Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Blockio » Sat Mar 27, 2021 12:35 am

Not playing per se, but I've been watching Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney on Youtube the past few days; certainly an interesting one.
SPOILER: Show
It doesn't reach the original trilogy in my opinion, there's a few things that bug me about it. The first two cases are far too errattic and unfocused, never really feeling the part; the third is better for most of it, but still struggles with that. The last case, as per usual, tells a very good story, but the execution is not great. That sudden break in the flow of gameplay and borderline-4th-wall-break doesn't bode well, and somewhat diminishes the overall effect.
I'm also not huge on the whole "every case in this is secretly related to a single old case" thing, but that's just me
I can see why Gendo hired Misato to do the actual commanding. He tried it once and did an appalling job. ~ AWinters
Your point of view is horny, and biased. ~ glitz2hard
What about titty-ten? ~ Reichu
The movies function on their own terms. If people can't accept them on those terms, and keep expecting them to be NGE, then they probably should have realized a while ago that they weren't going to have a good time. ~ Words of wisdom courtesy of Reichu

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Blockio » Wed Mar 31, 2021 10:51 pm

Well, I spent the past handful of days bingewatching Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies on youtube; definitely better than Apollo Justice, I really enjoyed this one. Almost all of the cases are really solid with the final one comfortably settling in as my new third favorite; only real complaint I have is that the higher framerate and detail of the 3d models doesn't always work well with the very stylized poses
I can see why Gendo hired Misato to do the actual commanding. He tried it once and did an appalling job. ~ AWinters
Your point of view is horny, and biased. ~ glitz2hard
What about titty-ten? ~ Reichu
The movies function on their own terms. If people can't accept them on those terms, and keep expecting them to be NGE, then they probably should have realized a while ago that they weren't going to have a good time. ~ Words of wisdom courtesy of Reichu

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby AdamMalkovitch » Sun May 16, 2021 10:31 pm

Been partially forcing myself through Final Fantasy X over the past couple weeks.
SPOILER: Show
I've never hated a game so much while still enjoying parts of it. The characters, world, music, and combat are all great, but fuck, the awful melodramatic anime-ass dialogue, shitty early 2000s mocap animation, and ESPECIALLY the FUCKING TEMPLES, absolutely kill the experience for me. I totally get why people would love this game if they played it when they were in their early teen years or if it were one of their first JRPGs, but man, so much about it just sucks. Which I hate, because what's good about it is REALLY good. I'm digging the themes of hope in the face of hopelessness, and the moral dilemma of ending a life if it's just going to be filled with suffering. The religious themes also hit home with me, both as an EVA fan and as someone who was raised in Christianity, as FFX's world draws a lot of obvious inspiration from Catholicism, with the Lovecraftian evil force of the narrative being straight up named Sin. The water, the baptism symbolism, a hero having to sacrifice themselves to save the world, the Guardians clearly being Disciples, the numerous rebirths Tidus goes through as he's waking up in the water multiple times after being knocked unconscious over the course of the story, hell, even the name Tidus is biblical, it's all SO GOOD. But god damn it there's so much frustrating, lame, poorly designed shit in here I've considered dropping it multiple times. But after the lake scene with Suteki Da Ne playing, I'm determined to finish this shitty masterpiece if it kills me.
and that's why the laughing scene is actually cinematic genius on the level of Citizen Kane.

I dunno, maybe I've been spoiled by Xenoblade 1 and Final Fantasy VII. I think this game needed a remake way more than VII,
SPOILER: Show
and I mean an ACTUAL remake and not some clusterfuck reimagining with converging timelines and shit with "Remake" slapped on the box to sell more copies. I still think that's a scummy bullshit move.
*injects Angel blood* I know what the fuck an EVA is now :)

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Blockio » Thu May 20, 2021 4:30 pm

Went out on a whim and did the final couple of siequests in Skylanders Imaginators today that were still missing for the 100%; technically still not quite there, missing one character-specific set, but the file says 100, and for the moment that's good enough.
I can see why Gendo hired Misato to do the actual commanding. He tried it once and did an appalling job. ~ AWinters
Your point of view is horny, and biased. ~ glitz2hard
What about titty-ten? ~ Reichu
The movies function on their own terms. If people can't accept them on those terms, and keep expecting them to be NGE, then they probably should have realized a while ago that they weren't going to have a good time. ~ Words of wisdom courtesy of Reichu

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Xenoblade » Thu May 20, 2021 6:54 pm

View Original PostAdamMalkovitch wrote:I dunno, maybe I've been spoiled by Xenoblade 1 and Final Fantasy VII. I think this game needed a remake way more than VII,
SPOILER: Show
and I mean an ACTUAL remake and not some clusterfuck reimagining with converging timelines and shit with "Remake" slapped on the box to sell more copies. I still think that's a scummy bullshit move.



