#doesnt have the same replayability

[arlathen]

if you had told me back in like July that a week after veilguard came out id be back to modding skyrim. i would not believe you.

[scarletfire03]

Ive been playing skylanders giants again recently and ive noticed something really interesting about the way skylanders level

Leveling up doesnt change how strong you are at all. Level 1 or level 15 will both deal the same damage. The only thing that changes is how much damage you can take.

You can get stronger via other things like heroic challenges, upgrades and hats but every skylander can do those at any level

I think this makes for an extremely replayable game because strong enemies dont become weaker due to your high level and you still have to fight properly

It also means that when you have friends to play with it doesnt matter what level skylander either of you has

Its honestly a very balanced system and i kind of want to see such a system in an rpg because we really need to step away from the whole traditional levelling system anyway.

[spamtonromantic]

FNAF fan game recommendation post

alllright, im a big fan of scrolling the fnaf tag on gamejolt, so i thought, hey! why not recommend some of the games ive played from there? maybe someone else will enjoy them!

before i start, i will preface with i have no idea if any of these are popular or well known, im simply sharing them because i enjoyed them

Entry 1 : Tealerland

Tealerland is, by far, one of my favorite FNAF fan games. while it isnt close to typical fnaf fan games at all - i enjoy that fact about it a lot. this was my first FNAF fan game, and it was definitely refreshing. the game itself takes place in a run down carnival, which was the first thing to catch my eye. it doesnt take place in any sort of diner at all! its characters are all appropriately carnival themed as well, along with an exclusion of any "too humanoid" animatronics (ie blank (fnac), something i dislike in fnaf fan games.) the gameplay is as well both new at still familiar. while you do use a computer and sit in an office, you have two other areas you can roam to-but only two, retaining that classic FNAF feel of being a sitting duck.

the mechanics are also quite easy to understand and digest, alongside a very handy guidebook detailing the animatronics mechanics being something you can read when you arent in game. this guidebook, as well as the bonus content (models, and old versions of the game) was what really made me love this game. it showed that the creator cared about it a lot, and its super well polished. not to mention -- if you find the game too easy, theres optional hard versions of every hour (or night). this gives the game quite a bit of replayability in my eyes! id say out of everything here, if youre new to FNAF fan games, this one is a great pick. not too hard, not too easy (if you choose so), and a fresh experience.

Entry 2 : The Return To Bloody Nights

The Return To Bloody Nights is a very faithful-to-the-older-games FNAF (prequel) fangame. It all takes place in an office in Fredbears Diner, but has plentiful quality of life and animations to breath some life into the game. If I had to praise only one thing about this game? Id say its the animations. Animatronics are animated while in the camera, they jump onto the screen if you flash them in the doorway, and so many more tiny details that i adore. The audio is also immaculate -- Red herrings left and right just like FNAF 1 and 2, unsettling stings when an animatronic appears, and even voicelines from one of the animatronics to make you nervous. It definitely isn't as easy as Tealerland, but, thats its charm. Its like FNAF proper! I cant even get past the fourth night in FNAF 1, its only fitting im stuck on the same level with TRTBN. But even though Im stuck, I adore this game to bits.

Entry 3 : Chica's Party World : REBAKED

The style of Chicas Party World is what caught my attention fast. Low poly PS1-esque graphics? Sign me the fuck up. And then, upon downloading, realizing it has amazing voice acting and a great environment? Hell yes. You dont even play as a security guard, youre a security droid! I havent gotten too far in this game yet, but it has captivated me. I also enjoy that the animatronics arent just "(x) freddy" or "(y) bonnie", they have actual names that really help separate them from just "freddy to the left".

Honorary mention! A Bite At Freddys - I havent played this one personally, only seen playthroughs, but I enjoy ABAF a lot. Its challenge oriented, which is why I havent played it yet, but hey, if you like challenges, itd be right up your alley!

[candysharkart]

I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR EVERYBODY RESPAWNS AU VERY BADLY

thank u for your interest :)! sorry this got kinda longwinded i think. i never write stuff down lol…….

okay sooo i basically wanted an excuse to think about jack being alive post-canon, but i figured if u bring back the guy who had it coming its only fair to bring back other characters who should not have beefed it. and so! the best option seemed like the new-U system! i know they're just a game mechanic thats not supposed to be taken literally but if they're not gonna use it i am lol.

(putting all this under a cut)

roland not respawning after jack kills him in bl2 is kinda weird since he defs uses new-Us in bl1, but i could see jack using a jammer or some chump shit to interrupt the process. maya n lilith's deaths happen in ways were i……. get that they wouldnt respawn but their data could be still in the system somewhere. i also think non-vault hunter npc like scooter would have at least fast traveled once (most of the fast travels are also hyperion? i think? they feel like the same tech) so they might also have digistruct data. sometimes the system trips up, or u cant pay the fee ect ect, and u dont respawn, but ur up there! backed up in the damn cloud or some nonsense.

wilhelm, nisha, n aurelia are all perma-killed in canon, but are replayable fights, so TECHNICALLY they kind of are respawning they're just………… stuck. the new-U puts them back together but they cant move on for some reason. some goes for a lot of the other infinitely respawning bosses/enemies.

so the catalyst for this au now that bl3 is out is that post-canon, tannis is training her siren powers by shifting thru hyperion's systems, she decides familiarizing herself with the new-U system might be useful when she uncovers all these backed up and malfunctioning respawns, and realizes that if she just like. refreshes the system, all these people might come back. she consults with the other raiders about her findings, n that she probably COULD pick and choose profiles to revive their friends but not their enemies, but tannis is trying to AVOID playing god these days thank u very much.

ultimately they all want their friends back too much to pass up the opportunity and have tannis go thru with it. everybody respawns!! everybody gets a lot of confused echo-messages!! everybody cries!! the crimson raiders are reunited!!!

