HandsomeDead

I got one shot by a random enemy after spending ages in Tartarus 🙃 It's still P3 alright. I think I got too comfortable because at the point where I'm at it's where enemies have Hama and Mudo, light and dark instant kill moves. They've added new light and dark moves to Reloaded that just do damage and I've yet to see an enemy with Hama/Mudo. But physical attacks while you have status ailments are still an absolute run killer it seems

I was pretty close to just bumping the old thread because man, is this Persona 3. I'm sure there are plenty that want a remake as faithful as this but I was more on the side of using the opportunity to take a second run at it and tighten it up a bit and improve some of the story of the game. There are quite a few changes to the dungeon crawling element, a lot of additions in presentation and mechanics such as the ability to pass a turn to another party member after hitting a weak spot which makes the game easier. But I was a bit disappointed with the AI party members since there are less tactics than the original and they don't use the new mechanics. Just for nostalgia's sake I tried to play it the old way but it's so not optimal. It just seems to be thoughtlessly added and it's clear they're really expecting people to play it with direct control of the party. I just always thought it was cool to be the leader of an autonomous group and it's just faster too. But oh well! Bosses haven't really been touched very much either, mechanically, despite those getting quite a bit better in later games is a big missed opportunity too. Other difference is it obviously looks better... actually, I dunno, it doesn't have the creepiness of the original to me, something to do with some of the colour grading maybe. Looking too clean isn't hitting quite right. More of the game is voice acted, I think it might be a little rewritten but I'd have to look at side by sides to be sure but it's mostly the same stuff happening and even acted out the same way. I'm not new to this game but I think to someone that is or is coming from Persona 5 it's still gonna feel like an older iteration despite the new coat of paint. It's still one of my favourite games, and I've barely stopped playing it but it's my fault, I did at one point dream of a game that felt like a sequel to P5 but with P3's story and it isn't that. It's P3 with some modern concessions.

The things I really like about TLoU2 is the original ended on a much discussed, grey moral quandary in terms of character motivation at least and what the sequel I think does pretty well is have moments like that more consistently weaved throughout the game's runtime. I don't see it as a means to an end I see these moments as the point. The focus is on these individual characters and what motivates them to do what they do, and I think it's compelling with it. And I wish everyone did know an eye for an eye is a bad way to approach things but it just isn't true due to the massive elephant in the room in regards to the game's inspiration.

I don't think it's the stupidity that is annoying, though it's part of it. A lot of it is stoked by culture war folks and these reactionary criticisms are often very loaded, insincere and weaponised usually coming from people trying to build a certain audience. Regular people could be being sincere but it becomes hard to tell. It usually results in people digging their heals in and being incurious as well. I know it shouldn't put me off talking about TLoU or anything else but I do more and more find myself backing into the bushes like Homer Simpson because of this shit.

Yeah, I've been looking into them. They have a very blatant Hollow Knight clone too. They just seem hackey as hell but got some traction with the "lol, Pokémon with guns" game, which on its own is fine but like I said in the MS thread it's tied to dev lead by an AI art simp so combine that with their derivative games it doesn't look good. I know it can be a hard thing to differentiate between heart on it's sleeve inspiration and cynical plagiarism in these cases but all things considered I'm getting the latter from Palworld.

@Nag Switch 2 announcement in the summer for November release and MP4 and new Mario are launch games. I'm having a gamble to make it more exciting

I don't think I mind the Pokémon remix designs as doing that while making an earnest satirical game is fine in my book but that doesn't seem to be what the game is. It's the developer's CEO being ride or die for AI art and their games being so derivative really leaves a sour taste.

Yeah, I play older games from time to time, some are still, and forever will be really cool. Games are so based around technology, more so than other mediums, especially on the user side. It's less of an issue on the PC but it is the console side of things that make keeping the games you bought unplayable. I don't think it started by design but even when you make these systems backwards compatible there's still IP law. Its like we're just trying to work around the way the industry has structured itself over time, and there's definitely those within it now just trying to make things worse. I suppose for the average gamer this stuff isn't really that important but for developers, journalists/critics, maybe even content creators a more accessible history for research purposes is really important for the culture around games. But having these companies be the stewards it makes gamers so beholden to them and has us asking for remasters and remakes because it feels like the only way to keep games alive in the context we're in. But it's not the solution and an expansion of the public domain and an overhaul of IP law is what's actually needed.