Gotta disagree on FFX needing a remake, I think the ports it's received since 2013 have been perfectly serviceable, and as a PS2 game it's a lot less rough around the edges than an early-mid PS1 game. Locations like the Forgotten City and Costa Del Sol were crying out for a remake, imo.

Regardless, commercial considerations played a part in the FFVIIR project, no question about it. It's the top Final Fantasy instalment of all, commercially and in terms of mind-share. Plus some of the important members of the original project are still there but are getting long in the tooth. It was now or never and I'm glad they remade VII. It was overdue if anything.
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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby AdamMalkovitch » Fri May 21, 2021 4:00 pm

View Original PostXenoblade wrote:Gotta disagree on FFX needing a remake, I think the ports it's received since 2013 have been perfectly serviceable, and as a PS2 game it's a lot less rough around the edges than an early-mid PS1 game. Locations like the Forgotten City and Costa Del Sol were crying out for a remake, imo.

After "finishing" FFX [see: giving up after dying to
SPOILER: Show
Yunalesca
and realizing I'd be forced to rewatch roughly 7 minutes of cutscene just for another chance and went to youtube] I think it's too much of a trainwreck to be salvaged even if drastically reworked. The awful, melodramatic anime dialogue, sphere grid, and linearity... even if someone modded a way to skip cutscenes, it's just so draining and lengthy feeling despite only being about 45-50 hours even for someone who had to grind just to get as far as I did because I suck at these games. I didn't feel any real connection with the characters, a few scenes were emotional, sure, but nothing compared to the nostalgia of EarthBound, the goosebumps of Kingdom Hearts, the power and beauty of Xenoblade... I'll probably wait a while before trying another Final Fantasy, I cheated my way through 7 using the boosters in the switch release. I'm still getting into the genre, so everything feels so slow and complicated, especially after growing up loving simple stuff like Sonic or Metroid. I'm sure I'll build more patience and tolerance for the more traditional games in the JRPG genre, but FFX really got me feeling burnt-out.
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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Xenoblade » Fri May 21, 2021 4:51 pm

View Original PostAdamMalkovitch wrote:the power and beauty of Xenoblade...


Tell me something I don't know :wink:
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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby AdamMalkovitch » Fri May 21, 2021 9:16 pm

On the topic of FFX, and since I've already invaded the Final Fantasy topic I'll just post it here-

SPOILER: Show
There's one thing I never understood about the story- if Sin comes back after being defeated, why not constantly be training and sending out summoners and guardians during that time? Have a whole ass army of em who've completed their pilgrimage and are just standing by ready to kick Sin's ass whenever Yu Yevon regenerates it. Hell, have 3 or 4 summoners and their groups of guardians be stationed in each area of Spira so it can be dealt with the second it pops up. That way, people can just live normally and do whatever and their cities can get huge and they can use Machina and Sin will only have a tiny chance of even causing one disaster.

Also, it's super weird how Lulu and Wakka comment how Tidus looks exactly like Wakka's late brother, but the plot point is dropped so quick. Maybe it's meant to be a red herring, but with all the death and people being able to reappear when unsent, and how Chappu was killed fighting Sin, I was sure it would be revealed that Tidus was a reincarnation of Chappu or that Tidus is a fiend formed of Chappu when he wasn't able to kill Sin and remained unsent. Hell, Rikku and her salvage team mistake Tidus for a fiend at first when they encounter him in the ruins near the start of the game, was the story rushed or something?

I also think Seymour was a massive missed opportunity. His entire thesis is, "if your life is painful, you should end it", and that ties in really, really well with the themes of the story, hope in the face of hopelessness. But, Seymour brings this up so late in the story that you don't get much time to think about it, and the party members never even discuss it, unless you count Tidus telling Yuna she could just give up and run away to Dream Zanarkand with him.
*injects Angel blood* I know what the fuck an EVA is now :)

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Blockio » Sat May 22, 2021 7:33 pm