(this is the part where i talk abt jack and angel's respawns bc they're. specific.)

jack not respawning at a new-U is kinda weird with the context that he like. owns them? it tracks that he thought he was too good to need them, but hes also very paranoid, so what if he had his set up different? a failsafe in the Very Unlikely Event something happens to him, where instead of the nearest new-U, he's respawned at a station in a saferoom somewhere where he can be in immediate control of the situation again. it also tracks that he was very confident he could keep angel safe, but again. what if the very very worst happens? angel's respawn is set to be something only jack can activate, but he has to do it manually so no one else can get to her first. his ego was too big to see any flaws with this!

he doesnt think about the chance that something happening to angel while she's so deeply ingrained in hyperion's systems might mess stuff up. so when she dies, the saferoom goes dark, and jack's too far gone to notice. he's going to win the day and revive his daughter into the better, safer world he's going to build. this does not happen, he dies and his data has no new-U to go to so it just sits there. until tannis resets the system, which powers his saferoom up and spits him out. a new-U glitch he didnt care enough about to have anyone patch interrupts the reconstruction process and he loses his arm to it. he manages enough first aid to not just die again, and finally respawns angel, hoping she'll help him.

after respawning, once angel is able to get her bearings, she's devastated by the idea that jack won, but quickly realizes he DIDNT and he's very hurt and weak right now and this is her CHANCE. but she cant bring herself to kill him she wants to so badly but she just. cant go through with it. but she sure as shit can pistol whip him, collar him, and march him straight to the crimson raiders. once she finds them.

(there are some other specifics we have about this au, and lots we havent figured out yet but this post is already so long im sorry……..)

[symonynii]

m+l brothership finished! thots (spoilers included)

the new team is very clearly still finding their feet when it comes to getting into the spirit of rpgs. its a good game! a long game! worth the price! but not thematically identical to the previous m+ls. which is ok! interesting to see! but i hope they improve on their next work.

lots of little details! zokkets troops heal you when you free them from being reclusa's minion. youre not allowed to go into an island's center without a disguise bc bowser took it over and spread propaganda against you (while also improving the quality of life of the people who lived there). theres little lab sections that have loads of lore bits. the side quests were all super fun and a good way to flesh out characters. chippy mention. peasly mention. crafting system was simple and compact which was exactly what i would want from a mario game. theres little alternate paths you can take during the main story that add to replayability. very very fun.

theres also lots of little things that they overlooked. you press a to make luigi attack (and then you need to press b for the actual action, which is confusing and anti-ergonomical). you still get a level beep on the stats screen after you reach max rank. luigi pathfinding was weird and hard to get used to (i get that they needed it, but compared to when we had direct control over him, making mario be the main avatar (enemies hitting luigi in the overworld dont even matter! they only need to hit mario to start a fight!) feels really watered down.) theres SO much they could have expanded on with zokket cosette the corps and arc. i LOVE the IDLE kids but at some point they just started repeating the same things over and over again instead of focusing on other characters. another few months of polish and qol would have made this game an all-star.

theyd introduce these guys and then theyd just either disappear or become irrelevant. arc was super important until halfway through ocean 2. bowser appeared after ocean 2 (and was weirdly hostile compared to the other rpgs, which was no fun. they could have been more creative there) and then disappeared after we kicked his ass until the end of the game. buddy and bowser jr are literally inaccessible between interactions and we have no idea what theyre doing. i feel like they could have pared down the characters a bit and been able to make them shine a bit more. combine arc and buddy. make bowser more willing to be at least a neutral player in terms of getting everyone home. no notes on any of the mushroom kingdoms characterization tho they were all 100%. starlow could have been a bit meaner but bowser and co were delightfully stupid and blunt and kind. genuinely teared up at jr and buddys goodbye.

EDIT: just remembered that bowsers first fight was REALLY REALLY GOOD. like the best rpg bowser fight period. love that he brings in minions. love his pissed second half. love the tail swing attack. its the greatest. look it up its good

they were clever with the names! it took me HOURS to figure most of them out. literally half way through the game i was like oh haha! wattanist! like botanist! funny!

luigi logic is weird. cute! but you dont need a cutscene to show him trying to jump over a wall. thats not The World Resonating With Him hes just being silly

they could have cut out like 20 mins of cutscenes by getting rid of redundant flashbacks. im not talking abt actual shit the player doesnt know abt i mean shit weve seen like a half hr ago and they wanted to show us again bc they think we forgot. i saw the uni-tree sooo many times during the start of the game and was SICK of it.

i did like the idea of islands! they made each one a different adventure! theres a mystery! a platformer! a rhythm game! lots of puzzles! fishing games! very fun! but not a lot really went into the OCEAN part of it. i feel like a lot of this came from pmtok (including monster designs and a few of the final music themes) which did it much much better. i also think it would have been a bit more impactful if the world didnt go back to exactly the same after they put the unitree in place. people are going to have lasting impacts from all of this! maybe everything is still separate and concordia becomes an archipelago. the world is changed for both better and worse!! show it!!!

character design was good? very fun to see technology and nature motifs together. but it also feels pretty similar to dream team without the diversity. theres three different default npc designs when there was at least 15 in dream team

music was pretty bland. theres only like three or four boss themes total. corps didnt get a theme. zokket didnt get a theme. glohm bosses didnt get a theme. the lighthouse boss theme was DECENT but its not applicable to endgame shit!!!

speaking of bosses you never knew when one was gonna appear. you only had two bosses in the first sea and then they were happening like every 20 mins of game play in the last sea. nooo consistency here

the great conductors character could have been pushed more. he could have been more like the zeekeeper (a complete asshole). he didnt need to spoil the zokket/cosette thing. he didnt need to say Oh Reclusa Exploited Her Weak Heart and then refuse to elaborate. we know hes got Problems but he needs more honestly

i feel... nothing towards snoutlet. hes a watered down starlow. it could have easily been starlow except for a little plot device that he had. he talked sooo much when he didnt need to. he tried to be sarcastic but wasnt sarcastic enough. we could have had our MeanGirl orb but we didnt. i want my mean orb

i love you connie. my poor little girl. i love you

the extension corps. ooouugh the extension corps. where do i begin on the extension corps. 1) they should all have had individual boss fights. ten had one early game and then we fought them all together at the end. they showed up every two islands and we only fought them twice (and the second battle was pretty scripted). theres literally no reason for this. 2) they each had a lighthouse boss monster. did they create them? we dont know. why did they follow zokket? we dont know. why did they decide to help people so quick after their desertion? we dont know. was it funny? yeah. was it cute? absolutely. is them beating the shit out of each other for not washing their hands after pissing hilarious? yes!!!! (it was also sooo funny that at the end they were like Forcing People To Be Alone Is Bad... girlll you literally hit some random kid with the Alone Beam. you were THE person forcing people to be alone. when did you decide this was bad) (it actually was very cute asking around the island they set up at. everyones forgiven them. ppl think they look weird but theyve done a lot of manual work shoveling snow and stuff and it was really appreciated bc most everyone was taken by reclusa so theyre like heres some ice cream! we'll leave you alone and be nice to you and forgive you completely! the term "helping during a labor shortage" is used like three times. they went and decided to be part of a community. very cute) we could have had more though. we didnt need a TON but a little more would have been nice

