@“Syzygy”#p56643 [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/Tdz9gUb.png]
@“goonbag”#p56188
@“Chris_v”#p58491
hazel truly is the best. she is so incredibly talented, thorough with her research, and super laid back and charismatic. I only discovered her fairly recently but she was a no-brainer of a patreon subscription
This video is really good at exemplifying and digging into what makes the current “prestige indie game landscape” extremely toxic and how probably the main problems in any work environment are always going to be the positions of power and the ego of the people that have had some “success” in the past.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDPzZkx0cPs
I don‘t care too much for Splatoon, but this analysis of how a character’s dialogue differs between English and Japanese is fascinating
https://youtu.be/uQAtT7-cGDA
i stayed up watching this last night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQjOvz6qjDY
i thought it was pretty good
@“Syzygy”#p63909 oooh gonna watch that during the weekend. It’s strange, I don’t remember VII being discussed very much.
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If some of you and your crew went back to **Mario Kart 8 Deluxe** following the release of the new tracks, this is a pretty good and recent 100 minutes-long guide on this version, its many subtle differences with 8 Vanilla and the good tactics and reflexes to adopt, esp. online. I didn’t know my guy Morton wasn’t top tier anymore but I’ll feel less guilty using him from now on!
https://youtu.be/r0Xfn3Bq3X8
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PART 1 (CHAPTERS 1-4)
> 0:00 - Intro
> 2:43 - Terminology
> 4:27 - Version Differences
> 7:34 - Firehopping & Sliding?
> 10:40 - Character/Kart Combinations
> 14:25 - Mini Turbo Comparisons
> 18:20 - Racing Techniques (150cc vs 200cc)
> 22:45 - Starting Boost, Drafting, Minimap & Rearview Camera
> 25:53 - Drifting Mechanics
> 30:32 - Glider Mechanics
> 34:35 - Vectoring, Motion Glider & Fast Glider
> 39:01 - Other Techniques
> 41:21 - Online Play
> 45:17 - Item Smuggling/Sandbagging
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PART 2 (CHAPTER 5 / ITEMS)
> The following items should not be skipped (47:45 Coins, 52:42 Bananas, 1:00:53 Red Shells, 1:09:51 Mushrooms, 1:17:43 Blue Shells, 1:23:14 Bullet Bills, 1:27:27 Lightning, 1:36:16 Boo)
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The following items can be skipped (56:43 Green Shells, 1:13:30 Bob-ombs, 1:15:25 Blooper, 1:21:12 Stars, 1:29:30 Fire Flower, 1:30:55 Boomerang, 1:32:25 Piranha Plant, 1:34:43 Super Horn, 1:39:49 Crazy Eight)
@“Syzygy”#p63909 @“chazumaru”#p63949 OK watched the whole thing. I can’t say it convinced me that Wizardry VII was the best RPG on DOS and possibly not even a very well designed RPG at all, but it sure does have some appealing traits and I can see how someone would fall in love with it.
The game clearly seems balanced towards people who imported their Wizardry VI characters, and that helps me understand better ① why Wizardry VI is discussed more often (in my experience) and ② why Data East sold **Wizardry VI & VII Complete** as a single game on the Saturn.
[upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/fcJFYjA.jpeg]
I thought they had little faith in standalone releases and wanted to promote the character transfer feature as an all-in compilation, but it seems in fact heavily recommended to treat the two games as a two parts adventure, more so than to consider save transfer as a nice bonus features for fans.
The PlayStation version, which also allowed character transfer but was sold as a standalone, was developed by a completely different team under Sony’s supervision and I wonder if either version is balanced differently from the original PC version (I assume the DOS and Japanese Computer versions are roughly identical).
**[edit]** Seems the Saturn version at least is pretty different, according to [Moby Games](https://www.mobygames.com/game/wizardry-vi-vii-complete):
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The player can opt to start any of the two games from the main menu, using a common custom-made party or creating every character from scratch. The difficulty level has been drastically reduced for both games. On the other hand, the amount of random enemy encounters is noticeably higher. Several gameplay elements have been simplified: for example, simply passing near a secret button prompts a text message; the absence of text input makes many puzzles much easier, merely requiring the player to choose the correct answer among several available ones, possibly through guesswork; there are no topics to discuss with the NPCs; mechanics such as traps and chest opening are simplified, etc.
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Both games have polygonal 3D graphics, as opposed to the pseudo-3D locations of the original releases. Despite the new visuals, the layouts of the areas remain largely identical. Unlike the PlayStation version of Crusaders of the Dark Savant, this release retains the hand-drawn 2D portraits for enemies and NPCs for both titles. There is also a full soundtrack for Bane of the Cosmic Forge, which was not present in the earlier version.
I had to stop the Wizardry 7 vid after 10-15 minutes. Something about that presenter was coming across as so droll and flat I was having flashbacks to some nightmare lectures from university 20-something years ago.
Also, opening up with “you can’t play unless you are willing to dedicate ever fibre if your very being to this game” and “here are two identical doors, one of them will teach you this sort of door will instantly kill you; in order to progress in the game you must enter its twin” did nothing to convince me this was The Best RPG.