Coincidentally to the ongoing discussion, I borrowed Xenoblade from a friend of mine and started playing it; so far 6 hours in and just done with the prologue. I feel like my estimate of 200 hours might be a bit sporty given my terminal sidequest addiction
I can see why Gendo hired Misato to do the actual commanding. He tried it once and did an appalling job. ~ AWinters
Your point of view is horny, and biased. ~ glitz2hard
What about titty-ten? ~ Reichu
The movies function on their own terms. If people can't accept them on those terms, and keep expecting them to be NGE, then they probably should have realized a while ago that they weren't going to have a good time. ~ Words of wisdom courtesy of Reichu

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Xenoblade » Sat May 22, 2021 8:49 pm

View Original PostBlockio wrote:Coincidentally to the ongoing discussion, I borrowed Xenoblade from a friend of mine and started playing it; so far 6 hours in and just done with the prologue. I feel like my estimate of 200 hours might be a bit sporty given my terminal sidequest addiction


Could be. X might be a bit briefer in terms of story content, but 1 and 2 are each about 70-80 hours if you skip most side quests. If you do all the side content you can really stretch it if you'd like, but if it burns you out just go for the goal. As long as you're reasonably levelled-up and have a good party setup you'll be fine. Enjoy it. It only gets better as you go on and experience the twists and turns.

Along with The Last Story, Xenoblade renewed my faith in JRPGs back in the day.
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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Blockio » Sun May 23, 2021 1:18 pm

Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to more of it, had quite a lot of fun so far.
I can see why Gendo hired Misato to do the actual commanding. He tried it once and did an appalling job. ~ AWinters
Your point of view is horny, and biased. ~ glitz2hard
What about titty-ten? ~ Reichu
The movies function on their own terms. If people can't accept them on those terms, and keep expecting them to be NGE, then they probably should have realized a while ago that they weren't going to have a good time. ~ Words of wisdom courtesy of Reichu

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby hui43210 » Sun May 23, 2021 6:26 pm

All this talk about Xenoblade and here I am playing Xenogears. :lol:
I mean, predictability is the central attraction and the narrative hook that we've all come to expect from the Evangelion franchise. How come Anno can't realize this? Twice? - FreakyFilmFan4ever

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Postby Xenoblade » Mon May 24, 2021 1:50 pm

View Original Posthui43210 wrote:All this talk about Xenoblade and here I am playing Xenogears. :lol:


Excellent, you're where the Xeno legacy began. It's always good to check out (or return to) the origin story. Everything is proceeding as planned:

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby hui43210 » Mon May 24, 2021 9:41 pm

View Original PostXenoblade wrote:
View Original Posthui43210#923474 wrote:All this talk about Xenoblade and here I am playing Xenogears. :lol:


Excellent, you're where the Xeno legacy began. It's always good to check out (or return to) the origin story. Everything is proceeding as planned:

Image


Ya this is a return for me. I played it back in 2017, but it quickly shot up to one of top 3 favorite games of all time. Didn't think I'd be able to recapture the same feeling as watching NGE for the first time, but this game did it for me. And I have since played both Chronicles games and both have since become among my favorite games. X wasn't for me though, wasn't really into the setting and story of that, but it's purely a personal taste thing rather than anything wrong with the game itself. I still need to find time to actually play the Xenosaga games, they look really good.
I mean, predictability is the central attraction and the narrative hook that we've all come to expect from the Evangelion franchise. How come Anno can't realize this? Twice? - FreakyFilmFan4ever

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Postby Xenoblade » Tue May 25, 2021 1:53 pm

View Original Posthui43210 wrote:
View Original PostXenoblade#923532 wrote:
Excellent, you're where the Xeno legacy began. It's always good to check out (or return to) the origin story. Everything is proceeding as planned:

Image


Ya this is a return for me. I played it back in 2017, but it quickly shot up to one of top 3 favorite games of all time. Didn't think I'd be able to recapture the same feeling as watching NGE for the first time, but this game did it for me. And I have since played both Chronicles games and both have since become among my favorite games. X wasn't for me though, wasn't really into the setting and story of that, but it's purely a personal taste thing rather than anything wrong with the game itself. I still need to find time to actually play the Xenosaga games, they look really good.


I can't choose a favourite! They definitely take three different routes to their final destination.

Xenoblade Chronicles is more of a traditional JRPG in some ways, I think. It hooks you in with a green expanse that doesn't hint at the full extent of the sci-fi elements it has. A lot is revealed as the game progresses.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is very sci-fi and basically involves a shipwreck in space. I loved New Los Angeles and Elma and I found the open world of the game to be of the highest calibre in the series, but I know it can't be everyone's favourite setting.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 hits you with intense amounts of anime sauce one probably wasn't expecting. It draws many in that way, and spooks others, but personally I think it was done skilfully and you seem to agree. The sci-fi elements find their way in carefully, just like in the original Xenoblade Chronicles.

