Board 8 > Anagram rates and ranks fictional settings

(+) Yeah! (+)

Arcadia and Stark (The Longest Journey)

---

Hoenn
---

Mount Massive Asylum (Outlast)

---

American Wasteland (Fallout)
---

1600 chapters is pretty tame for a lot of the xianxia novels I've seen out there (there is some padding that goes on with these web novels for financial reasons...even the good ones suffer some from it). But you're right, it is a pretty confusing experience. You see so many names like 'Meng Hao' or 'Chu Yuyan' that they all kinda start feeling normal. Helping it immensely is the translation by Deathblade who makes it feel almost like an ancient storybook. It's definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed my time with it. It scales almost in a logarithmic fashion, kind of if DBZ and Gurren Lagann had a baby except instead of giant mechs and power levels it's really big chinese people and cultivation levels.

Also Meng Hao could probably beat superman.

Anyway...because my Shadowrun game got postponed today....The Sixth World (Shadowrun)

---

SovietOmega posted...

cultivation levels

What is this?

---

The Sprawl (Gibson novels)

---

The Ishimura (Dead Space)

---

Anagram posted...

What is this?

Basically power levels if they were steeped in daoism. You have a number of different tiers which can be broken up into different stages which themselves might be broken down numerically. To give an example, at the start of the book the very first part of cultivation is the 'qi condensation' stage which is known in the world to have 9 levels. You're absorbing qi from the world and condensing it internally. In this stage you learn to fly and don't need to eat/drink. Think of a level 20 dnd monk or late dragonball/early dbz. That's the starting point.

From there, you take the qi inside you and start forming dao pillars with it in the Foundation Establishment stage. Guess how many you can form? That's right, nine! Also it matters if your pillars are shattered/fractured/flawless/perfect as to how powerful you actually are.

Makes perfect sense? Good, because next is the Core Formation stage where you melt your pillars that are inside you and form a core, but what color core you form matters.

I could go on, but there are several stages past this, and we haven't even gotten past mortal cultivation. Essentially you manipulate qi inside you to do things, often through various meditation techniques or extensive use of pills (alchemy is a valuable skill in this world, for every stage of cultivation there's an assortment of pills that can help if one has enough spirit stones). As you get higher up the ranks, your lifespan gets increased too. It is not uncommon to hear about old sect leaders being secluded in meditation for centuries.

Ultimately, it is a way for the author to go "look at this main character, he is fighting somebody that is in the late stage of x while he is still in the early stage of x!" but it also helps a lot with worldbuilding, as breaking into each higher stage raises the status of the main character and forces him to deal with greater threats in kind. Like how a low level dnd party might help find a lost cow for a village, but by the end of their adventure they're dunking on gods and mythological creatures like nothing. That's kinda what this story does.

---

Forbidden Lands (Shadow of the Colossus)

---

SovietOmega posted...

Basically power levels if they were steeped in daoism. You have a number of different tiers which can be broken up into different stages which themselves might be broken down numerically. To give an example, at the start of the book the very first part of cultivation is the 'qi condensation' stage which is known in the world to have 9 levels. You're absorbing qi from the world and condensing it internally. In this stage you learn to fly and don't need to eat/drink. Think of a level 20 dnd monk or late dragonball/early dbz. That's the starting point.

From there, you take the qi inside you and start forming dao pillars with it in the Foundation Establishment stage. Guess how many you can form? That's right, nine! Also it matters if your pillars are shattered/fractured/flawless/perfect as to how powerful you actually are.

Makes perfect sense? Good, because next is the Core Formation stage where you melt your pillars that are inside you and form a core, but what color core you form matters.

I could go on, but there are several stages past this, and we haven't even gotten past mortal cultivation. Essentially you manipulate qi inside you to do things, often through various meditation techniques or extensive use of pills (alchemy is a valuable skill in this world, for every stage of cultivation there's an assortment of pills that can help if one has enough spirit stones). As you get higher up the ranks, your lifespan gets increased too. It is not uncommon to hear about old sect leaders being secluded in meditation for centuries.

Ultimately, it is a way for the author to go "look at this main character, he is fighting somebody that is in the late stage of x while he is still in the early stage of x!" but it also helps a lot with worldbuilding, as breaking into each higher stage raises the status of the main character and forces him to deal with greater threats in kind. Like how a low level dnd party might help find a lost cow for a village, but by the end of their adventure they're dunking on gods and mythological creatures like nothing. That's kinda what this story does.

