Yes I love Hokkaido! I need to go back & explore it some more but I love how it does more with a smaller area. That’s exciting! I’ll check out thsoe extra missions too, and yeah I love doing Suit Only Sniper Assassin - it’s such a test of patience and map knowledge.

Love OutsideXbox! I’ll check out their videos on the game

Dang!! That’s some time! I’m still playing through the main campaign (once I finish a level I replay it 3-4 times), I’m super excited to try out all the extra challenges & Freelancer mode. Honestly the story has pulled me in more than I expected, it’s really well told.

I actually started with Hitman 2 back in 2020, but only put a lot of time in Miami. My current favorite levels are: Sapienza (just gorgeous), Miami, Sgail, Dubai, Berlin, & now Chongqing. I love playing with no hints, it’s super satisfying figuring out how to navigate the level myself. Shame the game leaves mission stories with full guidance unless you change it - feels way too on-rails.

Hitman World of Assassination! I put off playing it because the purchase model was so fucking confusing, but now that I got it I’m having a blast! These games have some of the best level design I’ve ever seen, the way IOI integrates story with natural progression through the level is incredible to see. I’ve never seen a level like Sgail where a player must choose between either climbing the physical structure of the level, or climbing the social ladder through disguises that grant you increasing influence.

I’m on the Chongqing level, and the neon lights look absolutely gorgeous.

Language transfer is amazing! Gets you to a level where you can start learning on your own - I was able to start reading children’s books in spanish and work my up from there.

The Italian course is also excellent, gave me enough skills to feel comfortable traveling & speaking Italian

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). The on-set feel of Italy adds so much to the movie, and Matt Damon’s performance is spectacular. You never know what might be going on in his head as he gets himself deeper and deeper into trouble. Incredible how much the movie does with only a few major characters.

Rewatched it recently & cried through the entire last third. So good

Absolutely! I went with a swim skirt until I got my orchi, it worked well enough but yeah much easier now. That pool takeover day sounds so fun! The only tucking swimwear that I’ve found works halfway decent is Leolines (etsy store), but tbh I just don’t like how two-piece swimsuits looked on my body.

Glad I could help! It was so nice finally wearing swimsuits and dresses without feeling self-conscious about tucking

That understanding would be incorrect at least for my case, I can assure you! My partner is a cis woman and we have no issues with that over a year after my surgery.

Obviously

Congrats on the night out! Glad you have such a supportive partner & friends (grew up in rural Ohio so I know what it’s like).

Voice training is super hard! Honestly early on I just had to get used to hearing my voice on a recording and not get overwhelmed. But it was 1000% worth it getting to that point, helped me pass earlier than I thought I would on HRT.

About your spoiler paragraph, there are lots of non-op trans folk out there. I’d recommend looking into getting an orchiectomy if that’s something you’d want.

I use shampoo once a week for my wavy hair but all good tips!

What gets lost in the ending discourse of 3 is how the entire game acts as endings to various character arcs and subplots among the trilogy. Some conclusions are utterly spectacular, while others like the ending of the game - can disappoint. Though I will say the Extended Cut fixed a lot of issues fans had with the original “choose a color” ending, and like I said above I was pretty happy with the ending mods I installed.

Some mods like the Diversification Project are great for a first playthrough, while others like the Risky Suicide Mission definitely aren’t. The vanilla experience is great on its own but mods can help fill out the universe where the dev team was too crunched or forgot to work on.

It works well if you have good wi-fi!

ME 3 easily has the best normandy, actually seeing squadmates walk over and talk to each other adds so much to the feel of the game. I was getting weirded out by the end of ME2 when I realized some squadmates I brought on missions just wouldn’t say anything at all - they were like silent puppets. 3 did a lot to fix that as well

Not sure how it works natively, I streamed from my PC to play on my Steam Deck

Yeah honestly on a playthrough of 1 I wasn’t engaged in the story missions until Virmire. The pace dragged & all the bland corridors weren’t helping.

Hope you have a blast!! Honestly if I’d go back I’d get the unlimited sprint mod & other gameplay ones for ME2. The combat felt so slow even playing the Vanguard class.

I thought I read somewhere that it was mainly to stop weapon models clipping through armor in the first game, and the animations just stuck around

Some of the weapon types in Monster Hunter (Sword & Shield, Lance) have the hunter be left-handed

Cairn! Not very patient haha, oh well