(theres these like. two artists that have made up this really detailed backstory for all three of them where theyre all disabled and it comes with this huge examination of concordia biology and they did gijinkas where ones got a feeding tube and ones got a wheelchair and ones got joint problems.... SO cool. i love it. me giving lugina heart problems induced by stress🤝these guys making the robot butch and running her over with a car)

reclusa didnt really... hit for me either. something about it being so overdesigned and Loud when it spent 85% of the game in an egg felt weird. its also supposed to have destroyed multiple worlds before this one and yet it still follows the design rules of people who live in concordia. something a bit more weird. a bit more simple. a bit less undertale. a bit more childish. a bit more foreshadowing. its such a stark turn from zokket as a final boss that it kind of turned me off it.

the reclusa horror part could have also been pushed a little more. its really really good! the slightly distorted mushroom kingdom theme was GREAT! it just felt like. a bit juvenile. make me in charge of the psychological horror mario game. ill do it better. i can make you worse

hmmmmm. what else what else. level scaling was pretty good. graphics were gorgeous (i still think they dont need to be this good but whatever). normally in m+l the npcs are really funny and witty and it took a long long time for that to happen here and it never really reaches the same level. oh well.

if you take your time and enjoy the experience this is def a lovely game. dont rush it. talk to everyone. do the side quests. admire the art. this isnt a really deep story but its nice. having a bunch of save slots is nice. fun game! a nice intro to m+l! not 100% but def not as bad as the official reviews say

[everythingyouwilllistento]

EXPLANATION OF MY RATINGS

so my rating system is a little complex so i thought to just explain it with some albums or singles that usually pop up as examples for my two metrics: quality and replay.

my whole score is tallied up to 110 in total. my favorite album of a year could be a total of 110, but not guaranteed as any album that floored me could even be just a 100.

quality and replay each have a score of up to 10 that are reflected in the tens and ones place: tens being quality | ones being replay value | | \/\/ 79 -- EXAMPLE SCORE OF "Get Off The Internet" by Eliminate

however, the only exception is no album can have a 10 for replay value if the album's quality is below a 10. that's my only rule and its only there bc it kinda fucks up the rating system if for example, a quality is 8 and replay is 10, bc i dont want anyone to get the impression of a 90 that way.

with that out of the way, here's some examples of the extremes and regular scores i do for album or song rankings!

To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar

Epitome of a 110 example. every song bangs, kendrick's entire career has led up to this point, and has impacted culture in such a way that i dont think the world would be the same without it. not every song on this album is a 110/110, but this whole album feels incomplete without playing every song in a row.

110/110

TOTAL XANARCHY - Lil Xan

there is nothing of value of this project and the world would be better without it. all songs probably qualify for a 0/110. i havent even thought about lil xan since this album exited my ears. didnt he overdose on hot cheetos or something

0/110

Angelic 2 the Core - Corey Feldman

theres something so hilarious about an album so bad, it becomes floating in the rotation so often. yea you know what, i will listen to that terrible dubstep track with snoop dogg on it again.

9/110

A Crow Looked at Me - Mount Eerie

on the opposite of being so good and replayable, this album is my first example of something so impactful that i could not listen to it again. every song hits so hard and emotionally that wanting to go back and listen sounds like a pilgrimage i could never endure again. never think an album with a high quality rating yet low replay value is bad!

101/110

La Cucaracha - Ween

for more examples of drastic and different ratings, here's a couple of ween albums.

La Cucaracha is mostly everyone's least favorite ween listen, but it doesnt stop me from listening to something like "Your Party" and "Woman and Man" again and again.

67/110

Pure Guava - Ween

pure guava on the other hand is a fun listen, but i rarely want to hear "Reggaejunkiejew" or "Flies On My Dick" or god willing "Mourning Glory" even though its become a giant guilty pleasure.

73/110

Perplex - Julie Ragbeer

julie ragbeer is another good example of terrible music i will listen to again bc every now and again i think about "mary whiton calkiiinss..."

38/110

and that's pretty much the best i can do from the top of my head. expect some reviews

[kirkwall-age]

hey! yesterdayish you mentioned in a post that you like the choices/replayability of them in da4. ive noticed that as long as you DO a quest, no matter which dialogue options you pick or really even what Big Choice you make, the outcomes are pretty much the same. im a good 60-70% into the game and so far only approx 5 choices have mattered in noticeable ways? and all but 1 are tiny things. im wondering if youve experienced something different? do you think its POSSIBLE to fail a quest in a way other than ignoring it? it doesnt feel like im earning my rewards or good outcomes if theyre the only option to participating if that makes sense? sorry to dump this on you lmao ignore if you want i just thought you might have thoughts on it?

No worries at all, and thank you for asking!

I think you are absolutely right in the way you summarized how the game works. There aren't a lot of choices like that. By comparison, Inquisition had a lot more variety with quests where neither outcome was good/bad, and it was all about RP. Like Wicked Hearts, or certain companion quests, or Judgments. Big or small, there were a lot of quests like that in Inquisition, that were really branching out. By comparison, Veilguard absolutely has much much less.

However, when I said "replayability". I was actually looking for something different. I'm gonna draw some comparisons to other BioWare games which -- I'm sorry I'm not sure if you're familiar with them, so maybe this won't make the most sense. But.

