Legend – Crypto. Later, during one of the matches he discovered a message from Mila, telling him that she managed to escape and that he is being watched by someone from the inside. In terms of gameplay, Crypto is a recon Legend. Like all recon Legends, he can scan any Survey Beacon to reveal location of the next ring. His active ability allows him to deploy and take full control of an areal drone, which can be used to scout ahead, to instantly scan Survey Beacons and to pick up squadmates' banners and instantly respawn them at Respawn Beacons. Additionally, drone doesn’t take damage from the ring, and it reveals the number of nearby squads on promotional banners. Thanks to Crypto’s passive ability, every team member sees enemies, traps and defenses that are close to the drone, both when Crypto directly controls it and when he leaves it hanging in the air. Crypto’s ultimate ability releases EMP blast from the drone that destroys enemies’ traps and defenses, disable vehicles and Rampart’s turret, damage shields and slow everyone down. However, drone is noisy, and Crypto doesn’t see his own surroundings while using it, so you need to be cautious and rely on your teammates for protection. I like playing as Crypto because he is one of the best choices when you want to stay away from the heat and strategize. In this video I’ve tried to highlight his abilities as well as his interactions with Wattson (who is the only Legend Crypto trusts), Caustic (whose mother owned the orphanage Crypto was raised in) and other Legends. This is just a small taste – the game has much more than I can possibly show in just 3 minutes. https://1drv.ms/v/s!AsxRquOgIVix_Fm2N_hHaKtAuYGs?e=RpYvcw Jones, please download video (for better quality) instead of screen-capturing it.

Anonymous

Hello Allies, Happy 2022! For this month, I'm happy to show off my first review of the year for a game called Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. It's a game that touts itself as a showpiece as an appreciation of nature, photography, and wildlife preservation. It shows off an open environment where you can take pictures of the animals that live around an island, and has wonderful and wholesome ideas. While here we’re definitely a few evident problems, it feels like what could be a wonderful starter open-world game for younger gamers (even little Milo, Jones :) ), who want to appreciate animals and take their time with small activities of helping a community. Sorry if the review was rushed, I was running into YouTube and Premiere issues with imports and exports, but I hope everyone enjoys the review for Alba this month! I sincerely enjoyed it, and the wholesome ideas that it showed. Love you all, wishing you the happiest upcoming year! Brian from Happy Gaming https://youtu.be/hqiwRH2fxDI

Anonymous

Happy New Year Jones and Damiani! Hope things are going well for you guys! Just another drawing video for your pleasure. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY7dQDp_TV4 Hope you guys continue to stay safe and continue to be awesome to everyone around you. Much love and respect, Sara Knite

Sage_Mode_Q

Happy New years Jones and Damiani hope you had a good holiday break! Last month I said that I had bought a bunch of goty contending games and was going to play them in preparation for this year's EZA gotys. Well let's just say that didn't happen and it's all thanks to Lost Judgement. I had planned on just jumping in for about 15-20 hours to just get a feel for the story and game play improvements they had made from the last game, fast forward a month later and I'm just seeing credits and have a final play time of 90 hours. I have a feeling Yagami the main protagonist might just make another appearance in EZA's best character category after being a finalist for the same award in 2019 as well. Speaking of the best character category I have a feeling that like so many others that category this year is gonna be a doozy trying to nail down to 5 nominees. I have so many characters I loved this year like Lady D, Yuffie from FF7 intergrade, Agent 47( Hitman 3 pretty damn good game btw have I mentioned that this year 😉) Drax from Guardian's, Yagami from Judgement, and so many more. One character that I also recently got to experience and that I'd love to give a little shout out too is the Pilot from the Halo Infinite Campaign. No spoilers but his performance really stuck out to me I thought he was incredible. Lastly I’d like to just thank not only you two but all the allies for a great 2021. No matter what craziness was going on in the world EZA was still there bringing weekly content and weekly joy and for that I am very grateful. Here’s to a even better 2022 L&R!

Anonymous

(pics in comments below) Greetings Jones and Damiani, So, I could talk about a certain Hall of Greats, where someone, I won’t say who, but SOMEONE brought possibly the worst game of all time, and it somehow got in. But it’s a new year, I’ll let bygones be bygones. Besides, I’m pretty sure that chat is sick of me screaming about how F-ing awful FF10 is. That said, I’ll be nice and give Damiani exclusively what he wants, what he asked for last time. So, here are 9 pictures of my sweetest girl. 1. This is one of the first known picture I have of Themis. The hand is that of my much-hated biological sister. However, without that foul woman, I wouldn’t have my cat. This picture is why I adopted Themis to being with. 2. Themis is the middle cat here; the other kittens are her siblings. 3. I think this was maybe a few days or at least a couple of weeks AFTER she came to my house. 4. I will never not love her earthen-rainbow of colors and look how peaceful she looks. 5. I trust you all enough to show this picture, this was before I started transitioning, back with my crimson mohawk. Also, that nametag of hers does eventually make an appearance in Themis the Catgirl. 6. Speaking of hated biological family, while I’ll never speak to them again, my family are nerds, and my aunt did crotchet Themis a 4th Doctor scarf. She isn’t a fan of said scarf. 7. At one point, I had to move out of our home for remodeling, and for a while I couldn’t bring her with me. A few good friends took her in for me for a bit, and she commandeered their bathtub. 8. …But eventually, both mother and daughter couldn’t stand being away from each other, and I did what I had to do to bring her into that bad apartment. 9. Eventually, we got home, I transitioned, and my little girl, no matter how long and old she gets, is still my little girl. Thank you for letting me post these and have a good day. Love and Respect, R.F. Switch. P.S. The actual Tarot card that best represents Damiani is the Knight of Cup, for Damiani is one of the first people who would gladly stand against injustice and stands by what’s right. P.P.S. Oh, and I’m single… I was always single. Why would anyone love or care about me? Great thing to learn two days before Christmas...