Get your counter picks in lads 😊

I don't know at what level it has been implemented and if it can go under the radar but it's more than there is a stink around this I don't like. Don't know if there is anything actionable.

Uh oh I have Palworld downloading but I might just leave it but it's probably gonna become common isn't it? 😩

Who has the Uncle Who Works at Nintendo?

I'm not even the biggest fan of these games but it's just alarming thinking of the idea that yet again there could be a game arbitrarily decided to be "the bad one" despite it being pretty par for the course. Like another Forspoken. Maybe it has always been a problem with Obsidian that they always work within well trod ground, not doing the technical ground breaking stuff but it's been the case a few times their games have more lasting appeal. But none of us have any real idea how it'll be in the end. Maybe a Pillars 3 was the right choice instead of this. Speculating over pre-release trailers is just hot air.

Considering how Cyberpunk and Starfield's gameplay trailers shown a game that looks like it's Titanfall or something by presenting it's combat in a way that isn't representative of what 99% of the game is gonna be I think Avowed actually looked very representative of what games like this are actually like. I'd rather not be begging to be mislead. And not resting all their fantasy stuff in the Elder Scrolls basket is good, actually. It's a sad state we're in if a game that functionally looks to offer and Elder Scrolls like experience but can't get over the lack of that branding on the box.

I think if they meaningfully pull off "it's fantasy New Vegas" they might get interest but it's hard to show that and might require some post release word of mouth.

From the trailer it's named after a circle linking a bunch of ancient monuments so I think it should be called something cool like Indiana Jones and the Link to the Past.

I guess I thought Senua's Sacrifice was a smaller, digital game out of necessity because Ninja Theory were on the ropes during that time. I'd wrongly assumed the next game would be Senua realised into something bigger now they have the opportunity to. But it seems to be a game with the same scope as the original so I guess they are selling it using a similar strategy. I feel like I've seen Senua's Sacrifice on a shelf before, but I suppose that may have come later than the initial release. That's seems less likely to happen now but I dunno, I'm not Michael Pachter.

Is this the bone they threw MS after saying they still can't have Final Fantasy?

I'm mostly happy it has a date for FC 🙂 Looks nice in a grim way. Just looking forward to it coming out at this point.

Looks really Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay like. I guess Tomb Raider is what I think of in this genre and it doesn't seem like that. Looks smaller scale. I hope the exploring and puzzles are a good standard, and it's important that whip feels good to use. If that's covered I can see me having a really good time with it. Also, Troy Baker is showing up again as Indy.

Developer Direct '24 for those interested

Yeah, I replaced the sticks a couple of times and it's an easy enough thing to do. But the problem is just the kind of sticks they use and you're just stuck in the process of replacing them every 6 months to a year. I stopped bothering and use third party controller dock thing with proper analogue sticks.

I got round to seeing John Wick 4 and I really liked it. I was worried about the run time but it passed nicely. I maybe should have watched the third one too because I've only seen it once and memory holed it a bit so while it's mostly self contained there were some threads I got lost on. The end of an era, and I did find it really satisfying. I also watched The Killer and I dunno how I feel about it. I thought it was a dark comedy half the time and other times it felt it was playing 100% straight. Then I wondered if the stuff I found funny was on purpose or not and by the end I didn't figure it out. I'm sure it must be darkly funny with the assassin being so self serious and pretentious yet he keeps fucking up, but then why the other stuff? I'm just going round in circles, and was while watching it too.

They've already published games on the Switch and PS4 (Minecraft, Ori), and I guess this is spurred in by rumours(?) that Hi-Fi Rush is also coming to other systems. I don't think they'll do that with their marquis titles but I guess they'll do it if it suits them. But yeah, I guess maybe they'd prefer to be a service than a manufacturer but I dunno about a traditional third party.

Yeah, I think it assumes knowledge of Crisis Core too, or the FF7 extended universe generally. I get the sense all that stuff is going to play out really differently. So playing the original first is the only way to get that twist in a satisfying way. In any situation it's always best to experience a series the order they came out, there's never a time that's not the case.