Example 1: Origins. I replay it fairly frequently, and I have to say that most of my playthroughs on paper? Look pretty similar. Support mages. Broker peace in the Brecilian. Save Connor. Support Caridin. The "replayability" factor for me there is purely: what personality I think my character has + the origin itself. How the game reacts differently to me if I'm a City Elf vs a Tower Mage etc. The game may offer choices, but I will make all the same choices. :D

Example 2: Mass Effect. For all that it is described as a similarly choice-based RPG, Mass Effect barely has any choices. Shepard's personality is much narrower because you're an Alliance soldier. You can swing between mercy and ruthlessness. But, in general. Until ME3 which was the big finale and they allowed themselves more deviations in quests (most of which were fairly tragic, to be honest). There wasn't really much variety. Mass Effect 2 seems like the most clear parallel: it is also a game where you recruit a team / build bonds with people / prepare for a suicide mission. Aside from minor flavor here and there, the game really plays the same for the majority of people. Unless you really go out of your way to get a bad result, you will gain everyone's loyalty, you will collect enough resources to be prepared for the end mission, you will make maybe one or two big choices and the rest are gonna be minor flavor and inconsequential. And yet that game is also fairly "replayable" -- for me, at least -- because even within these narrow confines I think of each individual Shepard as somebody very different, based on their class / background / history. The diversity is in my head, and as I play the game, I justify things to myself based on the personality that I selected, and that what makes replayability fun. Even though, on paper, I literally play the same game and make the same choices, barring like 5 to 10% that is different and are only for flavor. The story in that game is put on rails.

So when I made that post and said that "replayability" of Veilguard has me excited. I think saying "choices" was maybe the wrong word to use. Because I was actually thinking about factions. I am currently playing as Antivan Crow. And the way it is integrated into the game is a blast to me. The way Treviso reacts to me. The way my Rook talks about it. The way I have a history with the city. The way the companions talk about Lucanis in comparison to Rook. These little flavor conversations are not few and far between. There is a lot of them. I feel my faction relevance nearly constantly.

So what has me excited is seeing other factions. What my relationships within the Shadow Dragons would be. I went to save Treviso because I'm a Crow, but I'm curious about the reactivity if as a Crow I would have picked Minrathous, or, as a SD, I would have picked Treviso, betraying the expectations of my faction. I wanna see how interactions within the Necropolis and with Emmrich are different if I'm a Watcher and understand their culture. Or with the Wardens and Davrin if I'm a Warden.

That's the part that has me excited. Which is, to be fair, entirely subjective emotional flavor. It doesn't contradict at all what you described: which is that the game is (once again) on rails. There aren't really that many branching choices. Much fewer choices by comparison to other Dragon Age titles. I just... don't mind that at all? It's the journey itself that is fun.

Obviously, neither of us have finished the game yet, and I've been burned by ME3 and ME:A before, which took a dive for me right at the end lol. So. Could be famous last words lol. 😅

But, final review pending, that's what I meant and that's what I'm looking forward to as far as replaying the game goes.

[d-druxy]

I originally put this in the tags but it got so long that I decided to just put it here instead:

This is such a difficult vote bc to me these games rank very differently depending on the criteria you put them against. I voted DA2 bc its the game I feel most at home at and also the one I think the most about. I didnt expect to love Hawke as much as I did and that really endeared them towards me. Varric is also an all time favorite guy of mine and I just generally deeply care for this little family of misfits and their bonds to each other.

Playing it however.. I had fun and its a servicable game, dont get me wrong, but I didnt love playing it. I do like that we see some actual art direction and exploration in da2 It has its own visual identity which DAO for all it strengths lacks imo.

I don't even mind that we're restricted to kirkwall. I think limiting a game towards an area can definitely be beneficial. But the game feels rushed and it really shows at times (the same three set pieces to battle some thugs in) I do think da2s combat has a very snappy look to it and feels the best to me in this game (at least animation wise). Especially the Rogue looks super fun jumping and teleporting all over the place (im so glad for mods bc the champions rogue armors color pallette is TERRIBLE). But even combat isnt flawless and I think it took a bit of a hit mechanics wise, at least when it comes to the ability trees. (tbf mechanics are never my speciality so thats all im gonna say about it)

As a whole package however?.... It will always be DAO. Im forever in love with the dwarf commoner origin and the rpg elements are heavy in this game, it's so fun. Theres so much to do and at least for this game it really makes you feel like your choices matter. The replayability is great

The differences between the origins are my favorite part and while I couldnt bring myself to try a different one out yet, its just great that the option is there and it allows for the creation of a variety of characters. It's such a solid base to play around with. The combat in this game feels a bit outdated and clunky to me but its straightforward and it works. (I also think it allows you more freedom to explore different builds? but again thats not something I really dabble in).

I will say; I wish that DAO had a stronger art direction in game. Its very much giving the same old classic fantasy and it just doesnt have a strong visual identity to call its own. I also think the graphics can be rough, a lot of the npcs look the same but honestly I can forgive it plus mods are always an option.

This is also the only DA game where I'm not super mad about how the dwarfs look (they have VERY long arms but I can deal. I exclude DA2 from this discussion tho bc we dont get to create/play as a dwarf in that game and I dont recall seeing any female dwarfs either(?)). There still is some sexual dysmorphism (especially in the concept art lmao) but its not nearly as bad as in DAI (< shudders).

Now.. DAI was my first Dragon Age Game. The glitz of it definitely impressed me back then and its still iconic in some regards.

But it didnt make me fall in love with Dragon Age as a whole. That would only happen once I played DAO and actually understood wtf was going on (years later after I tried playing DAI for the first time).

I think DAI is THE Dragon Age game when it comes to art design. It practically overflows with it. (Dear god the tarot cards aloneeee they're so fucking iconic!!). The visual identity of this game is SO strong and the environments are still super beautiful even now! They look distinct and really showcase the different parts of Dragon Ages world. I love the graphics despite the janky animations and even now i still think the way this game renders skin and certain fabrics is super pretty.

but the world feels super empty at times but there arent any real backgrounds for the Inquisitor (I actually missed the little info blurb for the inky you make gets, the first time around) but the rpg elements have been even more reduced but the races sexual dysmorphism in this game is atrocious (I hate the way the female dwarfs look in this fucking game) but some of the story decisions bloat dragon ages setting as a whole but the hairstyles in this game are soooo ugly. almost all of my Inkys have buzzcuts (< I jest but yeah) etc.. So my ranking of these games heavily depends on the part we base the ranking on. I love good art design and interesting visuals. I know a lot of people hate the out there- over the top fashion design in DAI and when I was younger I used to agree. But now?? HOW FUN! HOW INTERESTING!! I love that I can tell the historical fashion influences! I love how different orlais feels from ferelden! I can tell the people who designed those outfits enjoyed themselves!! And for that alone I will always love DAI. (doesnt help that im just unsure what I want my Inquisitor to be personality wise. Both DAO and DA2 give you such solid bases to build upon)

But I dont love it as much as either DA2 or DAO in a lot of other regards.