Anonymous

This safety post is much like my heart.... in that it's an anchor holding me down...

Anonymous

Hi Damiani and Jones. Hope your new year started well :) As usual I kept a list of games I have beaten last year and here it is in a chronological order: 1. Star wars the old republic - smuggler story arc - pc 2. Star wars the old republic - rise of the hutt cartel 3. Star wars the old republic - shadows of revan 4. Star wars the old republic - knights of the fallen empire 5. Battle chasers nightwar - android 6. Star wars the old republic - knights of the eternal throne 7. Glass Masquerade origins -switch 8. Dragon Quest 1 - android 9. Dragon Quest 2 - android 10. Picross s4 - switch 11. Bravely Default 2 - switch 12. Dragon Quest 11 definitive edition - steam 13. Diablo 3 - reaper of souls - PC 14. Ori and the blind forest - switch 15. The ninja saviours - switch 16. Streets of Rage 4 - switch 17. Titans Quest - Ragnarök - steam 18. Titans Quest - Atlantis - steam 19. Brigandine - switch 20. Marvel vs. Capcom infinite - steam 21. Path of exile - 10 akts - steam 22. Disciples 2 - Mountain Clan campaign - steam 23. The incredible adventures of van helsing - final cut - steam 24. Grandia 1 - switch 25. Guilty Gear - Strive - steam 26. Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne HD remaster - switch 27. Final Fantasy 1 Pixel Remaster - steam 28. Final Fantasy 2 Pixel Remaster - steam 29. Final Fantasy 3 Pixel Remaster - steam 30. Picross S Mega drive & master system edition - switch 31. Phantasy Star 1 sega ages - switch 32. Final Fantasy 4 Pixel Remaster - steam 33. Melty Blood: Type Lumina - switch 34. Eastward - switch 35. Gunbird 1 - switch 36. Espgaluda 2 - switch 37. Super Robot Wars 30 - steam 38. Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker - steam 39. Shin megami tensei v - switch No short reviews this time to keep it in the wordcap :) Lets hope every ally can find some time to enjoy a game or two in 2022. Thats it from me L&R Alex

Anonymous

Hey Brandon and Damiani, A new year often brings about reflections on the year that has passed, so in honour of tradition I will do my very own (unserious) game awards-so here we go: Unhealthy Marriage Award for the game I couldn’t stop nagging about-Far Cry 6 Grandma’s Choice for Most Adorable game- Chicory: A Colourful Tale The Mt Doom Award for the game people won’t stop talking about-Elden Ring The Enema Prize for the game I’d most like up my rectum- Taxi Chaos Nobody Loves Me Award for a great game people won’t pay attention to- F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch Look Grandad is Dancing With Those Teens Award for game that embarrassingly tries to be cooler than it really is-Rider’s Republic Reanimated Award for game wearing its DNA like Chickenpox-Resident Evil Village I Don't Know What The Fuss is About Award for game that people love that I've barely played- Metroid Dread Mummy Look It’s A Disney film....Oh Wait A Minute! Award for game that looks as splendid as a Disney film but gives you bugger all to care about-Kena: Bridge of Spirits Too Hot For My Tastebuds Prize for game that's too hard for timid little me-Returnal Butchered Nostalgia Award for game that tried to convince me that my childhood didn't exist-GTA Trilogy I have a little quibble regarding Stream Team that I want to address here and get your responses. I feel like many games chosen for Stream Team are recent releases and games the Allies have played already. I understand this might be fallout from the Lockdowns, promoting the need to play multiplayer games, yet at this juncture it’s quite overplayed. I would prefer a show dedicated to obscure curios. Back in the November 2020 Q&A I listed a bunch of lesser-known PS2 games and many of you hadn’t played most of them. Games like Chaos Legion, I-Ninja, The Getaway, Splashdown, Freekstyle and tons of other buried treasures deserve some recognition. I’d love to see the Allies stream and play games from long ago they’ve never experienced before because the joys of the unknown never turn old. One other thing that puzzles me is the dislike Damiani and Kyle have for Conker’s Bad Fur Day. I personally think it’s a true N64 classic but when I said it was one of the funniest games I’ve ever played back in 2020, it sent Kyle out of the room during the Q&A. It’s peculiar if hilarious to react in such a way. I know the comedy in Conker is divisive, but I love how unashamed it is and how ballsy the sense of humour is. I crave audacity and to me Conker’s Bad Fur Day does that greater than any N64 game that I’ve played. Lastly I wonder what happened to those Don’t Skip videos? Thanks for all that you do. Love and Respect.