Sounds more technical than I was expecting.

---

Anagram posted...

How did Sir Daniel get into PSASBR, but not Crash Bandicoot?

Rights issues badly impeded PSASBR's roster in general. I suspect Crash, whose rights were presumably owned by Activision, was symptomatic.

Anyways, I want to see your take on England (Monty Python and the Holy Grail).

---

Didn't expect an I Shall Seal the Heavens effortpost in this topic.

Cultivation novels are pretty baffling and the whole powerlevel system is baffling, but there are some decent ones. I Shall Seal the Heavens and A Will Eternal have pretty strong comedic elements to them, and I will forever sing the praises of The Way of Choices.

---

MetalmindStats posted...

Rights issues badly impeded PSASBR's roster in general. I suspect Crash, whose rights were presumably owned by Activision, was symptomatic.

Anyways, I want to see your take on England (Monty Python and the Holy Grail).

Yeah, Sony own the IP for MediEvil (and Sir Dan was actually surprisingly heavily requested on forums for the game prior to its release, probably the most of any Sony's PS1 characters aside from Crash/Spyro)

But Activision owns both Spyro and Crash, and they're not known for being easy to work with. It was also back before they had put out the remakes, when they were putting their cards into Skylanders.

---

British Empire Tier
Foundation Universe
Middle-Earth

French Empire Tier
Discworld
Snow Crash Universe
Planescape
Tetris Universe
Silent Hill
Fallout Universe
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Universe
Flatland
Aurbis
Spira

Spanish Empire Tier
Gotham City
Babylon 5
Forbidden Lands
Ivalice
Rapture
The Sixth World
The Sprawl
Warhammer 40K Universe
Scadriel
One Piece Universe
Xanth
Yharnam
Orthogonal Universe
Half-Life Universe
Lensman Universe

German Empire Tier
Amestris
Mountain and Sea Realm
Bionis and Mechanis
Oz
The Island (Lost)
Hyrule
Eberron
Japanifornia (Ace Attorney)
Hades
Nosgoth
Roshar
Zemuria
Valhalla
Agrabah

Portuguese Empire Tier
Manhattan (Escape from New York)
Septerra Core Universe
Animal Crossing Universe
USG Ishimura
Hopes Peak Academy
Hoenn

Dutch Empire Tier
The Expanse Universe
Bright Falls
Gallowmere
Duelist Kingdom
Raccoon City
Arcadia Bay
America (Death Stranding)

Italian Empire Tier
2001 Universe
Ravenloft
Third Earth
Los Santos
Kingdom Hearts
Arcadia and Stark
Mount Massive Asylum
London (Shawn of the Dead Universe)
Mineral Town
Space Jam
Superjail! Universe
Dream Land

Duelist Kingdom: Yu-Gi-Oh is one of the like ten anime I have watched, though it was as a kid. I remember the abridged series much better. Shonen anime? Gotta have a tournament arc and a silver-haired prettyboy. I remember the island this takes place on being like a giant forest with a huge castle built on top of a hill. Who built that castle? Why did he decide to build a castle in an uninhabited forest on a deserted island? I want to learn more about that guy.

Los Santos: So, Los Angeles. Its a good choice for a modern-era adventure, but I would prefer like New Orleans. Add a weird voodoo element, it has a little more weird personality than we have. Honestly, this is just Los Angeles, what can I even say? Everyone knows LA. I know it better than most, since I live here. Instead, Ill talk about Pacific Rim 2. I was ****ing flabbergasted when a monster destroys the Santa Monica Pier. I had no idea the Santa Monica Pier was even famous enough to be destroyed in a bad monster movie. Who passes up the opportunity to destroy the Hollywood sign in favor of the pier?

Paradox Space: So, its a multiverse propped up by temporal paradoxes? And theres some kind of Sims-like game on top of it? Look, Im sure Homestuck has plenty of insane lore, but its like the longest, most complicated thing ever. I dont think I can rank this in good conscience without reading the comic, and I cant do that.

