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Videogames 2023: Dreams of the Sandbox Kings


IlyaP
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7 hours ago, Rhom said:

I have a hard enough time remembering what the main story is in those sorts of games even without adding another game to the mix!!!! :lol: 

This is the problem I encountered. Who's that guy? Where was this? What frelling shire was that? HOW DO I EVEN PROUNCE THIS PLACE. And that's before we get into the assorted historic, uh...liberties taken

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I was wondering why Mama and her twin sister Lockne in Death Stranding were so familiar and then realised both characters were played by and modelled on Margaret Qualley, who played Jill Garvey in The Leftovers. Which considering the themes of the game, the fact that Kojima is a big fan of The Leftovers makes perfect sense.

I think I've crested the halfway point of the game, but the next bit looks like a bit of a slog. I'm right up in the Rocky Mountains (which, thanks to the Timefall, seem to have undergone the same kind of ancient erosion process as the Appalachians, which is a neat touch) and I can't get around too easily with my trusty truck, so I think this is where you're supposed to switch to foot and create ziplines everywhere.

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I just realized I'm on a save the world from aliens kick. First I did Into the Breach with the new content for the first time. I just finished X-Com and started the Halo Infinite campaign. 

It feels like I missed a game, plot wise. But I checked and I did play the last one.

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I've played about 4 hours of Fire Emblem: Engage. It's a real study in contrasts. The gameplay feels fantastic, I can already tell its some of the tightest tactical design I've seen in a long while. And there's a solid variety of unit customization available I can tell already. However, the writing is awful. The cringe-iest, most overdone anime tropes possible, and not in a fun/cheesy way; its just bad. I haven't started skipping cutscenes yet, but I'm close. Right now I'm at the point of half-listening while I do stuff on my phone.

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15 minutes ago, Fez said:

However, the writing is awful. The cringe-iest, most overdone anime tropes possible, and not in a fun/cheesy way; its just bad. I haven't started skipping cutscenes yet, but I'm close. Right now I'm at the point of half-listening while I do stuff on my phone.

Isn't that common in JRPGs though? They're heavy on tropes and if that isn't bad enough, the localisation teams usually turn it up three notches or so.

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15 minutes ago, Proudfeet said:

Isn't that common in JRPGs though? They're heavy on tropes

Not necessarily. Games like Persona 5 Royal, Vagrant Story and Lost Odyssey have very mature writing and deal with a lot of serious themes.

But yeah, annoying animu tropes are pretty common, and they're the main reason I couldn't get into something like Xenoblade Chronicles. I literally wanted to punch every single character every time they opened their mouths.

Edited by psynetik123
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9 hours ago, Proudfeet said:

Isn't that common in JRPGs though? They're heavy on tropes and if that isn't bad enough, the localisation teams usually turn it up three notches or so.

It is common, and why I've soured on so many JRPGs over the years. But FE: Engage is so much worse. Because it's not even that the tropes are present, it's that they're all so poorly done too. Everything about the dialog, world building, characterization, etc. is a complete afterthought. But at the same time a lot of the cutscenes are endlessly long.

And, from some spending some time online, it looks like it's not just me; I've seen a bunch of people saying this is among the worst writing a Fire Emblem game has ever had.

Still, the gameplay is itself is really strong. And visually it looks great too; though some of the character designs are weak. Especially the casual/out of combat outfits, which are a bizarre mishmash.

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1 hour ago, Fez said:

It is common, and why I've soured on so many JRPGs over the years. But FE: Engage is so much worse. Because it's not even that the tropes are present, it's that they're all so poorly done too. Everything about the dialog, world building, characterization, etc. is a complete afterthought. But at the same time a lot of the cutscenes are endlessly long.

I'm curious to see how bad it is now. It has to be really bad to disgust someone used to them. 

I haven't played a wide range of games, but I've played the Disgaea franchise. I think their characters caricatures are hard to beat.

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Arkham Knight has a great story but it's bloody difficult to the point where I've considered rage-quitting several times. The other two Arkham games were nowhere near this frustrating.

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1 hour ago, Proudfeet said:

I'm curious to see how bad it is now. It has to be really bad to disgust someone used to them. 

I haven't played a wide range of games, but I've played the Disgaea franchise. I think their characters caricatures are hard to beat.

I've only played Disgaea 5, so I can't compare to the whole franchise. But my experience in that game was that the caricatures are cheesy fun. The game knows they're goofy and rolls with it.

That's not FE: Engage. There's very little cheese factor. But it's actually hard to put into words what's wrong with it. Because on paper it could sound like a relatively generic shonen story (which TBH I also wouldn't be thrilled with, but would be managable). And it is a generic shonen story, just very poorly done. The worldbuilding is lazy, the characters are cutscene-incompetent, the dialog is dull, the plot is generic, the tropes picked are extremely overused (e.g., I can't believe its yet another player character with amnesia), etc.

And I think I'm more upset than usual because the gameplay is just so good. I wish it wasn't let down as badly as it is.