DAO is the strongest as a whole experience. DA2s cast is so memorable and beloved. My brain loves to chew on Hawke and their story and its fun how much youre able to interpret into it since its by an unreliable narrator. I also think the rival vs friendly mechanic for your companions was and interesting idea DAI is a beautiful game. I love the graphics and its art. The cast is still lovable but playing it feels like such a big undertaking and I will forever hate what they did to the female dwarfs in this game

[morganpdf]

man i wish i liked spla3n's hero mode

[theycouldbehere]

💕🎥✨️ !!!!!! :]

I TOTALLY FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS IM SO SORRY WAUGHHHHH im gonna answer these for both yakuza and roblox doors if that is okay :DDD OH AND ALSO YAKUZA SPOILERZ PROBABLY!!!

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

-> for yakuza it absolutely HAS to be kiryu!! which i feel is like. a "basic" answer? but i do not care. i love how fleshed out his character gets across the games (yakuza 3 my beloved.........) and he has a lot of funny moments too even with how serious the games get sometimes!! amazing protag 10/10

-> for doors its the entity halt!! silly little ghost dude you have to run from......... idek why i like him so much i just think hes super neat and i enjoy the gameplay when you encounter him :)

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

-> YAKUZA IS SO HARD TO ANSWER WITH THIS so many good scenes.......... im very torn between majima in yakuza kiwami 2 disarming the bomb with nishida, or the kiryu/nishikiyama fight intro in yakuza kiwami they both SO SO SO good i think abt them a lot

-> doors doesnt really. have scenes i guess? the ending scene is really awesome tho how you think youre safe and then BOOM the figure drops on the elevator and breaks it and then its just "to be continued" ehehheue

✨ what draws you towards your hyperfixation? what is interesting about it?

-> yakuza is such an extensive game series. i own 10 games in total (0 to 7, like a dragon ishin! and yakuza dead souls) and thats still not even all of them (AND theres two more coming out soon!!!!!). ive always liked games that really give me a lot to work with in terms of content and yakuza just hits that so well. i even know kiryus blood type

-> DOORS IS SO SILLY i can play with friends, and regularly do!!! the replayability and the fact i can enjoy the game with my friends is what really makes it so enjoyable for me and why i have so much fun and never get bored of sitting thru the same scenarios all the time

[maydaymemer]

Ultimate Spider-Man (2005) - Short Review

Just replayed Ultimate Spider-Man for PS2. And ive got some thoughts on it

Overall it’s still really fun to me, I think it’s way ahead of its time graphically, it looks amazing with the only problem being terrible draw distance. the city design is super underrated, theres lots of landmarks and little areas you’ll find swinging around that are detailed. The city doesnt feel copy paste like spider-man 2. the combat is kinda button mashy but i like that alternating between attacks causes more damage, but when the combat asks you to go up against groups of tough enemies like the combat tours do it kind of falls apart. It feels more luck based because you do more damage alternating between enemies and that can be used to break thru blocks. But if you are constantly hitting kick and punch and moving the stick you dont always switch to another enemy and just button mash at one guy. Luckily the combat doesnt ask you much in the main campaign so no worries there

Swinging is momentum based which i prefer over the more automated feeling of the new games. Not that the new games are bad, theyre an improvement on for example the TASM games but what i like about these old games is you handle spider-man sort of realistically it you had his powers. You’d fumble about and get caught on things at the start and then slowly get used to it and as you got a handle on your powers and became familiar with the city youd get really good at it. tho its not as good as how sim-like the swinging felt in spider-man 2 but i feel what usm does better is great missions and a great campaign. Especially the bosses I found really enjoyable for their variety, uniqueness and how they used good picks from classic and some more obscure villains. Also you get to play as venom. Hes not got much depth but the novelty is excellent

The story is really good, it’s penned by an actual spider-man writer and it has a good sense of universe thats intriguing as someone whos never read ultimate comics and heard bad things about how edgy the non spidey books could be. I actually did laugh at one of his quips too, about the parking attendant during the rhino mission. spidey humor is the only superhero humor that i get a kick out of

Where the game falters is in its structure. The game is short, i beat it in two hours and 22 minutes but ive beaten it loads of times already mind, and i dont falter the length at all as i dont think you could stretch this story and gameplay over eight hours, but the way they lengthen the time is by forcing you to do some of the side stuff like races and beating up muggers and stuff in order to unlock more missions. Now i like that the game makes me feel like a superhero, of course im going to help people it makes sense. I especially like that they do it within missions in certain scripted moments which is very spidey as hes always getting inconvenienced. But I dont think the way they encouraged it by making it necessary was a good choice. I think the way spider-man2 did it by having it so helping people gave you points to use for upgrades was better. I also think it was just there to prolong the game’s length because i was able to beat it in two hours with experience and i bet half an hour was just waiting for crimes to appear and doing those and then having to swing from Manhattan to Queens or vice versa to get the next mission. I also have a bone to pick with that. Most of the time you swing over to manhattan, do a mission, then if youve reached the requirements the next mission is in queens and thatll happen for the next mission but the opposite too. Seems padded

Theres also two moments i want to point out where i got the requirements to unlock the next “story mission” in the games own words but as soon as i went to the marker i had to do a combat tour, which is one of the game’s many side activities. Then after finishing it i get told to do more side content to unlock the next mission. So i unlocked a tutorial that i had to do before i could do another mission. This same thing also happened again but this is funny and a better example of the game’s padding. I met the requirements and went to a mission marker. A cutscene played and then i was told to do more things to unlock the next mission. So i unlocked a cutscene

Id still recommend it to anyone. It’s fun to play and the short length and its loads of side distractions does make it replayable

[notmyrick]

Okay this is a theory not theory or a "hear me out" type of thing. This actually isnt a theory, just a cool what if. Something to be scrapped.

But if you're with me this far let's begin overanalyzing shit!!!!!!!

