SleepingSilence

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Feelings of "Grime" thus far:

Pros

• I don't know if I like the art direction and atmosphere more than Blasphemous. But it's certainly an interesting looking world from what I've seen thus far. (Has a lot of visual spectacle in the background.)
• The parry-focused combat system makes this feel unique. (Though it's certainly harder to get used to, versus other metroidvanias I've played.)
• Bosses are challenging, but fair. And they're more than "it has big health bar". (Looking at you Ender Lilies.) Even if I swear they're suicidal and keep dying before it feels like I've finished them off.

Mixed

• Soundtrack doesn't stand out or impress thus far. It's not something that I've paid much mind to. For better or worse. (Sound effects and sound impact are fine however.)
• The RPG stats, upgrades and consumables. (It's not something you get tutorials for. But it's good for progression, that you will continue to get better overall. So it's less likely that you'll feel trapped somewhere. When you can farm money easily, upgrade yourself and your gear. Etc etc.) But it also seems to encourage grinding mobs, and most of their dropped consumable items have yet to be used once. So while there's plenty of options available, it doesn't feel as streamlined or varied as other games systems.
• Surprisingly linear for a metroidvania. It's not "bad" per say, and the level design is decent/straightforward. With a few hidden paths here and there. But the "where the fuck am I" feelings of wonder and being lost are fairly absent here.

Cons

• Needing to find an obscure and far off 'beacon room' to unlock visual sections of the map. (Plus, the map has not been particularly useful. Like I said, game's been mostly linear.)
• Movement Upgrades/Backtracking (You, apparently, don't get any movement upgrades until the near end of the game.) So with few and sparse checkpoints, get ready to do a lot of walking and backtracking when things go awry. So while I don't *need* a fast travel system, like I've seen many complain about this game's lack thereof. Its lack of movement upgrades, thus far, feel like a mistake in this genre.
• Fall damage. Fuck fall damage. It's a cheap and lazy way to keep the player from going where you don't want them to go. Not once have I fallen and went...yep, that seemed fair.

Reoccurring Bugs

• Some enemy AI goes braindead, if you leave it behind and come back. (Some enemies do not handle the backtracking that's almost expected of you. So you'll enter a room where people throw spears at you from on high. Where you can avoid dealing with them—come back—and they'll no longer be hostile enemy AI.
• Teleporting character in platforming sections. (Seems like an FPS problem.)
• Panning camera bugs (Less frequent, but self-explanatory. Similar to Zapling Bygone's camera issues.)

So, all in all, I'm enjoying my time with it and I'm going to play more tomorrow. (Though the announced DLC for the game was delayed. And I can only imagine that it's partially due to the still-present bugs.)

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I seem to keep avoiding purchasing games that turn into controversy landmines. I.E: Disco Communism's developers being pushed out of the company for their 'toxic/harassing behavior'. Or this current Doom Eternal/Bethesda thing, with them not fully paying the guy that made their soundtrack.

And speaking of avoiding purchasing something. GameFreak needs to stop pushing out clearly unfinished sh*t (that gets defended by its fans anyway) at some point, right?

What shows/movies are you watching?

(Double post and you can't stop me.)

Because a youtuber claimed that he liked it, and I was bored.

Just Add Magic is better than I expected it to be. The first season is actually pretty well written “for a kids show” in that there’s plenty of reincorporation and serialized storytelling. (More so than most ‘adult entertainment’ I’ve seen recently.) The weak parts (like catchphrases) are ironed out quickly. (Episode 1 and done for that example.) Main characters are all flawed and likable. (And the trope “dumb male” characters aren’t used often.) There’s a handful of amusing lines throughout, and it’s ‘watchable’ in how each episode tends to leave on another mystery or cliffhanger. And even the “we need a happy ending” deus ex machina that it ends on, is done in a way that makes perfect sense for the story that it’s telling.

Season Two is twice as long, and is divided into two separate arcs/antagonists. Both attempting to do something different, and are equally creative in how much it attempts to build/expand on the simple concept that it has. However, that requires a lot of plot convenience and contrivances to make the story happen. Like the characters fucking time travel in episode two ‘because reasons’, only to realize in the end that they can never do it again. Womp womp. (So it tries to add depth to the characters instead. To its credit.) But each also concludes abruptly and less successfully each time. (In that the last minute solution/happy ending feels less earned.) The 2nd half of its season being a pretty obvious and drawn out whodunit plot.

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Other shows that I attempted to watch an episode of:

The Peripheral: Just watch Cyberpunk Edgerunners, if you want obvious preachy sci-fi. This is insufferable. Can’t even get past the first fifteen minutes of every cliche you can think of, thrown into a show that you can already tell put no thought into its worldbuilding.

The Devil’s Hour: Incredibly tropey and dull first episode. And someone really needs to tell filmmakers that “weird kids” aren’t scary or compelling.

Gangs Of London: I wish it was as cheesy and implausible as its opening scene throughout. But it was a pretty unremarkable and sloppily written introduction to your “super gritty action show”.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: (I really wanted to like this. But I kind of stopped an hour into it.) This reminds me of those ‘Nostalgia Critic’ movies. Where the best parts are when it's mean spirited, and the majority of it is “references”.

What Are You Listening To?

Wanted to know why I never heard of these guys before, and then I tried another song from them and realized immediately. But hey, this is catchy at least...

Post a random fact about yourself.