Ravenloft: No joke, I was thinking about this setting a few weeks ago, but I couldnt remember the name. I guessed Ravendark, and everyone thought that was hilarious. I mean, look. I know I said earlier that I like gothic stuff, but I have my limits. A dimension of misty evil ruled over by Darklords, where all monsters are evil even if they would normally be neutral, and nothing but spooky castles and mansions? Its not quite silly enough for my tastes, but its also not, like, genuinely cool enough, either. Pass.

Bright Falls: A mining town in Washington, eh? With Native Americans who got pushed off the land? Sounds similar to the Life is Strange town. But theres a spooky lake located in a volcanic caldera, and it leads to THE DARK PLACE. What a silly name.

Arcadia and Stark: Mmm Okay, so a medieval world where technology doesnt work. Alright. But it also has no complex social strata, and a single language? I dont think so. And there are four continents, just called Northland, Eastland, Southland, and Westland? Immersion: ruined.

Hoenn: I would make a writeup, but my ears are currently being destroyed by trumpets.

Mount Massive Asylum for the Criminally Insane: What are the most played-out locations for horror? It has to be remote mansions, mental asylums, and the campground just outside of town, right? And its the site of Nazi scientists working for the United States and involves MKUltra stuff? Mmmmmmm no thanks.

Fallout Universe: Fallout, eh? Does anyone mind if I complain how Super-Mutants are in Boston, when they were invented in Los Angeles and shouldve just remained an LA thing? Ah well. I like the Mad Max setting, I like the permanently 1950s Americana stuff, and I like the NCR and Las Vegas. Caesars Legion is a bit too black-and-white evil for my tastes, I really feel a better job could have been done with them. One thing thats always confused me about this setting is the backstory. Im perfectly willing to accept an alternate timeline where the Cold War goes hot and the world is destroyed. Fine. No prob. My problem here is that the war is between the United States and China. They even write into the backstory the US made peace with the USSR. Why? Why does that detail exist? Its so bizarre. Its much more natural and easy if the world is destroyed by the US and USSR.

The Sixth World: I tell people I dont do cyberpunk after Snow Crash, and what do they do? Nominate more cyberpunk. Shadowrun needs to just accept the truth: hacking doesnt work in a tabletop context. You cant have one player do all the work while the others just sit around and watch. And dont give me that well, they can defend his body in the real world crap. Anyway, Im okay with the idea of people randomly giving birth to dwarves, elves, etc, and its a grim cyberpunk future with weird magic and stuff. I never totally understood how the Native Americans retake a third of the United States, though. There are like 3 million in US. Anyway, I also enjoy how the only out-and-out completely evil organization is the Aztecs-owning-a-corporation. Poor Aztecs. They actually had a lot of notable accomplishments, but the only thing anyone remembers about them is the pull-your-heart-out-of-your-chest religion and mistaking white people for gods.

The Sprawl: More cyberpunk? Goddamn you people, Ive only read Neuromancer. So the premise here is that in the future, the East Coast will just be an elongated city, and everyone will live in garbage homes or giant apartment buildings, etc. Its kind of funny that elements of it did come true, though. Its almost impossible to talk about this for the same reason as Middle-Earth: its just too much the default cyberpunk setting to even analyze. I do like the idea of street samurai, though, and Molly, who has to be a prostitute to pay for her cybernetics. I also like the id

Alrest (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

---

Possum Springs (Night in the Woods)

Anagram posted...

England (Monty Python and the Holy Grail):

Where exactly would it rank, though?

---

MetalmindStats posted...

Where exactly would it rank, though?

Whoops, fixed that mistake.

---

Worlds of Strata (Torin's Passage)

---

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

---

Dark Sun

---

Oceania (Nineteen Eighty-Four)

---

Organization of North American Nations (Infinite Jest)

---

Randland (Wheel of Time), though if you haven't read it you'll probably think it's generic
---

British Empire Tier
Foundation Universe
Middle-Earth
Oceania

French Empire Tier
Discworld
Snow Crash Universe
Planescape
Tetris Universe
Silent Hill
Fallout Universe
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Universe
Flatland
Aurbis
Spira

Spanish Empire Tier
Gotham City
Babylon 5
Forbidden Lands
Ivalice
Rapture
The Sixth World
The Sprawl
Athas
Warhammer 40K Universe
Scadriel
Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters
One Piece Universe
Xanth
Yharnam
Orthogonal Universe
Half-Life Universe
Lensman Universe