Anonymous

Hello Jones and Damiani! Happy New Year! I forgot about the showcase again so I threw this together on the 9th at a Hilton Garden Inn. Just some songs I made this month and some images to accompany them. L&R! (p.s. Bustafellows was GoTY.) https://youtu.be/NfaP9qnEX7w

Brandon K Gann

Personally, 2021 in games didn’t hold much for me despite there being a few fun ones. Before getting into my GOTY list, special commendation to the two games I watched completely but didn’t play in Metroid Dread and the slightly better Resident Evil: Village. Plus, no matter how much I may have loved it, Final Fantasy VII: Remake: Intergrade’s InterMISSION (Square-Enix everybody) is just a DLC, even though a breakout of Fort Condor could hold its own. Here are the only five games this past year I played: At the bottom sits Back 4 Blood. Now, this came in hot as Turtle Rock put out a December update allowing for solo players like me to progress, unlock achievements, and for the most part, the Bots were serviceable. As a huge Left 4 Dead fan, this was EXACTLY what I wanted and is a solid time. However, the difficulty spike in the last two missions really hurt what otherwise is a lot of fun. So much so, while I had more fun with Back 4 Blood than Halo: Infinite, Halo is still better. Heading into Infinite: I vowed to myself if it didn’t do well enough narratively after what I feel is a disaster with Halo 5, then Halo wasn’t any longer for me. Well, Infinite does just enough to keep me interested, but it didn’t wow me like I hoped. However, the gameplay is incredible, to the point the Grappleshot fundamentally makes me want it in EVERY FPS. Also, shoutout to 343 for having Bot Bootcamp, allowing a multiplayer experience with progression and without toxicity or griefing. Third place is Kena: Bridge of Spirits. It’s a wonderful journey to some beautiful locales and moving story arcs, though each arc progressively wasn’t as strong as what came before, but the whole package is solid. Especially the combat, as it’s challenging throughout, especially with the final boss. Plus, the Rot are ADORABLE. My runner-up is F.I.S.T. (Forged in Shadow Torch). Of the few 2021 games I’ve played, this is the surprise of the year. Barely aware of it, I gave it serious consideration when it came out and this is a FANTASTIC metroidvania. The characters, world, map design, soundtrack, and combat all combine to make one of the most captivating games most people won’t play. But good lord is the final boss just AWFUL with the exponential difficulty spike. And that’s been a theme of 2021 for me: the final bosses for all the games I’ve mentioned so far had shockingly very tough closing moments. But no game had the perfect balance of everything more so than Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. When the only major criticism is the excellent R&C formula is still excellent, by both myself and many I respect, then it goes to show how foundationally sound and fantastic the franchise is. And so, through weapons, gameplay, accessibility, story, characters, art design, instant loading, Dualsense haptics, and 3D sound, Rift Apart runs away with my GOTY for 2021.

Anonymous

Like many gamers I frequently enjoy diving into my gaming past for some nostalgia, but recently I tried going into the not too distant past, and by doing so, greatly appreciated the present. I think it's very easy to forget how good we have it; improvements in gaming hardware, software, services, and the community become the norm and it's only when we experience the past that our current good fortune becomes apparent. I wanted to bring this up with Damiani as a guest because it happened with previous Nintendo consoles. A few years ago I let my friend borrow my 3DSXL and my WiiU. I finally got them back and booted them up and oh boy, did I forget just how cumbersome those menus are compared to the Switch. Setting up the WiFi, loading up the eShop, deleting software to make space, and checking my download progress felt like I was in a quagmire of molasses - it was excruciatingly slow and more complicated than I recalled. I also gave into Nostalgia and got a Nintendo 64 controller for the Switch and... there's no way to sugarcoat it, this thing still sucks, even when it's wireless and brand new. Sometimes quality of life improvements are the best kinds of improvements. The game that sucked me in the most this year was probably Kena. Even though it didn't break new ground in any way, and it more or less felt like a game that could've been released 20 years ago, the graphics and simple feeling of progression were just so solid and polished that I was addicted. Recently, I've been donating some money to the Videogame History Foundation and they've been sending me vintage gaming magazines. While it's a real trip for me, as someone who grew up in the 90s reading the occasional Nintendo Power, most of the advertisements and game previews feel like they're solely targeting male adolescents, or worse, written by them. Nothing stays the same, but overall things continue to improve gradually, so even if there's nothing specific you're looking forward to in the immediate future, remember that many annoyances of the present will probably feel antiquated before you even know it.

Anonymous

Happy new year Jones, Damiani and Allies across the world! So this might be just about as heavy a track as I'll ever get to make. So lets kick off the new year with some shell crunching heavy metal. FFVIIR's Intermission DLC was such a suprise gem this year, and the most suprising thing about it was beating up thugs in Midgar to rip-roaring heavy metal. I knew when this song started to play, within seconds, that I had to cover it. The Happy Turtle Fight Song from FFVIIR Intermission DLC. (feat: Andrés Arcentales) Apologies in advance for any headaches or ear pain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1SM51-DkkA (p.s. my game of the year was Metroid Dread, followed *very* closely by It Takes Two, since you asked :D)

Anonymous

Damiani and Jones! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. Mine was just fine! For the month of December I had a much shorter episode realeased for my Pokemon Game Design series, so you can just go from the start of the video and end 3 minutes from there. If any ally is curious to check out my channel they can type in "Radioactive Magic Pokemon Reboot" into youtube because OH BOY the youtube algorythm does NOT like sharing my videos. Granted, I have less than 10 of them so far, so heres hoping that improves in the future! Have a wonderful January, L&R Damon. https://youtu.be/0NhOkwkxRto

