Coelacanth
Living fossil.
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I did the Luck build and it was super busted. Also nice to get tons of items and resources from all the Luck. Next run I’m planning on trying the ranged build, I feel like it could be powerful (although takes a while to come online). I also want to try a full caster build, especially in NG+ with the extra spells. Harvest Field was still crazy strong even with like 0 spell power investment.
I’m on Backlog Cleanup Duty this week. I’ve started playing some games that I never went around to finish and I need to actually do that, my disk space is getting concerning.
EDIT: This ended up almost as a full scale Rise of the Ronin review, so I’ll spoiler tag it in order to not take up too much space in the thread.
spoiler
First up was Rise of the Ronin. Eagle-eyed readers of these weekly threads will know I never gave a final opinion on it, because I played it months ago and then burned out on the open world and never picked it up again. Well, I did finally push through and get to the credits this week. And my first thought is: this game is way too long. There is too much game in this game. Actually, more like too much filler. I think a more sensible approach that doesn’t try to clear the whole map would be much better, although that is rarely how I play open world games. I guess this game does regularly emphasize that you can go back to previous areas at any time, and that seems to include the post-game. So maybe that’s what all those enemy bases and fugitives and whatever are meant for. Something to do after you’ve finished the story.
Which, speaking of the story - the story is an absolute mess. This is Team Ninja so nobody is expecting Shakespeare, but what strikes me is that the story is both somehow interesting and awful at the same time. It’s interesting because the game is based on the Bakumatsu period - which is fascinating - and everything is anchored in real events and real historic characters. The intrigue and factions and characters do genuinely have interesting elements and moments. And some characters end up being quite charming, like Ryoma.
The problem is that the way the story is told, and the way the protagonist is incorporated is truly horrendous. I’ve never seen anything more confusing and disjointed honestly. This is a game that was screaming out for actually picking sides and having branching storylines (which I guess was just too much work - which is fair, it’s why we rarely see it in games). But what ends up instead is that the protagonist just plays all sides of the conflict constantly, and everyone is just magically okay with it? You betray someone, then you’re friends the next mission. You build up a friendship with someone over several missions, then suddenly they’re the boss in the next mission. Then back to being friends! You fight someone as an end boss in one mission, then go back to giving them gifts in the extremely rudimentary relationship system in the hopes of dating them. You “pick a side” in the main story, then go back to the other side’s base in the open world and continue doing side missions for them and they barely comment on you having sided with their enemy. And this “picking a side” in the main story happens often, and always with zero consequences or permanence. You side with the shogun one main mission, then side against him the next and the rebels just welcome you with open arms.
And on top of this is grafted the story of the protagonist and their Veiled Edge counterpart, which is highly mediocre and contrasts very clearly with the historically based intrigue, and also resolved very abruptly and anti climactically in the ending (although maybe the time gap between me starting and finishing the game had an impact here). But it definitely felt to me like so much focus narratively was put on the conflict between Japan and the west and the shogunate and the rebels, and very little time was actually spent on your Blade Twin’s personal beliefs and motivations. So he ended up feeling very weak as an antagonist.
Also I have to mention graphics, simply because I found them profoundly strange. Ronin is not a bad looking game, but it’s also not a good looking game - it’s actually both at the same time. Sometimes it looks like absolute shit, sometimes it looks genuinely pretty great. I think something is wrong with the lighting in this engine, particularly outdoors, and this leads to a lot of places in the game looking very flat, uninspiring and just ugly. Indoor areas generally look better, and cutscenes and dialogue often look pretty good, despite being rendered in-engine. This again leads me to believe it’s mostly a lighting issue rather than textures and models.
Furthermore on the subject of this being a very strange game: the protagonist. This is the weirdest implementation of speaking/silent protagonist I have ever seen. It’s not a silent protagonist, but… it’s not really speaking either. For like 90% of the game it’s a classic silent protagonist - your dialogue choices are unvoiced and in cutscenes you mainly communicate in nods and grunts. Standard silent protagonist stuff. And then in like 5% of the cutscenes the protagonist actually… speaks? I don’t know, maybe they really didn’t have the budget to fully voice the protagonist but it gave me whiplash every time it happened.
Anyway, I have wasted enough of your time. Would I recommend Rise of the Ronin? It’s a weird one, this. If you’re a combat junkie, I would say yes. Especially since it’s often for sale at around €20. The combat here is absolutely excellent, and it will give you more than your fill. The parry-centric fighting works well to fullfil that samurai fantasy of standing your ground and clashing blades, while all the martial skills and the ability to chain them together and mix and match fighting styles and weapons give you a lot of creativity and ability to style when you’re on the offensive.
If you just want a pretty, cinematic open world game with a coherent narrative and good production values then you might get frustrated here. Sure, the open world is big and the checklists have a lot of items on them, but they’re more tedious than anything else. There is a reason Ghost of Tsushima took off in popularity and this didn’t, even though I personally had more fun playing Ronin than I did Ghost.
