Semantic Nonsense: Dragalia Lostest

End of Dragalia

March feels like a long time ago, but the borrowed time that Nintendo and Cygames’ mobile title Dragalia Lost has been on since then comes to an end tonight.

I’ve been all over the place on what to do about it. The news came a few months into a hiatus as I was getting tired of the same old stuff. Event reruns since then covered the gaps in the story I created by that hiatus, and naturally I played what remained of the new material as it came out to get to the ending… even though the timing left several side plots intended to keep the game going longer remained unresolved.

With a few under-the -hood enhancements that either reduced grind or made it easier, I was able to knock out some of the more challenging optional content, but never got strong enough to even unlock all of it. With end of service imminently arriving, I gave up on trying to 100%, and went on something of a hiatus again.

In the meantime, the community around Drgania Lost tried to capture and assemble as many of the game’s assets as they could so that people would be able to revisit as much of the content as possible after the end. Once such effort has every quest and cutscene preserved on YouTube. You know, until Nintendo DMCAs/C&Ds them.

There’s no one thing I’ll miss most about the game. What made it special was a blessed combination of factors. There the game starting as light on the demands for your money and the gacha aspects becoming increasingly generous on practically a monthly basis. There was also the fact that while you could totally have a “waifu” mentality with it, the presentation of the characters was PG at the worst; you never got the feeling you were playing a thinly-veiled heantai slot machine every time you tired a character summon. But perhaps the most satisfying of all its high points was that the heart of the story was all about an ever increasing amount of outcasts, weirdos and hopelessly broken people somehow finding one another, having their freak flags accepted, and being able to accomplish great things together once unburdened of their loneliness. Perhaps it’s a silly thing to pull out a mobile game, but it speaks to me.

I’ll leave you with one final thing. Some of the voice cast for the English release came together to mark the day with something akin to a curtain call. It’s not the kind of engagement you see out there very often, and it’s a rather nice thing to do for the occasion.

Thank you for playing Dragalia Lost

– The EN VA's of New Alberia pic.twitter.com/kt3YqxT1tM

— Arielle Tuliao (@ajtuliao) November 29, 2022

---

KitKat of the Week: Adult Sweetness White

Weird title, but I think the idea goes like all grownups are at minimum pre-diabetic and need the sweetness of their treats backed off a bit.

This particular KitKat Has a smooth and creamy taste to it. The white coating is interrupted with flecks colored like proper chocolate, but it does not change the texture at all. I don’t think it is as un-sweet as it purports to be, but it’s a pleasant taste overall.