me: i really should play more clair obscur, i have some free time
also me: news about trails in the sky FC remake is giving me such a strong desire to finally play SC, what if i did that
clair obscur: what about me
me, 3.5 hours into trails in the sky SC: Read 1:43am

in any case, i may liveblog it a bit because the experience of playing FC is one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. SC is already shaping up to be a very different game in terms of plot, but the actual gameplay is nearly identical and i LOVE the atmosphere of it so much. from what little i know about SC the plot will be much more of a focus in this game, which is fine because it makes sense for the story, but as long as i still get to run around and chat with every single NPC and learn their detailed stories as the story progresses i'll be happy.

really though, these games have such incredible charm. it's wild to me that there are like, what, ten more games in this series after this? i can't believe i have so much more i'll get to play after. plus they share continuity, even if they're not all about the same characters? i'm really looking forward to it. long-form storytelling across such a big game series is like, the most larissacore thing ever. can't believe it's taken me so long to get into this series.

some brief spoilery (?) thoughts through the start of the game (finished prologue, am barely into the first chapter):

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i think that's about it for now. i'm really looking forward to more and i have more free time tomorrow night, so... 👀

People are really fucking picky about their writing apps. I feel like I could shorten that to "people are really fucking picky" and it's still true, but for the purposes of this post let's limit it somewhat.

Anyway, I am people, in this case. I have tried just about every writing app under the sun; back in the good old days of the Nanowrimo forums I would hang out in the technology forums every year to see if there were any new apps or accessories to try out in the name of getting more writing done. This is of course a fallacy: every time you try a new fancy app or site it's just getting in the way of actually writing anything. It doesn't matter if you write a novel in Notepad or Scrivener, it just matters that you get it written.

In any case, I have been settled with my own particular writing apps for some years now. My use case is really peculiar — Windows PC, iPad, and Android phone is a hard cross-section to meet, and in fact neither of my preferred writing apps currently hit all three. I use iA Writer for drafting, and usually write a full or partial manuscript there before transferring to Scrivener for editing. I really prefer to write in Markdown but read in rich text, so using two different apps serves my purposes well.

Neither of these programs, however, are particularly designed for note-taking. You can certainly use them that way, and Scrivener in particular has some features that could be bent in that direction, but again it's not the intended purpose and it shows. I do use Scrivener for some stuff that's probably better suited for a more focused app (rough drafts of my websites start in Scrivener) but that's more happenstance than intent.

Finding a note-taking program, however, is easier said than done.

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In closing, and in sharp opposition to what I wrote above, I want to know how you take notes and what you use for it, because clearly I'm still willing to try out new stuff if it looks good. (Although I think I am mostly set on what I have now, but hey, you never know...)

literally everyone: Clair Obscur is one of the greatest games ever made
me: surely it can't be that good—
me now, 3 hours in: Oh Fuck It Is That Good.

like granted i'm only 3 hours in but my fucking god, this is a modern triple-A JRPG (except it's French). everything about this feels like what Final Fantasy would be if they'd kept iterating on the turn-based format into 2025. there's a fucking WORLD MAP, I JUST ABOUT SCREAMED. the production value is insane. the premise is ridiculously interesting even though i basically know NOTHING yet. the gameplay is GREAT. i mean i suck at dodging, but it's GREAT game design. for once i'm not even overwhelmed by all the systems of a new JRPG the way I usually am.

if it's this good from the first 3 hours what the fuck do i have in store for me. what the fuck

anyway i'm really glad i caved and bought it LMAO