Board 8 > transience's video game topic 51: I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA Man

(+) Yeah! (+)

I could bicker about the list quite a bit, but I have to admit, even I want one and I find these things to be a little contrived
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the fact that it comes with two controllers is a pretty big deal too, I think. especially because with this one there's multiplayer games actually worth playing.
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Isn't this a much worse deal than the nes classic? More money and less games
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good on them for choosing hyper fighting. inspired pick.

didn't these have like a 6 foot cord or something? still thinking going the pi route is a much better idea. plus I could put CT on it.
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I think the cord was only 3ft on the NES one.

pi is still a smarter move just because it lets you do everything, but this thing is hard to resist even with a pi, just for collectables' sake. I already own an SNES copy of CT anyway!
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when was the last time you hooked up that snes? I keep a crt in my attic for my inevitable midlife crisis where I just suck my thumb and play old games via RF for a month
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It was hooked up until we got a new TV/entertainment stand a year and a half ago. Then we had no room and it got shoved in a drawer.

I do keep a small CRT in a closet too. I kinda wanted to set it up in my office space once we got a house, but that thing's probably not happening this year so it stays in the closet!
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assuming it's easy to bust this thing open too, this will be a cool thing for the kids. super simple library of multiplayer games they can play whenever.
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what's a fate/grand order

is it some fire emblem waifu thing
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it's more gacha stuff
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so yes

I keep trying these new gacha games because I like Record Keeper, but I think I only like Record Keeper because it's a FF nostalgia drip feed I have on me at all times
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can you still play that game new? I tried it once and deleted it because that stuff turns me off.
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I dunno. Maybe? Early gacha is so limiting because of all the stamina requirements, but once you get over the hump it's smooth sailing assuming you don't get too invested.
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Grand Order is Fate/Stay Night based, so unless you're a fan of that series it probably won't mean much to you.
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Finally saw the list of games on the SNES Classic. That's a damn strong list of games.
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It's pretty legit.
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I recently beat Mass Effect: Andromeda. It is a terribly flawed game, but I honestly enjoyed it once I was done with Eos and I felt like I had real freedom. The gameplay is just a lot of fun; gunplay feels great (except Sniper Rifles, man. Not using a one-shot Sniper Rifle makes you a pleb but the combat is way too active to take a sit down and line up the shot) and switching Profiles and Skills just make things feel very different.

The cast grew on me as well after not really clicking with me at first; Liam is garbage like Jacob and the only reason I don't want him to die is because he's a nice guy, but he's the one character I would have Renegaded EVERY SINGLE TIME IF I HAD THE FUCKING OPTION BECAUSE HE'S SUCH A WANKER FUCKING IDIOTIC PIECE OF and Cora is not super interesting, but all the other characters are pretty cool (Vetraaaaa <3).

A lot of the sidequests feel useless but I can give them the benefit of the doubt considering it would have been the first game of the trilogy. It's at least better than Inquisition because the sidequests at least feel like they matter, like they would have an impact somewhere down the line; every Inquisition sidequest immediately makes you feel like it's completely pointless and a way to grind. The sidequests do get worse later on as the game sends you from planet to planet for petty objectives, just hurtling you from loading screen to loading screen (which are insanely long btw. Seriously, all the fucking scenes when landing and taking off made me want to kill myself).

I think the game mainly falters with its main story. It's kind of the same as the original ME trilogy, only kind of blander and more vague. There are interesting twists and cool things the game does getting control of Scott after SAM got turned off was pretty cool but overall, with all the sidequests you do, it's somewhat easy to lose track of urgency and what exactly you were supposed to do. If this game would get its sequels I think people might look back on it a bit more fondly, but I doubt that will happen.

Tl;dr = Andromeda is flawed but not as bad as I expected, great gameplay, eh? story.
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I'm gonna buy as many SNES classics as I can get, and I have no use for them (I already have 4 modded original xboxes that play all the old emulators >_>)

Such a cool device with a pretty decent list of games.
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https://soundcloud.com/the1099/episode-98-mike-laidlaw-on-how-dragon-age-is-made-and-the-probability-of-jade-empire-2

New interview with BioWare's Mike Laidlaw further confirms a new Dragon Age title is in development. He also talks about Jade Empire, specifically that a sequel was in early development at one point a long time ago. They got too busy with Mass Effect and Dragon Age though. He has an idea in his mind on what a Jade Empire sequel could be, but all the core staff for the original are on his team working on the next Dragon Age for now.