Yeah that was kind of my vibe. I mean, I don’t think anyone disagrees that 7 has aged the worst. It’s a great game, but visually speaking I think it looks terrible. 8 is better than 7 but still has problems like the pixelated faces. I still think 8 could be well positioned for a proper remake instead of that horrible “remaster” they did. Mechanically it’s kind of an awkward game but gunblades feel like they would be cool inside of the modern action combat framework of the remakes.
Oh my, how he looks at the camera… you present a strong agument tho I do not need convincing, I’m already here for it.
Helps that his face isn’t half bad either right but yeah, that gaze is just piercing isn’t it? And the raspy vibrato just gets me too…
(Also, cool song, I like it)
It’s a great band. I’m not even sure The Letter is their best song, it’s just a great video to showcase Finn’s beauty.
Also you gotta be careful saying things like that, you know. I might take it as an opening to send you a more songs I like.
As an admirer of the physical form it’s hard to not go for the classical examples of beauty in a question about overt sexualization (since op mentioned fan service).
(…)
If we get a little more cerebral than that, yeah I guess you can talk about some more dimensional archetypes like “tortured poet” (and the like) and still answer the og question.
You know, it’s my bad actually. I totally ignored the actual topic of the OP to needle you about Halsin and then started talking about my own preferences like a narcissistic asshole. So uhm, whoops?
I do think there is something there for me in the sense that - at least when it comes to men - I am definitely more drawn to archetypes, faces and “presence” (I refuse to call it aura out of principle). So like, I can appreciate some shirtless washboard abs and everything, it’s nice, but it doesn’t necessarily move the needle for me (figuratively and literally).
But again that is only navel gazing my own preferences and not really answering the OPs question at all. Also now that I’m really sitting down and thinking about it I feel like for some reason if we’re talking about the male musculature then sculpted legs are kind of hotter than arms. Like, they go together obviously because if you just have one and not the other then the body will look awkward and disproportionate. But sculpted thighs are kind of hot. Biceps are overrated.
Maybe a more interesting question would be, “how to better sexualize characters in videogames” and drop the gendered part of it. (Tho the female gaze is definitely an interesting topic to discuss, If one thing is true is that we as an audience are more open to variety.)
Yes, this is an interesting topic for sure. I think the agency of the characters in question within the story and their characterization has a huge influence on the way any physical presentation is perceived. Even though sexualisation and objectification are often interlinked, they don’t have to be by nature and I think this is the key. Someone can be an empowered sexual being without being characterised as an object of desire to be claimed by someone else. It’s the difference between Bayonetta and Eve from Stellar Blade.
So hum… You are into the lanky and tortured? Is being a poet also a strong requirement for you?
Hah, I can be flexible. I do like the archetype and all, but as a wise woman in Disco Elysium said: “never trust a poet”.
I am so torn on a FF6 3D remake. On the one hand I think it has huge potential - and is way more interesting than an FF9 remake (does anyone seriously think that game actually needs to be remade? It’s fine as it is!). But on the other I think FF6 is so spectacular in its current iteration that I also don’t want to fuck with it. The desire to remake FF7 was obvious - early 3D games have aged horribly and look like ass with modern eyes. But much like Chrono Trigger FF6 is in that peak era of pixel art and as so many indie games keep demonstrating year after year: pixel art is timeless.
Tbh I’m not really all that into the way he sounds either, although I don’t know how much of that is related to how he’s written and acted. If we’re just talking about the tone of voice I guess it’s okay. But I’ve never really been one to go for the hunks, you know. A swelling bicep is nice and all but doesn’t really move me much.
Now, a lanky tortured poet on the other hand… Something like Finn Andrews is a bit more my speed.
Most Wanted (2005) is a masterpiece for sure. On the one hand it’s one of the games I most want (hah) to see a remake for, but on the other it’s so steeped in early 00s that maybe a remake can’t possibly recreate the magic, regardless of how faithful it is.
Still, playing it with modern graphics instead of that yellow piss filter would be amazing.
In China’s Battlefield community, new players are called “French fries.” Fresh, get eaten alive, but always show up in large numbers.
If the battlefield of tomorrow was to be waged through memes, China would wipe the floor with the rest of the world.
It’s a shame I can’t appreciate more of them because of language and the fact that even translated and explained memes only very rarely makes it out here.
I had missed Lantern of the Laughless Fool but it does look somewhat interesting. Didn’t really find the brainrot trailer too funny though except for the line
Everybody’s making a Soulslike? We’re making a Scrolls-like!
which I thought was pretty good. But at the same time I understand you gotta stand out in today’s climate and that trailer will probably get them more attention than a regular bland reveal trailer.
