Emotions Run High

Daily Ramble 77: Emotions Run High

Today was a day of emotions. I started out Horizon Zero Dawn and wow – the beginning of the story is just full of sadness and abandonment of the main character Aloy. I’m not sure why yet, but the tribes that’s she grew up near are really jerks. DC Universe Rebirth also delivers some serious emotion in their final chapter. Wally finds Barry Allen and finally someone remembers him. It’s really touching. Finally, in Secret World Legends, you get the sense of the confusion people looking for answers can find themselves in as we see a contract the Morninglight cult forced someone to sign. Definitely and interesting and emotional day.

Morninglight Contract

Even though I travelled out to the hippy camp previously I had unfinished business there. After completing the Apetite for Destruction mission earlier, I grabbed the Morninglight pamphlet that was flushed into the sewer. It started up the Coming Dawn mission to find out more about the Morninglight cult.

Actually, it kinda looks like Scientology, but I think L. Ron Hubbard would highly object to including his “religion” in any video game, much less one with lots of occult and supernatural organizations.

In any case, the mission takes me back to the Morninglight hippy camp and Che Hansson. And this brings to mind memories of running though this camp in The Secret World MMO. I remember there was at least one more mission around here where I had to affix devices around the camp to keep the zombies away. I guess those are already in place in Secret World Legends since I don’t see any zombies and I didn’t have to place any devices…interesting.

Anyway, I finish off the mission but I don’t think this is the last I’ll see of the Morninglight cult.

Meet Aloy

Horizon Zero Dawn starts out in the far future on Earth, but on Earth where the human civilization has fallen and only primitive tribes remain. At least that’s what seems to be the case. Somehow though, there are machines that roam the land and I think they’re not too friendly to the tribal human population.

Into this world we go as Aloy and we start off with her as a child.

Apparently she’s been an outcast her entire life, shunned by the Nora tribe she lives near but taken care of by Rost, a fellow outcast.

Of course this doesn’t make Aloy too happy and when she tries to help the local children collect berries she’s denied and turned away.

Running away from the scene, she stumbles into a cave which is where we get to start directing her exploration.

So far, there’s a compelling story and I am ready to see what this world has to offer.

First Look: DC Universe Rebirth – Chapter 4: Life

While the other chapters have touched onto a bunch of the events that are missing from the world and some of the people who have lost relationships, this final chapter, to me, is the most emotional because it’s as though Wally has lost his battle.

The art, dialog, and narration are all wonderful in this chapter and I was really moved as I read it. I really got a sense that Wally was resigning himself to being forgotten and lost to the Speed Force. He’s glad others will carry on but he’s recognized that he’s lost. And that scene where Barry reaches out to him and says his name is just wonderful.

They embrace and it’s so moving and touching, it practically brought me to tears.

But beyond Wally’s rebirth, we also see a bunch of other characters that are old or new but are somehow tied to Wally and what happened to send him off into the Speed Force. Gotham and Constantine, Cyborg and Dick Grayson, we even see the ‘new’ Wally West/Kid Flash and the bottom line is that Wally knows that others will stand strong and carry forward being heroes even if he’s gone. And that’s what makes him feel it’s ok for him to say goodbye and succumb to the Speed Force.

But that’s all behind us now. Barry remembered him and brought him back from the Speed Force. Now we just need to figure out what caused things to get outta whack and how they can be repaired. And of course, the great detective that Batman is, he’s found a clue…