German Empire Tier
Amestris
Mountain and Sea Realm
Bionis and Mechanis
Oz
The Island (Lost)
Hyrule
Eberron
Japanifornia (Ace Attorney)
Hades
Nosgoth
Roshar
Zemuria
Valhalla
Organization of North American Nations
Agrabah

Portuguese Empire Tier
Manhattan (Escape from New York)
England (Monty Python)
Worlds of Strata
Septerra Core Universe
Animal Crossing Universe
USG Ishimura
Hopes Peak Academy
Hoenn

Dutch Empire Tier
The Expanse Universe
Bright Falls
Gallowmere
Duelist Kingdom
Raccoon City
Arcadia Bay
America (Death Stranding)
Alrest

Italian Empire Tier
2001 Universe
Ravenloft
Third Earth
Possum Springs
Los Santos
Kingdom Hearts
Arcadia and Stark
Mount Massive Asylum
London (Shawn of the Dead Universe)
Mineral Town
Space Jam
Superjail! Universe
Dream Land

---

Alrest: So, another planet where the continents are giant creatures, and humans and other smaller races live on them, eh? Except, spoilers, the giant creatures are actually Blades, which means theyre sort of like the sentient weapons that can turn into girls or something? I never played this game. Anyway, the world is slowly dying, so its up to you to save it, as is common. But then, spoilers again, its actually Earth, and they build the space station that accidentally destroys Earth and creatures Bionis and Mechanis in Xenoblade 1? But Xenoblade 1 nevertheless takes place at the same time as Xenoblade 2? Reading a synopsis of this plot is like having an aneurism.

Possum Springs: An old town that is slowly dying as people move away, one that no longer even has a grocery store, and whose buildings are slowly being abandoned and boarded up. I like that theres some actual backstory for this place, involving fur trappers and sleezy mine owners getting people killed. The actual town itself looks like Anytown, USA, except with animal people. Alright then? Wait what do animal people even need with fur trappers?

Worlds of Strata: Okay, so a hollow Earth scenario, with the classic twist of multiple planets within the largest shell one. Got it. I wonder what old philosophers and astronomers would think if they knew their work would be used today for this kind of stuff. Each of the five layers has a different culture and people (if it has them at all). The most interesting one to me is the nearly molten one that used to have people, but theyre gone long before the main character shows up. Oh, volcanoes. Are you inherently the best natural final boss location? Even if you arent the final area here. And the last one is basically just the United States? Thats kind of a letdown.

Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters: It will forever be my personal canon that Professor X named the X-Men because of X-tra power. I know Marvel retconned that decades ago, but whatever. Anyway, the idea of a high school for mutants sounds like something from 2006, but it was the original idea all along. I guess Ill be the one to ask: how can Professor X ethically just sit on his fantastic hologram and psychic-detect-anyone-instantly technology? Does he have to abide by state testing regulations for private schools? Why does a man who knows gods, wizards, and super scientists still need to use a wheelchair?

Athas (Dark Sun): I like the idea of a planet where metal is super rare, to the point where when most adventurers would say I have a magic sword, a Dark Sun adventurer would say I have a metal sword. This is one of D&Ds most anti-standard settings, with a world destined to die, no gods, and magic being reviled. A giant desert continent ruled by insane sorcerer-kings who destroyed the world and make everything brutal, but not like comically 40K brutal? One thing I think is weird is that to work Dark Sun into the broader multiverse of D&D settings, they had to explain why the people dont just leave. It was decided that Athas is hard to access. Why is it hard to access? Dunno! It just is. At least give us something, Wizards.

Oceania: The definitive dystopia. Like Middle-Earth, what can you even say about it? I read this novel when I was thirteen, and even today I remember most of it. The Two Minutes Hate every day has always stood out to me as such a great minor detail.

Organization of North American Nations: In the faraway future of 2008-2011, the USA, Canada, and Mexico created a superstate that controls the continent, because no one really cares about those Central American countries south of Mexico anyway, lets be serious. Everything has turned into a corporate hellhole, to the point where corporations get to buy the naming rights to years, which makes it hard to tell what year the book takes place in. I mean, okay, thats pretty amusing.

Wheel of Time Universe: Ive only read the first book so far, and I plan to read more, so I cant spoil myself, sorry.

---

Played out though the overall setting may be, Mount Massive is like the pinnacle of the mental asylum for me. Exploring that place just feels absolutely stifling, grimy, and hopeless. It makes you truly feel trapped at all times.