Anonymous

Sorry, R.F. I have failed you :( - I was home sick with a migraine all last week and then installed a new microwave yesterday. I can't lift my arms and can barely type and I'm 4 days behind on all my work. Hugs and Smiles Jessie Blu P.S. Jones, Did you get to the post office? L&R

Anonymous

Hello Jones and Damiani, Continuing with the second batch of Obscure Mario characters list, today I've got another deep dive for you guys, which makes me so happy because last time Damiani was the guest ally, I had already run out of characters for the 1st batch. So I feel like I let Damiani down or something. but this time I have 3 glorious minutes of Shroomlock for you 2 and allies across the globe! Hope you enjoy it. Thanks, L&R FromTheVoid a.k.a. Arthur Henrique Chinaglia https://youtu.be/CRHsIhMZ9ls

Sage_Mode_Q

Hold PS. Just watched Kyles latest episode of Delayed Input and his GOTY was Hitman 3 😭.

Anonymous

Last month, I prematurely shared my game completion spreadsheet, since Brad was on the couch. No new additions were made since then. Still slowly working through Halo: Infinite. That leaves me with 41 games/expansions completed in 2021. Now we have Damiani with us today. Yo. We need to talk. I need to thank not only him, but others in our community. Thank you for convincing me to try the game that would become my 2021 Game of the Year... Final Fantasy XIV. This game has made such a profound impact on me. I am an MMO veteran. First I ever played was the beta for Endless Ages, a forgotten game back in 2003. My first real experience was with Dark Ages of Camelot. I really got into Shadowbane. I've played everything from Star Wars Galaxies to Asheron's Call 2, Rift to Elder Scrolls Online, World of Warcraft to Age of Conan, and more. My focus with MMOs has always been PvP. I never understood the draw behind playing PvE. This is what always kept me away from XI and XIV. With the hype of a new expansion coming, the attention of the WOW exodus, and Damiani's love of the game, I decided to give it a try. This game exceeded any kind of expectations I could have held for it. It accomplishes things I didn't know an MMO could do. I didn't know an MMO could have such a compelling story. In my past experiences, the story is just a garnish. In XIV, it's a fulfilling main course. Endwalker's story is especially beautiful. I especially didn't think an MMO could make you care so much about its characters. I love all of the main characters. The villains are often complex, leaving you with an understanding as to why they walk their path, and you end up loving them more than you hate them. The music! Good lord, the music. Playing on a controller works so well, and was a huge factor in helping me stick with the game. It is so comfortable to sit on my couch (often with a cat on my lap) and play on my TV. Also worth mentioning is the great community, both game-wide and the Easy Allies free company. Thanks for making it so inviting for a sprout like me. XIV is a game I want to recommend to everybody in the Easy Allies community, but I would concede that it is not for everybody. If you don't have the time, I get it. It took me around 250 hours to complete the main story quest up to Endwalker. If you can't find that kind of time for yourself, even over a long period, I understand. But I insist that if you can, it is well worth it. This is an MMO that respects your time like none other. Grats on your savage progress, Damiani, and keep forging ahead.

Anonymous

Hello Allies! As part of my crusade of becoming a content creator, I am sharing a different video this time. After over a month of hard work, I released this video a couple weeks ago. The full video is 10 minutes long, so here is a 3 minute cut. I hope you enjoy it, and I welcome any feedback you have. https://youtu.be/yNkYdwyFWy4 Full Video - https://youtu.be/tVpNPJW0QHU

Anonymous

Hello Allies, It was a very busy holiday season, and I was again unsure if I would be able to finish a project this month. But Mr. Jones made it very clear that if I didn't have a submission that he would be very upset with me, so I put some Band-Aids on my bleeding fingertips and pushed through... Credit where it is due, this one was my wife's idea. She is very much a classic gamer. 3d is one dimension too many for her, and so she repeatedly turns to her favorites, including Doom. The many faces of Doomguy are iconic, and she insisted I can't do just one, so I tried to capture the full gamut of emotions. My son is quite pleased with his new roommate! Please enjoy this series of one of the most famous faces in video games. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ktYdzgmrPnzzGCmK6

SpectR0nn

Hey Allies, So i've never submitted anything to the Community Showcase before and I feel it's finally time to change that. You see, I've started to get more and more into photography these last few years and I'm now finally at a point where I feel comfortable sharing some of my work with the world at large. My goal is to share new work with you guys every month. Let's see if I can keep that up! Anyway, without further ado, here's my first submission; some neat light painting we did the day before NYE. It kinda reminds me of a certain Marvel super hero, don't you think? https://ronnperdok.myportfolio.com/light-painting

Anonymous

Hi Allies, I am a tabletop game designer who's had to make some changes to how I do playtests with the pandemic, but at the urging of other allies I met at a convention, I wanted to show off some art I did for my games Alter Arms and Skrap Packs, found here: https://www.alterarms.com/2022/01/magfest-2022-playtest.html I am looking on getting more playtesters, so if you could point people to my website (www.alterarms.com) or discord (https://discord.gg/GneBmGX) where I do virtual playtests, I would appreciate it. ***(If there’s time to read)***Alter Arms is a tabletop role playing game based on Japanese transforming super heroes. Set in a world where anyone could find a magic amulet, be chosen by space gods, or have enough cash to buy a morpher, players take the role of contractors for an app service where people post jobs they need super heroes for. Characters grow stronger by unlocking different forms, and can combine different special abilities from those different forms to pull off amazing feats. Skrap Packs is a rules-lite, card-based tabletop role playing game where players build decks of cards, with each card representing an item they've scavenged. They'll use these items in creative ways, to solve problems, even combining them together to build new and unique tools!

