Lurker > Raganork

Garbage

So you gave her a conditional gift, but did you stipulate how long she needed to stay with you without breaking up? You can't just say "if you leave, you have to pay me back," if you don't specify just how long she needs to stay. A week? A month? Longer?

Even then, it wouldn't matter much because you can't bribe someone to stay in a relationship. She gave you the benefit of the doubt, but for whatever reason she didn't like you and left. Maybe she used you, but unless you can prove that, you won't have a very good chance of winning this case.

I draw a hard line between good writing and good storytelling. The Last of Us is well written, but it's not interesting. A story of two survivors trying to trudge through the post-apocalypse doesn't do anything for me. At least with something like Horizon you've got a unique spin on the post-apocalyse setting with the cybernetic/primitive hybrid, just for one example.

The combat was all stuff I'd seen before. Not to say it was bad, but there wasn't any major draw to the gameplay that I couldn't get elsewhere. It's far from the best third person shooter I've played. Movement options aren't interesting, gunplay doesn't have any unique quirks, the speed is relatively slow for my tastes, and so on. I feel like scavenging for supplies and crafting ammo is a very cumbersome mechanic that too many modern games implement as a way to add a smidge of depth (Tomb Raider, Horizon, The Evil Within) because the actual act of hiding behind cover, centering your reticule, and firing your gun (or bow) isn't at all interesting or engaging, and hunting for ammo is easier to program than designing enemies and encounters that challenge you to fight differently.

Basically, my complaint about all these types of games is "I've already seen this before; what's new?" And because I'm a gameplay first kinda guy, hearing the defense of "it's a new story" doesn't do much for me if I didn't already enjoy the gameplay in the original release. And with The Last of Us 2, I saw a whole lot of scripted gameplay, a whole lot of boring conversations between characters I don't care about, and that's about it. What was new? This was their first impression - their chance to hook me - and I guess I'm just not their target audience, because I wasn't impressed. It's a hard pass for me.

The Wave Master posted...

What the hell Square Enix?

Hey, something we've all been saying since the merger happened. How anyone could be surprised that this shit-hole company had fuck-all to announce is beyond me. They're notorious for having non-annoucements.

Also, the FF7 remake essentially started from scratch this year. Everything CyberConnect2 worked on has been tossed. Don't expect any FF7 news for at least two years, and don't expect the first entry until the next console cycle. We're basically looking at a ten year development cycle again, just like FFXV and KH3, because Squeenix is managed by incompetent fucking hacks.
I_Abibde posted...

Like I said in the topic for anime / manga and JRPGs, it looks like the new Fire Emblem game is going to play like a Langrisser game. This, I find amusing.

Looks like the Radiance duology, which is great. I was tired of the sprites. The combat animations make the engagements look like actual war battles now. So good to move away from the 3DS.

If only the new Pokemon game looked like an improvement and not an utter waste of time.
The Wave Master posted...

The latest backlash from E3 is that Cyberpunk 2077 is first person.

I'm conflicted because I really don't care for first person, but CD Projekt's strength has always been in their writing and world building, so I'm not gonna dismiss the game from the cinematic trailer and handful of details alone.

Also, I'm not big on cyberpunk, but the main backlash I've been hearing is how this isn't cyberpunk because there's daylight, which doesn't make sense to me. I thought cyberpunk was about mixing futurist technology with the seedy underbelly of a huge city, which is exactly what the trailer showed. Doesn't necessarily need to involve night.

Anyway, best of show was Smash Ultimate because I'm a Smash fan and love how this is just a pure love letter for fans. We know exactly what we're getting with this, and I'm certainly happy with it. Sekiro was a close second only because of the details we learned after its reveal - namely the complete absence of RPG elements. Good. The older I get, the more tired I grow of managing stats and inventories. I just want good combat minus the fluff.

Worst of show were the two new IPs announced by Squeenix. That Babylon game showed no gameplay, and that Quiet Man showed none either. How the fuck can I get excited for two new games I know absolutely nothing about? Cinematic trailers are a waste of time. A hearty "fuck yourself" for the fine assholes at Square Enix. Dishonorable mention for the Elder Scrolls VI, which was also a non-annoucement. We already knew the game was being made. Why the fuck wouldn't it? Skyrim was a smashing success. You don't need to tell us you're working on TES6 if you don't have anything to show.