Aaah, I’m so glad! God I love that game so much. I can’t explain it but like I said before, exploring it gave me similar-ish vibes to exploring Dark Souls 1 the first time. Just a great experience all the way through, the only thing that could make it better is fully voiced characters, but for a solo dev with a tiny budget on his first game that is a lot to ask of course.
I might actually do another playthrough soon and try another build, just because Early Access on the sequel got pushed back to September and I am craving more.
Or maybe that is the day you branch out and discover the wonderful world of non-Souls games, eh?
But I don’t know, I think I’m still under the spell of the Souls Stockholm Syndrome… for now at least. Even with my frustrations I still love exploration in Souls games, very few other games do it as well and I’m already kind of craving my next hit.
Also even then… it’s not like playing non-Souls games has stopped me from posting in c/Soulslikes before so you know… you’re not getting rid of me that easily.
I haven’t played it, just seen footage of it. So not sure I can really voice my opinion. And the game clearly isn’t for me anyway, regardless. I’m not American, and I don’t really enjoy other teenage simulators like Life is Strange.
I have nothing against walking simulators or interactive movies if it’s done well, so for me that part of the criticism falls flat. And the culture war bullshit is also just ridiculous. What I didn’t like from what I’ve seen was dialogue that sounds off, like teenagers not talking like actual teenagers talk. And also like, the game feels more like presenting an idealised picture of the concept of being a teenager inside a 90s Americana movie, rather than explore the struggles of being an actual teenager in actual real life.
But I don’t know, maybe this is what everyone’s teenage years looked like in the US and I just don’t get it. Which is fine. Like I said, I’m not the target audience.
I mean, whatever makes you happy? A couple of years ago I made a conscious decision to expand my gaming vocabulary and play loads of different and new games instead of just replaying the same old games, or keep playing forever-games like Civ, Dota or MMOs. I don’t like every new game I play as much as my favorites, but I appreciate constantly seeing and experiencing new things.
But on the other hand some people just like playing their comfort games, and that’s also okay. You just gotta ask yourself if what you’re doing right now is making you happy, or if you’re just doing it out of habit.
I am so glad you’re loving it as much as I did! I literally can’t wait for Withering Realms, and it pains me that I might have to wait another year for it. Knowing Early Access won’t have NG+ makes me want to wait for full release, but at the same time I might not be able to stop myself from jumping in early when it opens in September. It’s maybe my most anticipated game of the year now.
I’m in what I would think is the final third or so of AI Limit, a well received anime-styled Soulslike from last year.
I’m having a hard time evaluating my time with it, because I find myself annoyed and frustrated numerous times when playing it, but this is the first Soulslike I’ve played in like 6 months and every time I am about to call the game bad I stop and reflect. Ambushes? Delayed attacks? Enemies with spammy attack patterns? Poison swamps? Time-wasting enemy placement? Idiotic platforming without a dedicated jump button? Aren’t these all genre staples of Souls games at this point? Am I slowly discovering that this genre isn’t for me anymore?
So I don’t know. By all accounts the game is a competent Soulslike. Maybe I just haven’t been sleeping well lately, and that’s why I’m getting tilted.
The gameplay looks pretty smooth, I have to give it that. Looks like it has potential to be fun to play. The rest of it I don’t know… I guess I haven’t seen enough of it to call it but for me it kind of feels like it is caught in between the random meme-game vibe and the played-straight action game? I need to see more I guess.
Unmodded the AI in Civ is pretty bad. On lower difficulties you can have a good time just doing your own thing if that is what you want, just building cities and infrastructure and whatnot. If you’re interested you shouldn’t be intimidated by them, I’d say. Plus you can regularly pick up Civ for like 2-3 bucks these days.
I genuinely wonder how well AC2 holds up. I remember it extremely fondly, but then again back then I didn’t have several decades of the same formula being used as a frame of reference. So I wonder how it stands on its own merits, were I to play it now.
But yeah, the whole Ezio saga was amazing at the time, and I can’t imagine they have aged too poorly.
For the longest time growing up it was Baldur’s Gate 2. Was such a formative gaming experience for me as a kid and several of those companions feel like reuniting with old friends.
More recently, Civ V on a medium difficulty is like Solitaire for me. You can just kind of go through the motions and enjoy building an empire.
For a different kind of relaxation-through-stimulation I also kind of find myself going back to Ninja Gaiden 2 recently. It’s hard to explain why this would be comforting (and the game can also be infuriating at times) but there is just something to the combat and the constant stimulation that can take your mind off things. Especially when you go back and just replay the best parts in chapter challenge as opposed to a full campaign.
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Ah damn I’m so sorry I didn’t pick up on your name! I’m terrible at that, I really should be more mindful. Actually I’m going to tag you “LRR Enjoyer” now. There!
Also I have to confess I haven’t kept up with them lately. I used to watch a ton of it years ago, both their sketches and some of their stream stuff. And Desert Bus of course. I really should get back into it, I don’t know why I stopped.