Anonymous

Hello Jonesy and Damiani! Happy New Year! Let’s hope this post makes it, as Patreon has mysteriously eaten my last 2 submissions. Last one I didn’t realise had gone as at the time I was spending time with my family in a very snowy Sweden. What am I writing about in this month's post? Well of course, more Star Citizen. We had patch 3.15 which introduced personal inventory, looting and proper medical gameplay with different drugs and damage tiers etc. But biggest of all we had free flight week where anyone could jump in and give the game a spin for free. We also had this year's IAE 2950 (Intergalactic Aerospace Expo) kick off, which is this in-game expo where all the manufacturers of the different ships get a day each to show off what they have and people can try their ships. I was super excited to try out the new Crusader Industries Ares Ion fighter, which essentially is a LARGE rail gun attached to a seat, an absolutely MENTAL ship. So, me and my friend rented a ship each and went off to New Babbage to attend the expo. Landing in the spaceport we had to take the tube to the event centre. By the entrance there were merch and food stands, luckily no queue ahead so we could just rush in! There were ships and gear everywhere which had us super excited. RSI had their variants of the Constellation series on display which we could explore, the community favourite Argo Cargo was there, and we couldn’t stop ourselves from running from ship to ship exploring every angle, knock and cranny of the ships. You can tell that this is still an alpha though as at one stage I died from…. Climbing a ladder. However, we were all here for one ship, the Reclaimer. This is a HUGE Salvaging ship for a crew of 5. The idea (when it comes live in February) is to be able to after a battle or when coming across a wreck, to break down the wreck into bits and get materials and parts to be used for building and repairing your own ships. It’s hard to put the scale of this ship in pictures, but it got crew quarter, mess hall and storage for days! Finally we rented a Tumbril Cyclone each and loaded them up on my friend's Carrack expedition and decided to fly off to one of the moons of Hurston, but at this point we were both so tired that we decided to wrap up the day with just enjoying the view. Which you have to head to the post on patreon to see… as I am over the screenshot limit *Winky face*. Let’s make 2022 a great year together, especially after 2021 which may have been the toughest year of my life. Easy Allies and the community certainly helped keep my chin up, so a huge thanks to each and every one of you! Cheers! Lotias https://imgur.com/a/aDB9bxQ

Anonymous

Whoaaaaaah, you've only got a few days to post things. Man time went fast on that one.

Anonymous

Hi Jones, hi Damiani, hi Chaaaaat, Happy New Year and Happy 25th Anniversary to FF7! After finishing FF7R Intergrade + Intermission last year, I decided to revisit the original FF7. I forgot just how absurdly battles can play out with certain materia loadouts, especially at the end of the game. Final boss spoilers ahead for OG FF7, but otherwise please enjoy the cheese: https://youtu.be/fHZwceWXaDw <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="158" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fHZwceWXaDw" width="280"></iframe> L&amp;R

Anonymous

Hello Jones and Damiani! Happy New Year to all! As is tradition, here this month is another Christmas carol that I BOOSTED during last December (a few days before getting BOOSTED myself), turning it into some sort of epic fantasy battle theme. This year, my choice was Ding Dong Merrily On High! L&amp;R, Kévin Gillet Link to the music: https://youtu.be/o578-bQdios

Anonymous

Hey guys. I played Halo infinite this month and its whatever. The grappling hook is definitely doing all the heavy lifting. With that said I feel like the game isn't designed around it. - having to switch between a dash and the grapple is dumb. Just have both. - I barely used it in combat because I would get punished if I did - high death volumes placed in the world - not enough levels designed around using the grapple. Theres a lot of narrow hallways leading to open arenas with nothing to grab, and boss rooms with low ceilings and flat rooms. My feeling of the game? Put rage 2 in your mind and lower it by 2 degrees and your there. But grappling around is fun so I made it in UE4. Stop Video at 3:08. L&amp;R VideoLink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOQJZY39oZ8

Anonymous

Hey guys! Jojo Part 6 came out on Netflix, Demon Slayer Season 2 is in full swing, and as I am writing this, Attack on Titan the Final Season Part 2 (The Final Final Season) is about to start airing. I feel like it's a really great time for anime. Those are some big hitters, but there are also some lesser known shows that came out recently like "Odd Taxi", which kinda felt like similar to something like the Fargo TV series. Also been enjoying "Ranking of Kings" which feels like a cute version of "Berserk" or something. I know most of the allies don't watch much anime, but I hope whenever you guys do - you'll bring it to Frame Trap. I'd love to hear what you guys think. Ever since Game of Thrones mysteriously ended at the 7th season, and totally didn't have an 8th season, I've replaced my obsession with it - with Attack on Titan. I've read the ending in the Manga and loved it. I think this is one of the coolest stories ever told, up there with Berserk. Excited to see it come to life with the awesome animation, music, and voice acting that the anime provides. I'M HYPED! L&amp;R - Ian, @alexander_arts

Kiraz

Hello Jones and Damiani! Thanks for pushing back the date a little bit on this one! :) https://youtu.be/K-6KNzhDoEc