Derelict (LV-426) (Alien)


---

pern

uplift universe (series of books by david brin)

Dresden Files
---

rimworld

They did dub the Homestuck comic up to like somewhere to Act 6 by this point if that'd make it more bearable to give a whirl as background noise. Doesn't change the wacky shit when they get there though

Nominating The SCP Universe

---

Fallen London

---

Katamari universe

---

British Empire Tier
Foundation Universe
Middle-Earth
Oceania
Derelict Alien Spacecraft

French Empire Tier
Discworld
Snow Crash Universe
Uplift Universe
Planescape
Tetris Universe
Silent Hill
Fallout Universe
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Universe
Flatland
Aurbis
Spira

Spanish Empire Tier
Gotham City
Babylon 5
Forbidden Lands
Ivalice
Rapture
The Sixth World
The Sprawl
Athas
Warhammer 40K Universe
Scadriel
Dresden Files Universe
Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters
One Piece Universe
Xanth
Yharnam
Orthogonal Universe
Half-Life Universe
Lensman Universe

German Empire Tier
Amestris
Mountain and Sea Realm
Bionis and Mechanis
Oz
The Island (Lost)
Hyrule
Eberron
Japanifornia (Ace Attorney)
Hades
SCP Universe
Nosgoth
Roshar
Zemuria
Valhalla
Organization of North American Nations
Agrabah

Portuguese Empire Tier
Manhattan (Escape from New York)
England (Monty Python)
Worlds of Strata
Septerra Core Universe
Animal Crossing Universe
USG Ishimura
Hopes Peak Academy
Hoenn

Dutch Empire Tier
The Expanse Universe
Fallen London
Bright Falls
Gallowmere
Duelist Kingdom
Raccoon City
Rimworld
Arcadia Bay
America (Death Stranding)
Alrest

Italian Empire Tier
2001 Universe
Ravenloft
Third Earth
Possum Springs
Los Santos
Kingdom Hearts
Arcadia and Stark
Mount Massive Asylum
London (Shawn of the Dead Universe)
Mineral Town
Space Jam
Katamari Universe
Superjail! Universe
Dream Land

---

Derelict Spacecraft (Alien): The theme of Alien, as a movie, is you arent ready for this. Theres **** out there humans just arent prepared for, and if you explore anyway, a crab is going to rape your face. Admittedly, some of the symbolism is a little sketchy, but you get the idea, right? Which is why we see the heroes explore this giant, fantastical alien ship, and find the corpse of a giant being, infinitely greater than humans could ever hope to be. After all if even the great alien beings who created this ship (which looks far superior to the human ship we see) died to the xenomorphs, imagine how little change Sigourney Weaver has. The ships design and scale says everything while saying nothing. Alternatively: the aliens who built the ship are idiots who have no idea what theyre doing, also created humanity, the xenomorphs were created by a malfunctioning android who had nothing better to do, and the theme of the series is actually about God abandoning his creations instead of the unpreparedness of humanity for what waits beyond its current breadth of knowledge. Holy ****, I hate the prequels.

Uplift Universe: Another sci-fi series Ive actually read! Okay, so a billion years ago or whatever, some aliens evolved. They said lets genetically engineer other species to have sentience. Then they disappeared, and the second generation of sentient aliens engineered a third, the third a fourth, etc, and they all developed a religion where the closer you are to the original aliens, the more important you are. This works because the chance of evolving sentience naturally is so minimal that they can both dismiss the chance of ever encountering naturally sentient aliens and exalt the originals as basically gods Then they meet humans, who evolved naturally and already made dolphins intelligent because lol why not? Cool premise.

Dresden Files: Ive watched the TV show, does that count? Okay, so the defining urban fantasy series, well Not exactly my bag. There are vampires, wizards, and every kind of wacky monster you can think of. I read the TVTropes article on Dresden Files like nine years ago, and the main thing I remembered from it is the idea that necromancy is stronger based on the age of the bones you animate, so Dresden breaks into a museum and animates a T-Rex. Get ****ed. Do you know how dinosaur skeletons actually work? A complete dinosaur skeleton is usually either going to be partly plastic replicas or bits taken from multiple specimens.