The interviewer dropped by GAF afterward and gave some more info.

Thanks for posting/commenting on/listening to my podcast, guys! After talking to Mike, here are some of the main points that stood out:

Actual quote: "It's no secret that we're doing something with Dragon Age. I can't talk about what, but we're certainly involved in something." They're also hiring, so something big is in the works

Jade Empire 2 was, at one time, at least in the concept stage of development. As of now, Dragon Age team is way too busy to make both, but Mike has a clear idea of what that game would look like.

I feel like he knows that Dragon Age II was a bit too tight, while Inquisition was too open at times. Everything points to the new game being just right

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"I feel like he knows that Dragon Age II was a bit too tight, while Inquisition was too open at times. Everything points to the new game being just right."

This doesn't really say anything.
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no, it really doesn't
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I haven't listened to the interview (is there a transcript?) so I can't speak to how accurately that summarizes BioWare's position on Dragon Age, but if that's correct, 1. it's the sort of vague marketing platitude I wish people would dismiss immediately and 2. I don't think that correctly describes criticism for either game? In terms of narrative, Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition suffer the same fate. Dragon Age 2 wasn't "too tight," it had a compelling personal story that never reached its full potential because of a rushed development leading to drastic cuts in scope and world. Inquisition wasn't "too open," it had a compelling large-scale story that never reached its full potential because it was left unfinished, and while the narrative present was fairly interesting, there was very little of it and it was gated behind forces pushing the player to explore the barren open world.

"X Company has learned from their mistakes" isn't an argument we should give time to until after they've shown that to be true. It's not something we should accept while they're developing the next thing and are incentivized to start up the hype machine anew.
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it says they don't really know what they're doing
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yeah. I think if you look at the last 4 BioWare games, you can easily see the conflict between ambition and reality, and the result is disappointment every time. but it'll be different with Anthem!
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Grand order is a gacha with what appears to be, more text and plot than a legend of heroes game.
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in other news there's a PSN sale going on and it seems pretty decent. really bummed that the Steins;Gate 0 sale last week was only for PS4 though. that's something I need to have on my Vita
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Knack for $5!!
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can you really put a price on art
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I can. And that price is lower than $5,
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"At times, playing Valkyria Revolution is like being dragged face-down through the shattered, jagged remnants of something that was once whole and good."

this is how a Valkyria Revolution review starts
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So, not as bad as what the Sonic Franchise became.
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EBGames just gave me $22 for Star Ocean 4 because I traded it for Stormblood. Alright.
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how could you do such a thing
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iiicon posted...

"At times, playing Valkyria Revolution is like being dragged face-down through the shattered, jagged remnants of something that was once whole and good."

this is how a Valkyria Revolution review starts

Sounds promising.
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iiicon posted...

and the result is disappointment every time.

eh, I quite enjoy Inquisition and very much love ME3
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I mean I like those games too, but
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I thought you hated ME3?
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no I was very much in the "ME3 has problems but the ending isn't it" camp with Kleenex
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i like the ME3 ending.

well, one of them.
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Is it the refuse option?
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yup

one of my favourite endings in any game, actually
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what a deal
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So uh, is Hashimoto one of the few names at Square that's still untarnished?
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didn't think i'd spend another 15 hours on route b of nier, but i did because i did another good chunk of the sidequests. some really disturbing ones there. but as for the main plot, things just started getting interesting near the end. started route c just to see how that begins. hmmmmm.

i should probably be done with it this weekend. i hear once it gets going, it'll be real hard to put down the controller. but that's for sunday because saturday is for interacting with actual human beings!

well, i'm gonna be introducing this lady friend to video games. journey and gone home, don't fail me now!
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route C is where the real nier begins
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so i hear! and it looks like i'll be doing that today instead of tomorrow because fuck i got sick yesterday and i'm still recovering. will just have girl over on sunday so she doesn't get infected. should be enough time for me to blaze through nier and process whatever existential dread it'll subject me to.
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