Anonymous

Happy New Year Mister Jones and Mister Damiani, I hope you’re both doing well. Here are my winners and losers in videogames of 2021 NAME AND SHAME: Shin Megami Tensei V – NO HD Rumble / Vibration. Inscryption – No Controller Support. Capcom – They didn’t fix the frame rate issue of Resident Evil Village PC until the mod community proved DRM was the problem. WORST FRAME RATE: Shin Megami Tensei V – This game is too good for the Switch and desperately needs a port to a proper gaming machine. WORST MAP: Shin Megami Tensei V – I thought the map in Control was bad until I played this. QUICKEST HARD QUIT: Diablo II Resurrected – Found it really boring GAME WITH MOST CUTSCENES SKIPPED: Tales Of Arise – Almost Never ending. MOST ANNOYING: The traversal and platforming sections in Shin Megami Tensei V – I just wanted to get to the combat. LEAST FAVOURITE GAMING PLATFORM OF THE YEAR: NIntendo Switch - Gaming at low Res and/or poor frame rate but the only way to play SMT V and Metroid Dread. It’s a shame Bayonetta 3 won’t be playable at 4k 60 on release. TRIED BUT FAILED TO CLICK: Guilty Gear Strive – Looks great, excellent soundtracks but I can’t grasp the combat. THE GAMES I WISH I HAD TIME FOR Hitman 3 and Final Fantasy 14. MOST WANTED BUT WON’T PLAY: Resident Evil 4 VR – I already spent a small fortune on the first Oculus VR, I can’t justify buying the Quest 2. BEST MAP: Resident Evil Village – The map is a real time saver. BEST MUSIC: Shin Megami Tensei V – Some of the best combat soundtracks I’ve ever heard. LEAST COMPLAINTS: Forza Horizon 5 – Can’t think of a bad word to say about this apart from the lack of good sound tracks. BEST SOUND: Resident Evil Village – Just stunning. MOST TIME PLAYED: Tales Of Arise – 123 Hours of fun! (Including New Game Plus) BEST CONTROLLER RUMBLE: Forza Horizon 5 – I haven’t purchased any PS5 games this year COMPLETED THE MOST: Resident Evil Village – 5 Times GOOSEBUMP OF THE YEAR: Suicide Mission from Mass Effect 2 Legendary Edition – Still holds up. LEFT ME WANTING MORE: Inscrytption, the card game – This would have been more than enough for me FAVOURITE BOSS FIGHT: Shin Megami Tensei V, The final DLC boss fight – Difficult but fun to figure out. BEST PERFORMANCE: Forza Horizon 5 – Almost flawless performance on my PC and looks fantastic. FAVOURITE GAMING PLATFORM OF THE YEAR: PC – Gaming at 4k up to 144hz, loads of free games on Steam, Epic and GOG without a paid subscription, mod support and some fantastic games optimised for the platform this year. Stay Easy Robert Lee

Nik Gothic

Happy Holidays, Brandon and Damiani. My demogroup Atlantis has recently published their newest C64 demo which is also the first one I've ever contributed to. However, it does not make me cheerful because this demo is a eulogy to a member of the group who has deceased. We at Atlantis made this in tribute to the graphician Richard Frost, aka "FatFrost", based in England who passed away at 44, leaving one daughter behind. This happened just a couple of days before I joined Atlantis, so I never got the chance to meet him in the chatlogs, but he left behind a collection of unpublished pixel art works and sketches, one of which I was tasked to complete, and the group decided to join them all together and display his fascinating Dali-esque artstyle laden with heavy texture. This is the sketch I was given, and I decided to turn this abstract shape into a rotting apple with all sorts of phantasmagoric imagery at the bottom, and it makes me glad to hear from the rest of the team that he would've loved it: https://i.imgur.com/nrbwKHl.png https://i.imgur.com/DuSQ5zy.png And this is the demo, titled "Sit Tibi Terra Levis", which is Latin for "May the ground rest lightly on you". It's running on a C64 emulator and I had to heavily truncate this footage from its original 7 minutes, but you can find the demo on the CSDb database and on Youtube if you want to see it in full. This demo has been produced by: -Doc Science, dev0, Honcho, q0w and Strepto, who did the coding, -Ald and DivertigO who did the music, -Almighty God, Lobo and myself who completed the graphics, -and Bugjam, who did the charset at the end. The group gave me permission and their blessing to share this demo with you. It's a deeply solemn work, made by the people who knew him best in the only way they knew how. This is how we do things in the demoscene. Love &amp; Respect to all the Allies, to Atlantis, and especially to Richard and his family. https://youtu.be/zwyQfD6GuSI