October was a mixed bag of fun moments and a lot of stress. But I had more kids/families come to my house this Halloween, so I ended up with just enough candy for everyone. (And I also decorated in the middle of giving out treats. Procrastination at its finest.)

Can't tell you if this month will be better. Though I got a splinter on my thumb that I couldn't remove today. Yay. Tomorrow is going to be fun.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Bug Fables And The Everlasting Sapling (It's Paper Mario crossed with Paper Mario - Yahtzee Croshaw) is supposed to be one of those "it gets better later" kind of RPG's. But it starts out perfectly decent as it is. A 6/10 "has its charm" kind of decent. However, my immediate issue was its controls and combat mechanics. (Both not quite working as well as they should be.) And the thing I'd imagine you'll spend most of your game doing. (The second chapter is also boring me to tears) So while I already know it expands on its narrative. I can't imagine the general clunkiness is worth dealing with, when I have other games to play...

So I intend to get through the best games that I have in my Steam library, and then go back to give others another shot. Grime's next.

What is everyone else playing?

What Are You Listening To?

A cultured [INSERT TOPIC HERE] discussion thread

What shows/movies are you watching?

I've had guests over for quite a while. So I haven't watched things that I meant to. (Parasite, The Outfit, etc.) So I made them watch a few movies that they enjoyed. Exam and Mindhunters (The movie. Not that Netflix show.) Both entertaining, albeit cheesy, thriller movies that do their genre well.

And in return I finally watched Escape Room. And yeah, it was pretty toothless and forgettable. But I wouldn't mind the PG / cheeseball twist aspect so much, if the characters acted believably. But one dead body in, and the fuckers are STILL making marvel-level witty quips about their scenario. Also the puzzle aspect is so poorly utilized, that even the worst Saw movies do a better job. (4/10 Probably. I'd rather watch Hellfest again. The horny teens come across less stupid than the "smart puzzle solvers" in this.)

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Other Movie Reviews:
The Outfit: Talk about a no-burner. The characters in this movie are so unbelievably stupid that it makes this impossible to take seriously. Predictable and bland from minute one to the end. 3/10

Parasite: I did not expect this to be a black comedy. But it feels incredibly similar to Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. (Writing wise.) It starts out with great family/character interactions and comedy. Then our situation and plot quickly devolves over time into pure nonsense. (Another secret basement twist. Hollywood sure loves these things.) So while the cinematography is undeniably well executed and the acting is usually enjoyably over the top, the pacing of it is all over the place. And I was honestly struggling to get through its both slow and rushed final act. 6/10

Vesper: For someone who doesn’t tend to enjoy a lot of Sci-fi. This was a nice little indie arthouse film. (Basically translated to ‘the pacing is slow’.) Had good music, serviceable special effects, and its world building was pretty neat and the sets were all interesting to look at. And from that description, you can tell that it’s “one of those” movies. The acting and actual narrative could’ve easily been stronger, if it was made into a full series. 7/10

Decision To Leave: Another south korean movie with some nice shots/cinematography. (Didn’t even know it was the same director of Oldboy when I tried it.) But this one is so fucking long, and the second half goes absolutely nowhere. 3.5/10

The Prestige: I don't think the strength of this movie is in its narrative twists and turns. But how well its directed, performed, and paced. With nice attention to detail for extra viewings, and only a few things I'd nitpick about its script. (People all speak vaguely because mystery. And CPR might've saved us a movie.) 8/10

What shows/movies are you watching?

Imagine thinking Justin Long giving the best idiot performance is bad. Where the bad guy is a literal rapist. Missing the point of the movie so hard that you think it's "men are dumb and bad".

@Fabricant451

Uh huh. (Keith is an idiot in this movie/he had no reason to go down in the basement/dark stairs without any light source. And the female basically calls Keith an idiot for his actions earlier in the movie.)

You can't pretend the tone of the movie didn't do a full 180. And it's hard to get invested with the strawman rapist character. But they also take so fucking long to just kill the dude, that it's not remotely engaging throughout the final act. (And no Justin Long did not act very well.) But the characters are all one note and unbelievable anyway. And their decisions fail to make any sense. So my answer is, I like coherent plots.

And it's a trope of these modern horror movies to have one random dumbass scene in it, that makes critics praise it for being unpredictable. (Don't Breathe, third act easily the worst part of the movie/has that turkey baster scene. For one, of many, examples. But I don't want to be accused of spoiling more movies people shouldn't bother watching. imao.)

As for more good examples of movies, I'm hoping to find some soon...

What shows/movies are you watching?

The Mole is so obviously scripted that it hurts. And it's a complete waste of time.

Went to some haunts, and planned to find movies to watch with some company. So I watched things. Planned to watch more. (The ratings and reviews of these films completely baffle me.)

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Haunt: I’m annoyed that I even spent time watching this POS. 2/10

Hellfest: Pretty lame kills and movie altogether. But at least I finished it, and the stock characters weren’t so stupid and unlikeable that it made the movie hard to sit through. (I never expected this to be the ‘best’ thing I watched tonight.) 4/10

Barbarian: This movie is a fucking trap and completely goes off the rails within forty minutes. Good actors gets replaced with ones who can’t. Men are dumb and bad. And an inbred couple locked in a basement feeds someone a big baby bottle. There, I saved you two hours. 2/10

Werewolf By Night: It’s special when you can get one of those “Oh. This is going to suck, isn’t it?” reactions, from the very first spoken line of narration. 1/10 (This is genuinely awful and looks like a youtube skit movie.)