i finished subnautica it was so awesome
sort of a new experience for me in that much of the last half of the game seems meant to scare you and i don't usually play games like that. so i didn't actually enjoy the act of playing it for a good portion of the game. however i must recognize its greatness
big recommend to anyone who enjoys exploring 1000 year old abandoned alien facilities
@tokucowboy#30963 Iāve just made myself a late night pizza and am checking out the vod of this stream. Iām here for the ride
@marlfuchs2#31006 just watching a few clips. the level clear animation is so cool
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[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/lZwPoSM.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
@tokucowboy#30966 any chance you would be interested in trading voices with me on a more or less permanent basis
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@tokucowboy#30966 ah, thanks ā a midnight allergy attack stream aināt my finest moment, but here it is (Iāll get back to reading through it, too, think Iāll save it for Twitch)
Just chiming in to say that this is delightful and I hope you enjoyed doing it.
@marlfuchs2#31006 Sonic Advance totally rules. They have always been the last great 2D sonic games until Mania. 1 plays like a traditional sonic game, itās pretty hard at times. 2 and 3 modernize it so babies can just enjoy the speed, but itās still a good fun game. Theyāre super stylish and even have chao garden connectivity similar to chao adventure for VMU. I still think Sonic Pocket Adventure for Neo Geo Pocket Color is the best portable sonic ever, but donāt ever sleep on Sonic Advance.
@rejj @antillese ah, thank you so much for peeking in, I appreciate it. I did enjoy doing a kind of conversational live reading of a visual novel ā if folks continue to enjoy it, too, I'd love to get around to reading out Gnosia & Kentucky Route Zero (in my authentic Paducah, KY native dialect) down the line (as well as plenty of other Insert Credit-assed stuff)
@tapevulture#31029 but...I need it to pay the rent (thank you)
So I'll probably pop in with a lot of these more short-form games since I've been messing around with a new Retropie box, but I played almost to the end of Valkyrie no Densetsu, Namco & Hiroshi Fujii's 1989 arcade game, last night. A lot of it feels shockingly modern -- the sprites are bold & charming & full of character, the input feels good, the music by Hiroyuki Kawada just bops along, & there's an adorable fairy tale story in there, as well as a nice little upgrade system. But that feeling of modernity just goes off a CLIFF toward the end where the difficulty reminds you that, yep, this is an arcade game from 1989 & you are born to suffer -- I couldn't cut it even with save states. Gonna try to return to it next time I have another person, though, maybe I can hop in as the player-two frog dude & we can pull it off. But it's a real fun game, mostly.
I'm currently downloading a game called Kowloon High-School Chronicle which is a previously Japan only PS2 first person dungeon crawler and VN hybrid thing. It got a Switch remaster recently and I just kind of stumbled across it and it looks sick as hell??? Does anyone know anything about this game?
@sabertoothalex#31050 ha, I put that on my wishlist solely based on its eShop page, too, because it does look sick as hell. I wish I could tell you anything else about it, but if you do end up biting the bullet, please do share your thoughts
I've been playing RE8 all week. Finished the first run and now doing a second run through. I love how in Resident Evil games (at least the ones after they started having a straightforward NG+) do multiple playthroughs. Absolutely nothing changes in subsequent plays except your loadout (it becomes increasingly more powerful, eventually being ridiculously godlike infinite ammo rocket launcher YOU get to step on big mama now).
You would think this would ruin the game, but it just leads to a different experience. Everyone has to play that sh*t in your pants first run, then in subsequent runs you get to feel powerful when you previously felt scared, and can really enjoy exploring the nooks and crannies of the environments - which are packed with details that you miss when you sprint through with your butthole clenched.
It reminds me of how Souls games feel in subsequent "gotten good" playthroughs, when the level geometry and combat are second nature and you can just breeze and it feels great. Contrast this with recent discussions about the shortcomings of the latter playthroughs of Nier. Which, to give credit, was a feature greatly improved upon in Automata.
/rant
Also I wanted to get in on the Xenoblade discussion!
I played the Definitive Edition and liked it for about 20 hours and then grew more and more resentful toward the game as time went on until finally I hated it once I finished it. It commits the worst sin a game like this can commit: it has a terrible main party dynamic. The thing that I absolutely need to carry me through games of this length is a good party of characters that I like playing and watching interact. Xenoblade 1 starts out well enough but anyone who is not Shulk or Dunban or ||Fiora|| is largely perfunctory, going hours and hours on end without even saying a line sometimes. Sharla for basically the entire game, Melia after her initial introduction. Like how do you expect to make a strong party dynamic when the characters barely talk outside of Heart To Hearts that have incredibly time intensive requirements to unlock? Like nah, get outta here.
The world itself is always hailed as something special as well but after Guar Plains it was a pretty severe slope downwards for me. Most of the zones you go into are just absolutely miserable to traverse. The miserable nature of them ranges from being just boring as hell to just bizarre layouts that don't even feel enjoyable in the friction=satisfaction sense. Great music and aesthetic though!
For the combat stuff, I agree with @christoffing. I understand why MMO is the shorthand for this game and games like it but tbh beyond auto-attacking and skill countdowns it doesn't scratch the same itch. I'll echo that in a good MMO the classes and their skill rotations are balanced in such a way that it lets you get into a rhythm that almost feels like playing an instrument. It can be brain dead at times when you're just hunting trash mobs but when you're in fights that require more of you the combat design of MMOs really sings. The kind of consistency, coordination, cooperation, problem solving, focus, and just...role playing required in big MMO fights just stomps what even Xenoblade's highest level ambitions are. The combat is a mess, it is stilted and loud and requires almost nothing of you. Beyond aesthetics they're just so different.