If you couldn't tell, I hate cinematic trailers, and this E3 was full of them yet again, which made for a very weak E3. At this point, if a trailer involves a man (or woman) slowly trudging through beautiful scenery set to somber music, I immediately lose interest. So no, I don't care about Death Stranding, Anthem, The Last of Us 2, The Division 2, or practically any melodramatic shooter.

To end on a positive note, the biggest surprise was the Hollow Knight release for the Switch today. I'm having a blast with it.

Sorry I don't post much anymore. To be brief, aside from being busy, I mainly lurk on other gaming sites these days. I'll pop in here every now and then, see some chatter about D&D, and leave. The rest of PotD, from what I can see, has become a total waste of space. Y'all keep doing your thing, but you'll probably continue to not see very much of me. Take care :)

ReggieTheReckless posted...

do you just not like isometric rpgs? because I hate them, and then I played divinity original sin II and it blew my mind and I had a new opinion

Yeah, I don't like any of those early 2000s isometric RPGs. Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Planescape, and anything similar. Dragon Age Origins took the formula used in those games and modernized it, making for a much more palatable experience, and I loved Dragon Age Origins. It sort of spoiled me, because when I went back to play these older games, I absolutely couldn't stand them.

I have played Divinity Original Sin, the first one, and didn't really like it either. It also felt somewhat slow, and I felt like I was meandering a lot of the time. Great sidequests, however, so I'll give it props for that. Maybe I'll go back and do coop with my brother some day. It definitely seems like it has the potential to be far and away better than Planescape.

I'm not trolling when I say Planescape: Torment is among the worst I've played. Never been so incredibly bored playing a game before. Fantastic writing and character development doesn't save the dreadfully slow pace, clunky interface, and perhaps the worst combat system I've ever seen in an rpg. I had to look up why I kept missing everything, and as it turns out, Thac0 is a Titanic-sized flaming shit pile. Perhaps all of aD&D is shit.

Maybe if you play a pacifist run it'd be better simply because you wouldn't have to suffer through the combat, but I wanted to play as a violent asshole that slaughtered everyone. My mistake I guess.

Quick Berseria rundown:

Gameplay: Graces done right. Rather than being locked to predefined combos, you can create your own. Every arte can chain into one another. Plus, the movement speed is nice and quick, free running doesn't blow ass, and the other characters are quite fun to mess with this time around. Same problem as Xillia 2 in that the MC is insanely overpowered. Play on hard; it's a bit easy.

Story: Standard revenge tale. A somewhat more mature tone by Tales standards. All of the characters are shady, which is an amusing deviation from the usual band of boring nerds that usually tag along. The middle act drags, as per typical Tales fashion.

Characters: Velvet is a rather strong protagonist, and follows the traditional Tales arc of overconfident hero learns to rely on friends to accomplish her mission. I feel like her motivations here are very strong. Villains are also great for once in many many years. Sidekicks consist of a bubbly witch (think Pascal, Rita, and Leia, except this one is my favorite), a pirate cursed with everlasting badluck, and other characters that all remained fun and interesting throughout. Really strong cast.

It's the strongest entry since Vesperia. I really enjoyed it. Typical Tales problems are all present and accounted for, but hey, Tales fans are used to them by now.

Also, hey guys! I haven't been busy. I skim the front page about once a day and leave. Forgot about this topic is all.

The woman fucked up by signing the lotto ticket in her name. In states where you can't remain anonymous (most states), you can choose to form a trust, and then sign the ticket with the name of the trust. You can do this is any state to stay (relatively) anonymous.

But because she jumped the gun, she has to reveal some personal information and is throwing a fit.

@Entity13

It wound up being a mobile port after all. JP exclusive too. Shocker.

Good luck doing that pixel perfect platforming with touch controls.

Entity13 posted...

psst @Raganork

https://gematsu.com/2018/03/valkyrie-profile-lenneth-first-teaser-trailer-2018

Saw it. Probably a mobile or PC port, which I couldn't care less about, even for my favorite game. But hey, if more people can experience the game, that's great. I'd love to see VP Hrist some day.