Argument: The entire show is evil Morty

*mic drops ready for the tomatoes to be thrown*

But guys let's take a step outside of Rick and morty for a second.

You want to talk about rick and morty without talking about rick and morty?

Yes! Second voice I'm using purely for a narrative aspect!

Remember some time ago that Rick and Morty was suppose to be or at least considered to be a procedural type show?

Procedural shows are shows like the Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, Tom and Jerry, Futurama, Phineas and Ferb, etc.

Typically a show that has a very obvious formula with characters that typically never change, don't age, and rarely grow. Typically you could tell a show is procedural of you can watch any random episode from any season and understand what's going on (given it is not the final episode of a completed series).

Objectively if you look at Rick and Morty, you can say it it still holds true to its procedural structure. I could start on any episode season 1-4p1 and understand the dynamics of the Smith family.

Okay now just keep in mind that procedural shows last longer than serialized shows.

You can give me shit, but who the fuck is still a fan of Degrassi. And I know that there are some hardcore fans of GoT or Twilight, but I havent seen anymore hype or recent buzz about either of them since it ended (or near ending I dont keep up with stuff). Yet i could go to a person and ask if they watched Friends and some third party will scream to us "PIVOT!" or "They were on a break".

But I'm getting a bit off topic. The thing is Rick and Morty are now going semi serialized, but (hopefully) still keeping it procedural.

The fact is you can start anywhere in the series given the few special episodes. Episodes that are a direct continuation like the ending of season 2 to the premiere of season 3. Those episodes MUST be played together. Ending season 1 to premiere of season 2 is kinda iffy bc they basically summarized/hinted what happened at the end of season 1 with a few sentences.

If you go to most procedural type shows, they tend to have a serialized component which to be honest can be summarized by certain episodes. The serialized component can be either, what I call a "time stamp" or a character change. For time stamp it's mostly used a certain time period the characters response (i.e. the relationship of Rachel and Ross). The other characters tend to reference their relationship in certain episodes.

Or the character change, can be also known as character development, can be the serialized component in which a drastic epiphany happens to the character that changes the relationships with the characters or changes to their environment.

With this as a foundation, let's talk evil morty.

We know that their are infinite versions of Mortys out there. One of them is evil Morty, but it has been shown, by not being shown, how or why this morty became evil. There are many theories out there, most of which I like, but they are just wild speculation. I am going to twist up my own version of it now lol.

What if we've been watching a possibility of a Morty becoming evil. With Rick and Morty being a Procedural type show, the episodes aired does not have to be "in order" with the exceptions of of the special episodes.

Rick, in Rick and Morty, rather not Fuck with time travel, but doesnt mean the audience won't.

Think of it like an archeological excavation. We keep uprooting or discovering more about ancient civilizations or what our past ancestors did, but we don't find them in order. One min. We are discovering something about King Tut, the next we discover something about the the first homosapien.

With this, besides the special episodes, nothing was in order.

This theory is making a huge assumption that we've been watching the same Rick and Morty pair throughout the seasons. Meaning we've been watching Rick C137 and this Morty. This could explain why we dont see alternate versions of our favorite side characters. Why we dont see alternate versions of BirdPerson, Squanchy, Crombobulus Michael, hell another version of Tammy. If we've been watching (at least) the same Rick this entire time, then besides the special episodes, we've been jumping to moments of Rick's life. Like with the recent episode of Never Ricking Morty, Morty was able to buy the toy train because this took place before Rick destroyed the Citadel, but after the introduction of the evil Morty.

With what I've stated previously, hear me out, we've been watching the evolution of evil morty, or at least another version of him. ALTHOUGH only granted that evil Morty is one, if not the biggest climax to Rick and Morty. Remember how procedural shows may have some serialization in their shows. This also means they are not confined to one story arc. Which means evil morty is one of many sotry arcs to be discovered. This "theory" only works if Evil morty is one of the bigger climaxes to the show.

Recall previous procedural shows:

Futurama has 140 episodes

Phineas and Ferb have 189 episodes

I primarily used these tv shows because I am biased and watched them.

I would argue both had procedural and serialized components

With Futurama they had a few story arcs in their show, the one I remember and personally favor is the Leela-Fry relationship.

Similar to Phineas and Ferb, they also had had a few story arcs, with again being bias my favorite being the Phineas and Isabella relationship.

Note: can you see I like relationship arcs

If Evil morty is the one of the biggest story arcs of the franchise they would need to make sure that the ending for evil morty was satisfyingly tied up in a bow similar to the phineas and ferb final episode. If Evil Morty was the Final climax/arc of the franchise, I would say the ending needs to loop back around to make it "open ended" to keep it procedural similar to Futurama for replayability.

Rick and morty was renewed 70 more episodes somewhere after the end of season 3 making the current total of Rick and Morty episodes to barely pass over the 100 episode threshold. Which is the benchmark for networks for a shows profitability or syndication(profit and syndication are completely different dont get that confused).

So with my, hear me out theory, Rick and Morty has a lot of time to explore the evil morty story arc and/ or make better arcs for the future. Expecting it to be explored now in SeASoN 4 feels a bit too soon. If they keep a 10 episode per season schedule we can expect 6 more seasons of Rick and Morty to explore it. If they decide a 12 episodes per season then at least 5 more seasons.

[mattgambler]

My thoughts on Sekiro - Shadows Die Twice

TLDR: I talk about what I liked and disliked about Sekiro and why it in my eyes is probably* the best game From Software has released to date. Which means I also compare it to Dark Souls a lot.