Anonymous

Happy New Year allies, For today I just wanted to go over a bunch of games I played last year in no particular order, Hitman 3- Loved playing it, the always online thing for progression still annoys me to this day Persona 5 Strikers- Must play for persona fans, my favorite persona spinoff game, favorite muso game, Wolf is a badass, play it Monster hunter rise- better single player MH then MH world, had more memorable characters than world, palamutes are awesome Monster hunter stories 2- really fun game, wished endgame was less tedious, would have kept me drawn in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond- aside from the bugs (mainly audio ones for me), I enjoyed my trip back to sinnoh. But, after spending an entire morning trying to dig up a water stone for my first battle tower team and not getting it, I learned they were exclusively easier to get in pearl, pissed me off and I haven't gone back. Lost Judgment- Too real at times for a game from the yakuza dev’s, compared to other yakuza games, the main story could have been a tad bit better and it felt short. But, it looks to have the most side content out of any yakuza game, here are just a few- Dance team rhythm game- fun Skateboarding- fun Boxing- fun In-world VR board game- fun Robotics club- bullshit Tales of Arise- Great first act with all the different takes on slavery and stoping it, act 2 could have been longer, the twist needed to be a lot more interesting then it was, and the ending was too anime, I burst out laughing at some points due to how ridiculous it was. Guardians of the Galaxy- Really Surprising, great game about family and parenting, cant imagine how it hits for people with kids. Combat needed to be fleshed out more, some enemies felt like walking bullet sponges Ghost of Tsushima DC- More of the amazing Ghost of Tsushima , nothing more I could ask for, need to get back into the multiplayer Mass Effect legendary edition- Fun to come back to, should have come out way sooner Crusader kings 3- Love playing this even a year later, the most recent mod, (the holy grail war), I have been playing adds an entire fate/grand order mobile gacha game into ck3. It's nice to play an addictive gacha without microtransactions. Royal court DLC is next month, can't wait. Spiderman/Spiderman Miles Morales Load times- wow Story- wow Traversal- wow Stealth combat- wow Normal combat- meh, my least favorite part of the game, it was fun to be spiderman, not fight as him Inscyption- fun to play, my game of the year. I loved the card game a lot, so all the other outside gameplay that affected it just made it even better for me. Has already been updated with an endless mode, hope more content keeps being added. Hope you all have a great January and 2022, L&amp;R Nextgenheff

Anonymous

Hi Brandon, Hi Damiani, Happy New Year! Hope 2022 is treating the two of you (and the rest of the crew) well. Looking ahead at a year that’s packed with promises of high profile Nintendo Switch releases (some of which might actually come out this year), I want to take a moment to gush about one 2022 Switch game in particular - not because it's sure to be a hit or anything, but because it’s just so special that it even exists in the first place. That game, Allies, is the latest farm-sim / dungeon-crawler hybrid in a long-running Harvest Moon spinoff series: Rune Factory 5. Rune Factory means a lot to me - in my book, it’s second only to The Legend of Zelda. Better yet, Rune Factory clearly meant a lot to its creators throughout its history. Each new iteration quickened and deepened the gameplay, enlivened the NPCs and fantasy settings, went wilder with easter eggs and post-game content, and transformed a series that started as “A Fantasy Harvest Moon” into an irreplicable JRPG experience. Case in point: people love lots of different games, but only Rune Factory 4 loves its fans enough to feature their fan art in a special easter egg skit, complete with critiques from every single character in the series. With that kind of pedigree behind it, Rune Factory 5 could be something special this year. But the most special thing about Rune Factory 5 is the fact that it’s even coming out at all. When developer Neverland went under, a lot of people (me included) thought Rune Factory was done for, with the one silver lining being that the series ended on a high note. So when Rune Factory 5 got announced in that Nintendo Direct in 2019, I literally jumped for joy. Since then, it’s been fun watching the series leap to other consoles, gaining more traction and attention in the process. Heck, it even got a brief mention in the 300th EZA Podcast (thank you, Brandon!). And that’s the magic of Rune Factory, and why playing the games and being a fan feels special: it’s just so much fun to watch things grow. L&amp;R, levelcapybara

Anonymous

Howdy folks! 2021 will certainly go down in history as one of the years ever. Things happened. Events occurred, even. Video games were released and now it's time to give them some awards in the fifth edition of the Small Leviathan Awards! Let's get right into it! 5. Monster Hunter Rise. Not to be a hipster, but World and Iceborne made a lot of changes to the MonHun formula that I ended up not really vibing with it in the long run, but thankfully Rise felt like a complete swerve in the right direction. Wyvern riding and silkbugs are fantastic additions I genuinely hope become series staples, and the lineup of monsters includes some instant classics like the oni bear Goss Harag and the elegant spider tank Rakna-Kadaki. Shame that the game dried out as content updates ended so soon, but at least it's getting DLC this year! 4. Inscryption. This game was a big surprise this year, and is also fiendishly difficult to talk about due to its cryptic and spoiler-laden nature. That said, Inscryption feels like a major step forward for Daniel Mullins, who has always had a knack for weird and innovative storytelling, but has now finally managed to pair that with gameplay that is just as engaging. Inscryption's take on the deck builder roguelike is simple but elegant, turning every battle into a nail-biting struggle as you grasp for every little advantage you can get, perfectly matching the unsettling, oppressive atmosphere of the game. 3. Deathloop. Performance issues aside, I got more or less exactly what I wanted out of Deathloop. While some people have bemoaned the loss of Dishonored stealth focus and morality system, I've always found it the most fun when sneaking around is but one of the tools in my arsenal, not the expected playstyle. Blackreef turned out to be a lovely location, too, with fantastically varied locales to explore and fight in. Couple that the wonderful 60's aesthetic and the equally delightful soundtrack, and you've got another Arkane classic. 2. Shin Megami Tensei V. Atlus shows once again that they are the undisputed masters of turn-based RPG combat, taking a combat system many find dull and transforming it into a highlight, where every decision matters and a single mistake can cost you dearly. What makes SMT5, in particular, stand out, however, is that it backs its fantastic demon-fusing battle system with a world that is just begging to be explored, and making sure doing so is as fun and rewarding as possible. This is certainly up there as one of Atlus's best. 1. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. Wrapping up a story ten years in the making, Endwalker had a lot to live up to, and it is genuinely impressive just how much it got so incredibly right. Not everything landed with quite the elegance it required, but none the less Endwalker has some of the highest highs in the entire game, being filled to the brim with mind-blowing reveals and awe-inspiring boss fights, all set to the best game soundtrack of the entire year. Endwalker is a complete home run from start to finish and is easily my game of the year. Love and Respect, Small Leviathan

