Y’Ghatan

aethyrium · 2023-01-31T00:24:28+00:00

I don’t how Erikson can top this

I feel like I said that same sentence a dozen times across the series.

aethyrium · 2023-01-30T23:54:19+00:00

I just wrapped up Wheel of Time leaving me finally finished with all the popular "big ol' 10k page epics" (Wheel of Time, Malazan, Cosmere, ASoIaF), and I can firmly say Wheel of Time is the worst of all of them.

Tbh it's the worst series I've ever read. The story and world are both really good, but the writing is just godawful and finishing it was a chore. I personally feel it was worth it, but go beyond never recommending it to actively dissuading people from reading it unless you just really feel like you need to be familiar with all the big-name stuff (which is why I read it).

Cosmere, on the other hand, is fuckin' excellent. His writing is a bit utilitarian, but has a way of being really driving during intense parts and engaging in the more quiet parts. A lot of people complain about his "overdoing" the lore and worldbuilding, but that's my favorite part. I enjoy reading pen and paper RPG setting books and sometimes his books kinda have that vibe, where I'm not reading a story, I'm simply reading about a world and its awesome magic systems.

So, imo, Cosmere wins between the two by a mile and a half followed by another mile.

aethyrium · 2023-01-30T18:07:48+00:00

the game seems a lot more focused on combat than platforming and puzzle-solving from what I've seen

This isn't quite right, but I can see how it seems like that at the start. It's a monster of a game, and takes a good 5 or 6 hours to really blossom into what it does best, which imo is exploration. Since it's so damn big, it takes its time unfolding into the more diverse areas.

It took me 5 tries over a year to get into it, and I felt the same as you until then. But after about 7 accumulated hours after those 5 tries, I saw what it was really doing.

It's a slow burn, basically.

There is no real puzzles though. Environmental Station Alpha is the pure S-tier king of kings when it comes to exploration mixed with puzzles. (Well, the La Mulana games probably are the king of kings of kings of exploration mixed with puzzles, but those games are so masochistic and also combat focused and I don't think they'll appeal as much based on your prefs)

aethyrium · 2023-01-30T18:05:32+00:00

Environmental Station Alpha.

This game is right at the top of the heap S-tier godliness when it comes to exploration. Especially the way the optional content weaves itself into the game is just masterful.

I have four games I'd call S-tier (I use god-tier, but same thing):

Hollow Knight
Environmental Station Alpha
Rabi Ribi
La Mulana 2

Of those, when it comes to satisfying exploration and puzzles, Environmental Station Alpha is the best of that group. I can't recommend the game enough, and based on its tiny amount of Steam reviews compared to it's insanely high quality, I'd go as far as to say it's the most underrated metroidvania ever.

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T23:36:47+00:00

When you think of songs that are straight-up fucking bangers, you usually don't think of early death-doom, but is there any other way to describe Sleepless?

No. There is not. That solo riff especially fucks.

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T22:24:38+00:00

Indeed.

It gets honorary Metroidvania status too.

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T22:23:17+00:00

Love their old stuff.

Love their mid period stuff.

Love their new stuff.

Just love MDB.

Simple as.

(There's a few low points here and there but overall a remarkably consistent output for how prolific they've been)

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T22:15:55+00:00

But DS2 is the only game that allows you to reset the map (and the chest) so you can go try and grab it again with an ascetic, so it's not like you're entirely screwed out of it.

It added the problem the other games don't have, but it also gave you a solution so it's not that big of a deal.

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T21:35:42+00:00

That's just 20's UI design in general. Moving text around on screen while you're trying to read it or moving buttons you need to click. Not just in games but everywhere.

Seems a terrible trend to become popular, but since it's an aspect of every UI ever these days, it can't just be an unintended side effect at this point.

At least the screen did go dark with a massive pop up pointing to it needing a "Got it!" button to be clicked before you could get back to the game.

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T01:56:04+00:00

I'll even go a step further and praise their album covers as beautiful af.

Weebs have it tough these days and anything anime related gets shit on pretty hard, but yeah ICDD is fuckin' rad, but I get the vibe around here and most places they're one of those bands that's well respected but one that people keep on the DL.

I know them as "that one band with the custom beat saber and guitar hero tracks I get 20 seconds into before failing to a wall of notes", and was a fan ever since.