Shame, I’d always wondered about wizardry. It’s a series I never got around to playing, and thought maybe I was missing out.
Been making my way through Noah Caldwell Gervais‘ recent Dark Souls video and thought some folks here might enjoy it (if they weren’t already familiar with his content). I'm a big fan of his videos as he seems pretty well read and tends to focus on the depths of the narrative when deciphering a game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_KVCFxnpj4
Personally, I'm a big fan of his VW Bus road trip videos in particular. I hope he ventures out again soon.
yeah NCG is good
Hazel was posted before and has been recommended to me - I ignored her because I‘m not into anime that much, but been watching her vids and turns out they’re great!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcTaI_Xq5yY
Also could be a good podcast guest.
@“safety_light”#p65167 this came up in my yt suggestions yesterday and my gut told me it was probably worth checking out, good to hear my gut was right
@“Syzygy”#p65401 lol I was thinking of that exchange as well while listening to NCG
Yes I enjoy his work and look forward to his hopefully moving on from the enormous franchise doctrine he's been doing, and looking at weirder games instead.
Great look into various histories and cultures and how they've handled music as an art, an activity, and a symbol
https://youtu.be/azpxUnIgsts
@“safety_light”#p65167 This video managed to be something very impressive: A fresh perspective on Dark Souls. You‘d think after hearing people talk about this game for ten years we’d be all out, yet in comes Noah with some very insightful observations.
The entire history of Bomberman - somehow, a nearly 9-hour video that does not seem to have any filler or fluff at all. Just Bomberman facts for 9 hours. Neat!
https://youtu.be/1tCnVuPmHwI
Part review, part interview and a little bit of a let's play about No More Heroes.
Sounds weird but i enjoy this video series, especially gameplay discussion, often rejected part of No More Heroes that i think has some good ideas and executions (Driving bike is great and i have no shame in saying that).
https://youtu.be/ax5assAJdm0?list=PL7vAeDYh8SvQAc_lU0JhIef40RbS4mG_G
@"safety_light"#p65167
I can't say that i enjoyed this video, creator seems to make this video to prove a point "you don't need to git gud to beat Dark Souls."
It is a topic quite often and not really taken broadly, what i think is missing is look at what "git gud" means, that being "get better". (Not that it isn't a provocation, just one with more heart warming begining.)
By lowering damage made by enemies or their health you make it less interesting, when there is no problem in being a champion why try to get better?
I'm terrible at video games, but i try to keep trying, with different ideas and tactics, i had played start island chapter of Resident Evil 4 many times, a embarrasingly many times, to get to next typewriter i had to find a friend in suplex and a companion in flash grenade, now i understand how it works and now i have nothing to complain when previously i had seen too strong foes.
Game wants you to complete it, gaping dragon design shows that it tries to teach you how to abuse it's rules (range of attacks in big monsters) and things like weakness to fire or magic, making up some legendary group of players that win without anything and hate fun doesn't make it more or less fun to use our own mastery and knowledge to win without shield or even trousers.
Don't be afraid to be good at the game.
Don't be afraid to be bad at the game.
Have fun.
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@“Samograj”#p66023 what i think is missing is look at what “git gud” means, that being “get better”. (Not that it isn’t a provocation, just one with more heart warming begining.)
I think this is a matter of perspective. It's not just about the infamous catchphrase 'git gud' but what it represents. To a lot of people who came to the Souls games after they blew up, the Souls games were misrepresented by a noisy obnoxious part of the community that treated the games like a "true gamer" badge of honour. A lot of people still feel intimidated by the reputation that Souls games have of being super difficult (I think Elden Ring is changing that by being more accessible by design and selling a huge number of copies). So when that video argues against 'git gud' he's really arguing against that gatekeeping attitude that made him feel like he'd probably never be able to play these game properly. He's not saying it's bad or wrong to just practice until you develop your combat skills.
@“goonbag”#p66036
You are not wrong, what i was trying (and looking back at my post, failing) to say is that games should be interesting, and if making game more easy is at a price of being less unique then it‘s propably not worth it.
As i said i’m terrible at almost all games, but i simply know that many people are not, and they enjoy the challege more then i do.
That‘s why i don’t want to make for example Fatman fight in MGS 2 easier even if i had fought him my one human irreversable hour today, and propably will never finish many games because of how bad i am.
What i don‘t understand is keeping pride from somebody if it doesn’t affect you directly, i say: let them have fun.
If people can have sudoku chempionship, chess chempionship and hot dog eating competition why not have the same for videogames?
Sometimes a more advanced stategy in videogames requires taking away “aditional wheels of bicycle”, more risk, higher reward, and i think that‘s fine even if it makes it at first look it’s pointless, why keep reward from people that need it? is a valid question but one that can't have a one true answer.
I think that in Dark Souls sometimes getting rid of that safety is sometimes worth the risk, even in video he talks how he got more and more into melle and not only magic and pyromancy.