Anonymous

2021 is done with and I even played a few games in its final month to boot. As one who got the Final Fantasy 7 Remake with PS Plus, I no longer had to buy the game which I had already played in order to play the DLC story. I enjoyed Remake enough to where I decided to bite and give the DLC a go. It was a fun little thing. I may even be down to get the second part, whenever that may be, on release if there isn't anything else catching my interest. I also picked up Puzzling Places for PSVR. 3D Puzzle game in VR where I can stick my head inside the puzzles I am building. Yes, absolutely. Most important options, upping the piece amount to max and hiding those hint panels. Using the hint panels is like putting a puzzle together while looking at the box. Never. No cheating. It's so good. There are so many puzzles. Gonna take my time through this one. Easily one of my favorite games of the year. If I had to put a top 5 games list together for 2021, I'd go with number 3. As for the other four... probably a random entry of the Picross S series at number 5. Can't go wrong with Picross. Maquette would probably be at number 4. While short, loved the style of it. The soundtrack for that game is also pretty darn solid. From the intro's use of Gabor Szabo's cover of San Franciscan Nights to Meridian by Cannons and Clouds... it is so good and worth playing for the music alone. Number 2 would be Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Just a fun game and an appropriate amount of challenge to it. The music in this was really solid as well. The game also just looked beautiful. Really had a good time with it and look forward to what Ember Lab does next. At number 1, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Just a fun, solid game. Simple list. Nothing negative to say about any of them. What else? Marvel had a good month. I really enjoyed Hawkeye overall. Spider-Man: No Way Home was a ton of fun as well. I wondered if all the rumors surrounding that movie helped it do as well as it did in the box office. Sony tends to not be all that great with being tight-lipped around their movies. Also, their trailers tend to give away a lot more than other studios. They tend to like to put the last scene of their movies in their trailers. I did get one of those NFT things from seeing the movie. Heck if I know what the hell to do with it. Apparently there is another site I need to register for to add the digital image to? I don't know. I don't get it. NFTs are stupid. I guess that is good enough a point as any to leave 2021 off with. NFTs are just really dumb.

Anonymous

Aloha Brandon and Damiani, Hope you all had a jolly Holiday season. It's been a few months since my last post again, but with the holidays and "that which shall not be named" still about, I'll just keep this month short and sweet. (Pic 1) are the 2 games I've been playing most in the past month. Had to replay Space Marine after that surprise sequel announcement. Great game. (Pic 2) is my Christmas present from last year that finally came in after production delays. Its probably in my top 5 favorite game series, top 10 definitely. (Pics 3 &amp; 4) A few Christmas presents from this year, which I will build once I have space to showcase them. (Really excited about the train set, I've loved model trains since childhood, playing on my grandfathers setup. Also the fact that its Disney's Lilly Belle is a double plus) (Pic 5) Lastly, the present I bought for myself this Christmas to get the holiday promos. Looking forward to the next season (finally). Not going to go into GOTY's yet as I'm still mulling them over. Anyways, Happy New Year and as always Mahalo nui loa for everything you do, Samo Rozman @Namzor https://imgur.com/a/iJdlVa1

Anonymous

Hi Damiani and Jones. Hopefully your holiday went well. Almost whole family got sick on Christmas Eve. One got covid but it was almost 2 weeks later at work. Continuing trying stuff out and eventually need to learn some tricks and tools but for now I just focus on drawing. Testing some small stuff and doing stuff on different layers for changing colors, clothes and other things. It's a slow progress but eventually I'll be able to work things more efficiently. Here's a picture of my new PC and after not having one for half a year and jumping straight to Windows 11(from 7) it's taken time to learn some new stuff. Watched Spider-Man twice in the theaters, on iSense and on iMAX. Was hoping to watch The Kingsman and Nightmare Alley this month but they are currently closed because of omicron. Can't help it. Every MCU series they released last year has been disappointment. They needed one or two episodes to flesh out better and also have a better finale. Falcon and Winter Soldier especially has everyone except Sam have their development arc missing a piece. I need to watch 4th season of Cobra Kai. Been liking previous seasons quite a bit but being sick prevented me from watching them. Just finished The Last Guardian on Sunday and this game is mechanically a very frustraiting game. Some really great moments but getting stuck for 2 hours on a puzzle that is clear as a day to you but an A.I. being wishy washy is not helping. Turns out it was a glitch that Trico walked on the water instead of swimming in it which of course a restart fixed though there was another time I had to restart it. I guess for those few magical moments I can forgive some things(though not everything) and I can see why it's been diverse even between Allies. I'll write about my GotY next month so until then L&amp;R TearjuEngi https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1472231796817506306?s=20 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1473353044020674562?s=20 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1474530878495854600?s=20 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1474755026199400451?s=20 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1474921155173789697?s=20 https://twitter.com/tearjuengi/status/1472968021647970311/photo/1

Anonymous

Give me a bit... I happen to be heavy into TTRPG circles...