Rimworld: For a second, I thought this second Ringworld, and I got excited. Okay, so theres an area of known space, and the outer edges are the rim, and places there are rimworlds. I remember being like eleven or something and hearing that idea in a Star Wars book and thinking it was clever and original. I wonder what Star Wars stole it from? I Is this game fully randomly generated? I have no idea what to do with this.

SCP Universe: So theres a secret government organization that hunts down people and things that violate natural laws? And it originated on 4chan, but grew out of it into a larger web community. This is an interesting horror premise, but it lacks a central canon, so all it is is a premise. Get what I mean?

Fallen London: In 1861, Queen Victoria sold London to the Masters, who dragged it a mile underground. Now its in a Europe-sized ocean with a few other cities dragged down over the millennia, and demons and other weird things show up sometimes. I Look, I kind of like gothic stuff, I know I gave Bloodborne a good score, but the Victorian era is not my thing. For me to like a Victorian era-work, it has to have something else that makes it excel.

Katamari Universe: Ive never liked Katarmari Damacy. Live with it.

---

Deepsea Metro (Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion) (I'm including the surrounding areas and the playable levels in this too, not just the subway)

---

That particular Dresden Files moment with the dinosaur was quite the memorable scene and pure rule of cool. If you wanna nitpic to that level, literally everything on the list is gonna be full of similar inaccuracies.

Now then, time for something a little different...howabout rating/ranking your dnd setting. The name of it escapes me. The one with the floating islands and the three op wizards who ruled everything. :p

---

SovietOmega posted...

That particular Dresden Files moment with the dinosaur was quite the memorable scene and pure rule of cool. If you wanna nitpic to that level, literally everything on the list is gonna be full of similar inaccuracies.

Of course, I was just being a dick. I could say plenty of way worse stuff about Foundation.

---

Pac-Man universe

---

Kamurocho

---

Mushroom Kingdom

---

Ancient Greece (God of War)

---

SovietOmega posted...

Now then, time for something a little different...howabout rating/ranking your dnd setting. The name of it escapes me. The one with the floating islands and the three op wizards who ruled everything. :p

As long as it's the pre time travel version...

---

Zones of Thought universe (A Fire Upon the Deep, etc.)

---

I got a top-tier, let's go! You really nailed why it's so great!

Von Braun (System Shock 2)

---

British Empire Tier
Foundation Universe
Middle-Earth
Oceania
Derelict Alien Spacecraft

French Empire Tier
Discworld
Snow Crash Universe
Uplift Universe
Planescape
Tetris Universe
Silent Hill
Fallout Universe
Von Braun
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Universe
Flatland
Aurbis
Spira

Spanish Empire Tier
Gotham City
Babylon 5
Forbidden Lands
Ivalice
Rapture
The Sixth World
The Sprawl
Athas
Warhammer 40K Universe
Scadriel
Dresden Files Universe
Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters
One Piece Universe
Xanth
Yharnam
Orthogonal Universe
Half-Life Universe
Lensman Universe
Zones of Thought Universe

German Empire Tier
Amestris
Mountain and Sea Realm
Bionis and Mechanis
Oz
The Island (Lost)
Hyrule
Eberron
Japanifornia (Ace Attorney)
Hades
SCP Universe
Nosgoth
Roshar
Zemuria
Valhalla
Organization of North American Nations
Agrabah

Portuguese Empire Tier
Manhattan (Escape from New York)
The Twilight
England (Monty Python)
Worlds of Strata
Septerra Core Universe
Animal Crossing Universe
USG Ishimura
Hopes Peak Academy
Hoenn

Dutch Empire Tier
The Expanse Universe
God of War Universe
Fallen London
Bright Falls
Gallowmere
Duelist Kingdom
Mushroom Kingdom
Raccoon City
Rimworld
Arcadia Bay
Deepsea Metro
America (Death Stranding)
Alrest

Italian Empire Tier
2001 Universe
Ravenloft
Third Earth
Possum Springs
Los Santos
Kingdom Hearts
Arcadia and Stark
Mount Massive Asylum
London (Shawn of the Dead Universe)
Mineral Town
Space Jam
Katamari Universe
Superjail! Universe
Dream Land
Pac-Man Universe

---

Deepsea Metro: Splatoon and Animal Crossing are the two big Nintendo properties Ive never touched. This looks to be a fairly standard subway system. I like how the entrances to missions are subway ticket barriers that you have to pass through, thats mildly cute. No joke, Ive ridden a subway about five times in my life, three of which were when I visited by sister in Virginia and two of which were when I visited New York, so subways to me are almost as fantastical as medieval worlds with dragons and stuff. Maybe even less. Theres a significant chance that Ive been to Disneyland more often than Ive been on a subway.