*I havent played Demon Souls or Bloodborne, so I cant really talk about those. As someone who played through all three Dark Souls games as well as several other soulslikes on stream, I always stood by the unpopular opinion that Dark Souls 1 is a good game, but also a vastly overrated one - with one of the most unbearable fanbases out there, right up there with Undertale, albeit for very different reasons. My opinion is of course strongly coloured by my interactions with diehard fans of Dark Souls, both on stream as well as everywhere else on the Internet, but at the end of the day I never hated Dark Souls. I wouldnt have played through all three games otherwise. I *did* hate smaller aspects, like the fact that I ended up entering the tomb of the giants without ever finding a lantern and therefore  being forced to crawl through that place in near complete darkness until I found the emergency lantern in there, simply because I was unlucky enough to have none of the necromancers drop one for me. Or how the curse mechanic in the sewers got me trapped in a place that i already struggled with, but now with only 50% of my original HP. Or the entire “Git Gud” mentality that is so grossly abused to defend poor game design that the travesty that is camera control in the Ornstein and Smough fight looks like a piece of art in comparison. Onionbro and Solaire would weep if they knew. There were other things that I didnt enjoy, like what the Souls games count as a story, but I have an easier time pinning that down as personal preference and something that just isnt for me. Vaatividya makes good videos. The tomb of the giants without a lantern however, that just shouldnt exist in any game, not to mention a game that is glorified to such an extent that it could get its dick sucked every day by a different dude without running out for centuries. Can you taste that sweaty salt yet? Along comes Sekiro, a game by the same dev studio, with the same feel, minus many of the things that I have hated and criticized for several years now. Guess what, I like it.    This isnt a review, Im not trying to tell you if you should buy, Im not telling you that there are no microtransactions in the game or what framerate it isnt capped at. There are tons of videos online that jump-attacked all over that on day 1 of release or earlier. Im telling you why, in my opinion, this game is so vastly superior to Dark Souls that it simply warms my heart. Let me start a list and then never finish it: - You can swim - You can jump - You can talk - You dont immediately die when you fall off a cliff - You cant accidentally walk over a cliff like a moron, at least most of the time. - You can’t simply rely on dodgerolls and invincibility frames all the time - You can understand the story without having to go to Youtube to have it explained to you by someone - You can’t kill strong enemies simply by chain parrying them over and over, or at least it is hell of a lot harder - You can’t simply kill strong enemies by knocking them off a cliff (I think) - You can’t abuse magic for an immediate easy mode - You can’t abuse coop for an immediate easy mode

... I’m getting a little unfair here, I know. I actually think coop is a cool feature, even though I personally never used it and even the multiplayer pvp invasions are an original and interesting concept, although I’m not personally into it. Magic is cool too, although poorly balanced and therefore in my opinion less interesting. The reason I added those last two points to my unfinished list is not because I dislike them, but because of the lately relevant “does Sekiro need an easy mode” controversy. Especially the most elitist diehard fans of the souls franchise strongly disagree with the addition of an easy mode, which is funny... ... given that Dark Souls 1 has several. Personally I dont think Sekiro NEEDS an easy mode, but it sure wouldnt hurt anyone. I personally wouldnt have minded playing on a lower difficulty, I had three or four bosses greatly overstay their welcome before I finally managed to smash their asslike faces in. ...but Im rambling. On a surface level, just looking at the feel of combat, movement and overall story coherence Sekiro is already miles ahead, but I can understand that it therefore feels less like a Souls game and that not everyone will like that. I can understand and respect that. DarkSouls 1, as well as 2 and maybe even 3, have a couple of features that I greatly appreciate and that partly even surpass Sekiro in my otherwise overly critical eyes. Dark Souls 1 has the best and most memorable map in my opinion. Dark Souls 2 has incredible DLCs, especially Frozen Eleum Loyce was awesome and beautiful, with the minor exception of that retarded snow zebra area and how you would respawn *before* the loading screen to get there again instead of after. I also liked the Pursuers concept a lot, as well as the idea of despawning mobs if you killed them often enough. I dont remember much about DS3, it was okay as far as Im concerned but I enjoyed it the least out of the three, probably because of burnout as I had played through all three (blind) in a row. Im mentioning all of this because I want to clarify that in my eyes Sekiro is not THE TIMELESS MASTERPIECE NOBODY WILL EVER SURPASS that Darksouls 1 is often celebrated as. But in many ways it is headed in a direction that makes more sense to me than “if you are not enjoying it then you are doing it wrong and you should maybe think for once”. (Not that Sekiro streamers werent told exactly that just the same) Let me tell you, there were many instances in Sekiro where I also didnt think, didnt consider every possible option the game had given me, honestly Im pretty sure I sucked most of the time, in the eyes of your usual GITGUD-Bro. But I struggled, I improved, I succeded, and I had a way better time during it all, even though I did the same shit in the Souls games as well. Just without falling off edges in waist-high water every 10 minutes, or being invaded by some bowing edgelord, or losing 50% of my max hp as punishment for dying to the wrong enemy. There is this myth going around online that Dark Souls might be a harsh mistress, but at least a fair one. The one spreading that rumour must have been the Bed of Chaos herself, because that is nothing but horseshit. Sekiro isnt exactly fair all the time either, there are many moments in the game that feel all too familiar in their GOTCHA nature. Like how the game conveniently places the key to one of the hardest areas of the early game in your path so you go check it out just to get crucified there by Lady Butterfly and a special drunkard, just for you to learn after finally breaking both of them that you would have had a way easier time if you had simply ignored that area and soldiered on on your original path. Sure, one could have simply abandoned that area and returned later, but how many of you did? I sure didnt. The game likes to oneshot-kill you if you fail to dodge the wrong attack, be it a giant carp, a giant snake, or a giant TERROR man. Even worse, in Sekiro you cant even get your souls back! You die, you lose 50%. ALso 50% of your cash. Suck it. Im not particularly happy about that myself and Im not sure what the motivation behind that design decision was, but you take the good with the bad, right? Another thing that Sekiro does that I dont understand is how the game has you collect loot. Every time you kill an enemy you need to hold a button to collect. You can kill several in an area and then grab everything at once if they arent too far apart, but at the end of the day it eludes me why From Software didnt simply go for autocollecting instead. It’s not a big deal (even though I would forget about picking up loot every now and then) but at the same time it isnt adding any enjoyment to the game either, no matter how hard I try and emphasize with whatever a gamer who likes this might possibly think. It is not hard, its is not really relevant,  and I cant think of a single advantage it has over autocollecting. Maybe holding that button is supposed to feel rewarding? I consider it meaningless at best and tedious busywork at worst. At the same time the game introduces a stealth system that actually means something, while at the same time keeping it both well integrated as well as completely optional. Im truly impressed by how that is even possible. I also like the immortality mechanic, that results in you only truly dying if you go down twice, and even refreshes that revive if you kill enough enemies inbetween deaths. It doesnt help that much, as it doesnt refill your estus fl.... healing gourds, but it allows for a little bit more practice against tough enemies before you die, a little bit more lenience while exploring in an area where it is easy to fall, a little bit more standing power in a world where a giant carp can simply eat you. I appreciate it and it is far from making the game anything close to easy. Its more like an extra gourding flask. I could keep going and praise this (surprisingly satisfying enemy style and variety given the setting) or criticize that (less replayability because of fewer possible weapons and builds), but at the end of the day my opinion is crystalclear - Sekiro is stunningly beautiful, very enjoyable, hard as fuck, and while I have heard people say that “it is not a true soulslike”, I have to shrug and agree. It is better.