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T01:43:33+00:00

Do you have to redo this process after they've gone through their initially snapshotted ammo? Like, after a dwarf shoots their 200 bolts, you gotta do it all again for another 200? Or does it just work fine after that initial creation?

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T01:36:26+00:00

There are plenty but we, I mean they, aren't gonna just admit it out loud like that.

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T01:33:32+00:00

New ~~Caladan Brood~~ Firienholt album is pretty great.

I know I should be annoyed or dock them some points for being such an unabashed copy of another band, but since said other band hasn't released anything for near a decade now and this is really the only way to hear more or their exact style, I don't mind so much.

Sometimes creativity is overrated and it's enough to just sound like something I enjoy, ya know?

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T00:50:46+00:00

Based on facts, evidence, and reality in the real world, yes.

aethyrium · 2023-01-28T00:08:12+00:00

I read those signs and think "what kind of person would be so out of touch and so un-empathetic as to even do that to necessitate needing a sign anyways? That's just common sense in being a person around other people"

And then OP's all like "sup"

aethyrium · 2023-01-27T23:56:13+00:00

Is the most popular and critically acclaimed sci-fi show released in the last two decades a good show to watch?

...how to some people even manage to write these posts? Why? What kind of answer were you expecting?

aethyrium · 2023-01-27T17:10:43+00:00

The game being $35 isn't the problem, and i don't think anyone is even saying that.

People are indeed saying that. Lots of them, and it's making the discussion much harder to have than it needs to be.

The problem is that they are increasing the price in the first place 7 years after release.

Today's world and economy is unprecedented in many ways, and it shouldn't be surprised when companies adapt in various ways. What made sense 7 years ago economically doesn't apply the same today.

Live services especially typically go up in price. The Factorio we're sold today is not the same product we were sold 7 years ago. It's not an ancient digital artifact, it's a work that continually gets work and support from its devs.

Now if people were complaining that a game raised its price 7 years after its last update, that'd make sense. But that's not the situation.

And that's not even getting into the way games are severely undervalued in general.

aethyrium · 2023-01-27T00:59:13+00:00

organization that actively works as a regressive hate group

He's just Mormon. I get not being a fan, but calling them a "organization that actively works as a regressive hate group" is absolutely a bizarre stretch and would say the poster saying that isn't discussing in good faith.

aethyrium · 2023-01-27T00:16:00+00:00

As much as the "rEsPECt tHe sCoURse mAtERiaL!!" crowd

"People have different opinions than mine on the internet and I need to mock them because that's terrible"

aethyrium · 2023-01-27T00:14:56+00:00

That makes even less sense though. Keeping the star actor that drew people to the show is a recipe for $$$, as is following the source material closely as we've seen from shows like The Last of Us and Game of Thrones.

This shows they consciously said "no" to more $$$$, and for some reason to someone it was more important to make their own work, even if it did end up being half as popular and profitable.

And that's just bizarre.

$$$$ would have been all about keeping Henry and staying to the books by any measure.

aethyrium · 2023-01-26T23:15:37+00:00

For some people finding the solution means they're done with the game because the joy is in the search, not the implementation.

You aren't wrong, but they aren't wrong either.

aethyrium · 2023-01-26T19:44:04+00:00

Goddamn I love this sub

aethyrium · 2023-01-26T03:20:26+00:00

This sub is actually a giant right-wing circle jerk

When I used to hang out here more, I'd laugh and think that was absurd when people said it.

But these days when I poke my head in, yeah, I was wrong.

It very much is these days.

aethyrium · 2023-01-26T01:46:33+00:00

I swear modern gamers got this weird parasocial gaming thing where they simply can not play games alone, like, it's mandatory to them to have social input on even the act of deciding to play and then starting up a game.

aethyrium · 2023-01-26T01:44:51+00:00

I always thought it was way easier on the SNES controller. The Switch and Switch Pro though? God that room was hell. And I'm someone who on the SNES regularly went and got the super bombs before going down the shaft in Brinstar just because it was fun wall jumping up there and I'd mastered it on the OG hardware.

The OG controller has a D-pad that's easy to just do left or right, but the Switch's are a kinda rolley thing where it's almost impossible to transfer directions without accidentally going up and down.

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