The Twilight: I made this setting for a D&D game when I was like 23? 24? The basic premise is that 70000 years ago, three basically omnipotent wizards got into a war and semi-accidentally blew up the multiverse. What remains is an infinite purple haze punctuated by floating islands, where the descendants of survivors now live. The wizards continue to fight each other, but indirectly, since theyre all basically omnipotent within their own zones of control and only sort of care anymore. Later time travel, alternate dimensions, Chinese bureaucracies, and giant city-cubes were introduced, but the Twilight was the first half of the campaign. I also had all dwarves have ridiculously stereotypical names, things like Thorgur Axevikingbeerbeard. For some reason, I had a plot twist where the main wizard, Rael, died off-screen but his assistant pretended to the party that he was still alive, and this had no effect except changing who the final boss was. If were being completely honest here, I would not make a setting like this today. Some of these creative decisions, I have no idea what I was thinking. I actually got a guy online to draw the assistant, and I did like the image, so at least there's that.

Pac-Man Universe: Im not going to research the Pac-Man Universe, but I have played Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures. I recall Pac-Man 2 being set in a completely ordinary suburb, except Pac-Mans house was shaped like himself. Pretty pathetic, even by cartoon logic standards. Even Spongebob Squarepants doesnt live in a giant sponge.

Kamurocho: I actually plan to play Yakuza at some point, so I dont want spoilers. Sorry.

Mushroom Kingdom: See, if youd said Mario Universe, I would have diverted this conversation to Rogueport and Sarasaland just to be contrary, but now I have to talk about the Mushroom Kingdom. Is Mario the most who cares canon of any video game? Because the Mushroom Kingdom is clearly a medieval society, but they have cruise ships, airplanes, go-karts, and basically all modern amenities. I guess Ill be the one to bring this up: Why are the Toads okay with being ruled by Peach? Shes clearly a human, and theyre clearly not. I know that actual monarchies often had ruling houses with foreign blood, but I refuse to believe that that much worldbuilding took place in the ****ing Mushroom Kingdom. And when Mario goes to New Donk City, why does everyone look like a real life human except Pauline? Id always assumed that in the Mario Universe, humans just looked cartoony and the girls were a foot taller than the boys, but apparently thats just a Mushroom Kingdom thing?

God of War Universe: Remember when people joked that when Kratos ran out of Greek gods to kill, hed move onto the Norse pantheon? And then he just did? Lucky for the Egyptian and Hindu gods, theyre a little too obscure to be murdered. So GoW is basically a dark, brutal take on Greek mythology, where everyone is a huge jackass. People like to say well its just being true to the myths, and ehhhh, kind of. I mean, Greek gods were huge jackasses, but I dont know if they were this bad. I do like the twist at the end of the first game, where Kratos learns that forgiveness from the gods just means they wont hold his actions against him, but they cant make him forgive himself.

Zones of Thought Universe: The galaxy is divided into four regions, and where you are determines how complex your level of thought can be. So if you go into the Unthinking Depths, youll be as intelligent as bacteria or whatever, and youll probably die as your brain shuts down. When a civilization transcends, it moves into the imaginatively-named Transcend Zone. So basically, the level of technology and intelligence you can attain depends on where you are. I was unable to determine if this is natural or artificial, but that appears to be an ambiguity even in-universe, so okay. Overall, kind of an interesting concept?

Von Braun: Look, I like System Shock 2 a lot, but the Von Braun is just a ship. All of the creepy atmosphere comes from the organic not-technically-aliens turning everyone into zombies and the polite robots a

Willamette Parkview Mall (Dead Rising)
---

you seem to have left out pern

author: mccaffrey

Since I was reminded of it

The Dusk (Atelier Dusk trilogy)

---

It sounds like you havent read A Fire Upon the Deep and its sequels. I would highly recommend them.

---

norenxaq posted...

you seem to have left out pern

author: mccaffrey

My mistake.

redrocket posted...

It sounds like you havent read A Fire Upon the Deep and its sequels. I would highly recommend them.

I sure haven't.

---

Castle Rock (various Steven King works)

---