The one kind of interesting idea the game has is that the player character has a full personality and that personality is being kind of cowardly, which is a neat change of pace from the power fantasy these games usually are right from the get-go. But it also makes them rather annoying in cutscenes (and even more incompetent-seeming). Assuming they overcome that during the game, that's cool that there's a proper character arc. I just wish it was more fun.

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43 minutes ago, Fez said:

I've only played Disgaea 5, so I can't compare to the whole franchise. But my experience in that game was that the caricatures are cheesy fun. The game knows they're goofy and rolls with it.

That's not FE: Engage. There's very little cheese factor. But it's actually hard to put into words what's wrong with it. Because on paper it could sound like a relatively generic shonen story (which TBH I also wouldn't be thrilled with, but would be managable). And it is a generic shonen story, just very poorly done. The worldbuilding is lazy, the characters are cutscene-incompetent, the dialog is dull, the plot is generic, the tropes picked are extremely overused (e.g., I can't believe its yet another player character with amnesia), etc.

Yes, Disgaea is cheese and humour. The plot from 1-5 have a similar theme and I can't say there is a good story or characters there. Maybe the original is decent but that might be nostalgia speaking. Its sales point is the postgame anyway.

FE: Engage sounds like a hastily put together school assignment from your description. :lol: 

I spent half an hour watching a walkthrough. Nothing cringe so far, characters are generic but I'm not in far enough to comment on the story or worldbuilding.

Localisation is unsurprisingly disappointing. Making things up in dialogue is just lazy. And its a bit much to go from Divine Dragon to Divine One in one scene change. Does nobody proofread the translations for consistency? Also, Clanne seems to be the shy, reserved type. He's not going to enthusiastically go "Ok thenOnward and downward!" when the next destination is decided. :bang:

Anyway, I've bookmarked the page. Might take some time to go through it.

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7 hours ago, Darryk said:

Arkham Knight has a great story but it's bloody difficult to the point where I've considered rage-quitting several times. The other two Arkham games were nowhere near this frustrating.

Oh? Tell me more. 

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Running through the revamped Witcher 3 on PS5.  Has pretty much consumed my life the past month.  I never forgot how good this game was, but maybe it was pushed to the back of my memory.  I've been enamored from the start in White Orchard till now currently in Novigrad. 

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11 minutes ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

Running through the revamped Witcher 3 on PS5.  Has pretty much consumed my life the past month.  I never forgot how good this game was, but maybe it was pushed to the back of my memory.  I've been enamored from the start in White Orchard till now currently in Novigrad. 

Has it froze on you at all? Also playing it on a PS5 and it’s frozen up like 5-6 times over the last month for me.

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5 minutes ago, Ramsay B. said:

Has it froze on you at all? Also playing it on a PS5 and it’s frozen up like 5-6 times over the last month for me.

Just happened to me once a few days ago.  Luckily had a well-time save a few minutes beforehand. 

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13 hours ago, IlyaP said:

Oh? Tell me more. 

Well the batmobile is in the game and it was really fun driving it around the city at first but then you have to start using it to fight these tanks that the main villain is using and the level of skill required is beyond me. There's one part which took me about 45 minutes and I had to spend most of it hiding from the tanks and waiting to attack them from behind cause they blow you up in one shot.

Then there's the stealth, which was a lot of fun in the first two games, but they've added in so many other things you have to contend with now, like automatic turrets and drones that just make it so much more difficult.

Anyway I'm soldiering on with it cause it's a great story and I love the Batman character. It's just that Batman is supposed to be this super awesome, highly competent character and being him is supposed to make you feel cool but I just feel like I'm letting the character down cause I'm constantly dying.

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19 hours ago, Proudfeet said:

Anyway, I've bookmarked the page. Might take some time to go through it.

Finished up to chapter four. Seems pretty normal to me. Translation is bad, but I feel that is standard localisation quality and what I was referring to when I said they turn it up three notches. 

Wonder why/how royalty were visiting the sleeping protagonist when only his mother can bring people in though. 

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12 hours ago, Darryk said:

Well the batmobile is in the game and it was really fun driving it around the city at first but then you have to start using it to fight these tanks that the main villain is using and the level of skill required is beyond me. There's one part which took me about 45 minutes and I had to spend most of it hiding from the tanks and waiting to attack them from behind cause they blow you up in one shot.

Then there's the stealth, which was a lot of fun in the first two games, but they've added in so many other things you have to contend with now, like automatic turrets and drones that just make it so much more difficult.

Anyway I'm soldiering on with it cause it's a great story and I love the Batman character. It's just that Batman is supposed to be this super awesome, highly competent character and being him is supposed to make you feel cool but I just feel like I'm letting the character down cause I'm constantly dying.

Oof. 

Mandatory boss fights like what you describe would drive me nuts. I love the idea of emergent gameplay and playing my way, rather than how the game wants me to play - and it sounds like this game is a kind of rail shooter, so to speak, in that it forces certain things on you and limits your options/choices. 

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