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I hope Monolith's mysterious new project is revealed soon. It's going to be the bee's knees.
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Postby hui43210 » Tue May 25, 2021 4:28 pm

I admit having played Chronicles 2 before the first Chronicles, I actually liked it a bit more than the first which I played when the definitive version came out. I found 2's goofy cast of characters very lovable and I have a stronger attachment to that game as a result. I wouldn't be surprised however if I played Chronicles back on the Wii in 2010, it be my favorite. First experiences can leave a very strong impression on you.
I mean, predictability is the central attraction and the narrative hook that we've all come to expect from the Evangelion franchise. How come Anno can't realize this? Twice? - FreakyFilmFan4ever

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Postby AdamMalkovitch » Tue May 25, 2021 5:00 pm

View Original PostBlockio wrote:Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to more of it, had quite a lot of fun so far.

One thing that kind of brings Xenoblade 1 down a bit is that there's a way to cheese pretty much any enemy in the game but you're never explicitly told you can do it, and you HAVE to do it in order to beat a certain spoilery boss about 2/3rds of the way through the story otherwise he just kills your whole party super quick. But then there's still a giant chunk of game left after that boss so you just use that dominant strategy to just cheese every single boss or high level enemy that follows. I'd still much rather replay Xenoblade 1 for a 3rd time than play the confusing mediocre mess that is Xenoblade X, or the anime cliche ecchi harem where one of your party members is a pedophile and it's played for laughs in Xenoblade 2

Found a Japanese copy of Burning Rangers at a local shop that does imports today, it's sick as hell to finally have a real copy. I did hope that there would be a bit less input lag playing on real hardware as opposed to the SSF emulator, but it's still pretty fun. Surprised to recognize the Japanese voice of Tillis- it's Asuka!
*injects Angel blood* I know what the fuck an EVA is now :)

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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Monarch » Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:16 am

The only game that I’ve played at all in the past year is the new Monster Hunter.
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Re: Currently Playing 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!

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Postby Alaska Slim » Sat Nov 06, 2021 8:27 am

I *mysteriously* acquired a PS5.

I'm playing Mechawrrier V: Mercenaries on it. The game captures pretty well the heft and the feel of control a lumbering, ~50 ton mech, which is not doing the fancy, in-air maneuvers of your average Gundam. This is a walking tank. And I like it that way.

The Galaxy map is expansive, it feels pretty great to have the freedom to set my course wherever I like (money allowing) within the Inner Sphere, striking up battles for any faction. It's the true realization of what the far more on-rails missions of Mercenaries 4 could only imply.

It's not a dynamic map; you don't affect where the borders are. That makes sense, given that you're just 1 lance of 4 mechs; battles lore-wise commit 1,000s, but it'd be nice if we could have some sort of impact. The map does change over time, but that's just according to lore-events. Nothing gameplay generated.

The addition of Mech variants is also something I'm really digging; now if there was a particular mech that was a dedicated laser-bot that you'd rather was a gunslinger, this game opens that possibility.

As an aside, I find myself mesmerized by the odd cadence of the (Waelsh?) accent of my XO, she always has a pause after a few lines, like she's searching for the next thing to say. Overall, she does do her job well, but you can tell the voice acting isn't where the money went in this game.


Disappointments:

* We only have 1 lance, Mechwarrior 4 let you have 2.

* No Bushwacker, but the campaign is pre-Clan invasion, so it's lore correct. Meh.
It's also why I can't find ER PPCs...

* They do have the Warhammer, which I'm surprised by. Isn't that one of the Unseen? Didn't Harmony Gold sue over that one, specifically?
But I think their rights expired, so... **** them. Banzai more mechs.
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Postby ::KL7:: » Sun Nov 28, 2021 11:58 am

God of War - Been sitting on this one for a while (since my birthday 2 years ago). Finally got out of my funk of only playing battle Royale games. So far it’s been good. Still to early to tell, but loving the gameplay, even though it’s a bit different then the original games.

Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword - I usually love anything LoZ related, but this game is hard to get into. Granted it’s still early on but even just watching the way Link runs throws me off on this game. I’ll stick with it and probably end up enjoying it.

Star fox 64 via Nintendo online - Been replaying this game over and over just like I did in my youth, trying to remember how to unlock all the routes without looking online for tips. I’m happy with how this game still holds up and along with the other games included, was definitely worth the extra price for the n64/sega subscription.
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