Anyway I had the opposite experience with Xenoblade 2. I was very put off by it at first because it has a high barrier to entry aesthetically and the first big open zone you're in isn't super interesting. After that it's a steady climb upward though. 2 has a more tight knit party, better zone exploration, combat that is still messy but is much more interested in having its own distinct identity, and a story that doesn't get enough credit for being tender, empathetic, and philosophical. The shonen action beats are also much better! It has its own share of trash stuff but overall I had a much better time with it.
@treefroggy#31037 yeah iāve noticed how challenging it is, itās a little refreshing. for some reason I assumed the series was a Baby Game For Babies and so I never checked it out ever, but I wonder if 2 and 3 are the reason for thatā¦ In any case a friend of mine on twitter thinks 3 is the best.
I also played about 4 minutes of Super Mario Bros Advanced (or, SMB2, the remake, for the GBA) and hmmm this is much more cartoony than sonic. this is the true baby game for babies.
Iāve been playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon over the last few days. I seem to be one of the few people that really liked the real-time combat of the original games so I was a little hesitant with this game. Overall Iām generally digging the combat even if itās not groundbreaking. Itās taken an era to get a full party of four, and I get why that's been the case, but hopefully the rest of the game will pick up the pace.
Broadly speaking the series' sense of humour and its overall writing is just as good as its predecessors though. Few games make me laugh as much as these games, even among the grittiness of the main story beats, and so far LAD hasn't disappointed.
@LeFish#31171 Did you see the announcement that the flagship games will continue to have JRPG combat, and Judgement will take on the brawler mantle, from here on out?
@Gaagaagiins#31173 I did! I enjoyed Judgment a lot, even if Takayuki Yagami feels less crunchy to use than Kiryu. Iām pleased to hear that theyāre doing both series!
I have done a playthrough of Knights of the Old Republic 1, my first ever, this week. I have never up to this point touched a Bioware RPG in any capacity past āI know Mass Effect existsā and decided to finally jump on board with their games, as a pre-requisite being that I at least finish an earlier title of theirs before moving onto this āLegendary Collectionā for Mass Effect.
Prior to starting, I had listened through Noah Caldwell-Gervais' video "Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2 Vs. Joseph Campbell", which was a kickstart for me giving it a try ( https://youtu.be/OI2iOB8ydGo ). Spoilers are not really something that will prevent me from enjoying something, since I tend to approach it with the angle of how did we get to that point?
I play a lot of Dungeons and Dragons in recent years and this being based off earlier systems (same year as 3e?) helped ease me in, the way that conversations played out felt natural and your characters gradual power creep worked well in this framework, I think I can see how this almost vignette style of story telling would translate well to later games, with this smaller stories serving to build up the lore of the world rather well.
The combat was relatively simplsitic with little need to micromanage, I'd only say I got screwed by the dice a few times, but the combat in the game is so functional that I feel it's purely there to facilitate conversation trees, which I am not against. I just went full tank and slapped my face hard against everything.
Playing through as a Light Side Jedi, real highlights for me, was going through the Sith Academy and trying my hardest to not trip up or play my hand too early. Finding non-violent solutions in an environment that very much wanted me to murder, sacrificing myself when nessecary.
Ending:
||why all that bastila dialogue options when you chat with her gotta be either "horny, neutral or fuck you" tho and the 'canon' ending being locked behind you saying you love her, nah, is a big turn off for me since i always find romance mechanics in games off putting. I feel like a leer. also yeah taris is boring, I see why people mod that out||
(also i know this upset the fans but i see why they chose this license to turn into an MMO)
also jolee bindo sounds like the name of someone I've met in essex
@Syzygy#31188 
His video is not a critique as much as just looking at how they approach the Hero's Journey.
RE Stats: Yeah, my strength was outta this world.
@Gaagaagiins#31173 Wow I did not hear that!
That's pretty cool and interesting. Nice way to make sure the series don't just end up feeling the same.
I really hope they do something about controlling positioning in future Yakuza iterations, there sure were some pretty awkward and floppy outcomes due to people just not standing in the right place when you wanted them to
I'g currently going through Blue Stinger for the first time and really enjoying it. It feels like a very singular game which is further emphasised upon reading this interview with the director, Shinya Nishigaki https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JohnAndersen/20150213/236413/Remembering_Shinya_Nishigaki_and_his_quotCrazy_Gamesquot_Blue_Stinger_and_Illbleed.php
The game definitely has issues (maze like sections with poor signposting, enemies that stun lock you and unclear objectives) but it feels like everyone working on it was breathlessly excited about what they could do. The game is way longer than it needs to be but all of it looks good and there's always a surprising enemy encounter or bit of level design waiting to pop up. The backtracking is a tiny bit insufferable at times because the levels are so maze like but I'm enjoying romping through with the occasional use of a guide.
@sabertoothalex#31050 Have been thinking about buying this so Iād love to know your thoughts once youāve played it.
I have been playing Kirby Planet Robobot and man do I enjoy that baby game and its big Kirby mech. I recently went from a New 2DS to a New 3DS. It's my first time owning one of the actually 3D variants of the system. I really get a kick out of the effect and like what it adds to games (which is usually not all that much). Feel lucky that it doesn't bother my eyes or give me a headache as I know it does for others (and glad I got the head tracking tech version).