[timegearremix]

Yknow what's a good game

Miitopia. 10/10 game. Okay, maybe not 10/10, but super high on the list. Quick easy gameplay. The fact that every plathrough can be different because it's all miis gives it a replayability level that's SUPER high. Post game activities. Super fun. You can have same sex "relationships" in a way. Good music. And the story's good because it DOESNT take itself seriously. It knows it's silly, so it embraces the fact that it's silly. I love it.

[ujuro]

as it is halfway through the year i have decided to do my  fave songs so far (i wanted ten but ehhhhhhhhh fuck that)

in no particular order:

Apink-Eung Eung: i was wondering if their concept change followup would be as strong as im so sick and wouldya look at that this song is good AND hella interesting. im still not down with the disrespect ifans give apinks past songs but im becoming more and more happy that a 2nd gen gg is successfully creating a new life for itself

Dreamcatcher-Piri: every new dreamcatcher title track has dethroned the last one as my fave so even though rn im like THIS IS AMAZING AND NOTHING WILL EVER TOP IT EVER ill probably eat my words pretty soon. Anyway this is amazing and nothing will top it ever. shout out to diamond and atwnol as well duh

(g)i-dle- Senorita: while i was originally pretty pissed at this song for the drawn-out end section that doesnt use the great chorus, this song is still greatly replayable and has wormed its way into my heart. i listen to it all the time

dia-woowa: the fact that this song wasnt a massive hit is a CRIME. an x-treme gameshow bop, and who knows how many times ive played it. i dont even know how to explain my love for this song other than it just bangs REAL hard

clc- no and me: i dont think i can really rank these two songs apart from each other. just two really solid hard-hitting songs that work with the ideas of “girl crush” and “empowerment” without falling into the annoying and grating parts that those songs often have. the styling, choreography, and execution is way above groups that are much bigger, and i just love clc

wjsn- 12 o’clock: it is blasphemous to say that i like this song more than cantabile and you got? maybe. Does not change my opinion tho. its just so...bouncy. i love it. this entire mini is amazing though.

Monsta x: stealer: ITS SO DRAMATIC. shout out to mx for being the only bg that is consistently wack and interesting i love them so much.

everglow- bon bon chocolat: this song still goes just as hard as it did when it came out. the truest banger released this year. with this and moon (also a fave), i cant wait for more.

im-scent: admittedly i do not listen to horizon pretty much at all but scent is just so good. a perfect melancholy little creation. and NO im not just saying that cause im biased i just really like this song

oh my girl: the fifth season: like many others, during the first verse of this song i was like this is it? really? but then that bomb of a chorus drops and this song becomes next level. it speaks for itself really. this album is also really good, though ive been in the mood for hype songs lately so checkmate speaks to me the most of the b-sides lol

bund-i mean bvndit- dramatic: i really liked hocus pocus as well but this song has a slight edge to it that made me really interested in the group. despite being a pretty standard trop house-style song, it just flows so well

favorite-loca: for me, the spanish trend is pretty hit-or-miss (as in i mean i only like it when ggs do it lol). but this song also has an amazing chorus that carries it

momoland- im so hot: this song is fun as hell fite me. sucks that momoland is in such a load of shit with members not appearing tho cause i love and would die for my girls. mld ent and the wack brigade of stan twitter momoland haters can fite me too. 

fromis_9- love rum pum pum: im so predictable. retro pop sound=i love it. fun is nice but its a bit much ya know.

cherry bullet’s entire love adventure single: i really like really really despite it being kinda generic and something that i should scoff at, but ruddy and ping pong are even better? i didnt expect to like this groups music so much but their songs so far are charming i love my girls. 

wjsn- lets dance: IM PREDICTABLE AND LOVE BANGERS’

hong jinyoung-rain of tears: SHUT UP I LOVE THIS SAD TROT BALLAD

twice- hot and breakthrough: new concept twice can kill me and id say thank you

yunho and boa- swing: im so glad that i force myself to listen to as many releases as possible because i probably woulda skipped over yunhos solo album but then i woulda missed this song and holy fuckin shit yall its another banger i love

red velvet-sunny side up: well duh

also the entire fuckin mini i made mini by idle and no1 by clc cause this is long but i just realized id have to list all of the bsides on them too fuck

shout out to my sexy girls girl crush and camila. In fact shout out in general to every sexy dance team and gg that gets more fancam views than your faves. Ive grown way attached to all of them honestly lmao

i feel bad not listing songs by them as like a TOP fave because theyre both my ult groups but despite being good overall the only standouts i really like from loona and izones minis are colors and highlight. butterfly really grew on me, but i often wake up at night in a cold sweat thinking about how loona as a group may never put out a song i like more than egoist or eclipse or love cherry motion or oecs mini

also shout out to moonlight by geegu because im just shocked they came back at all and only lost 3/9 members too. same with leggo by wannab though that song isnt as good. tmi by hot place as well for eurodance wack. 

if you have made it this far you can now know the real song i have been listening to the most over the past week or so and that is time bomb by icia. i could go into detail and try to explain myself but i shall not. i love this fuckin song. in fact ive been more into ultra nugus than my faves lately. thank god for ultra nugus. 

the end

[tabletopgamesblog]

The concepts of replayability and variety are often considered to be one and the same. I have previously looked at whether replayability and variety are linked. My article "Variable replayability" came to the conclusion that those two concepts are not necessarily related. A game can offer a lot of variety, but little replayability and vice versa, a game can be very replayable without much variety. However, in this article, I want to look at whether variety should be important to players or whether we should focus more on replayability.

Read the full article or listen to the audio version here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/01/31/repetitive-variety-a-game-doesnt-have-to-be-different-every-time-topic-discussion/

(Photo by Jeffrey Betts on Unsplash)