SleepingSilence

What is the current Manga , you are reading?

I haven't read a lot of Manga recently. But I do hope to find some that'll hook me in the future. So here's just the few that I've read in the past month.

Bluelock's anime was clearly meant to get people interested in the Manga. (And I played a lot of Soccer back in the day.) So I gave it a shot, and I think the manga is perfectly readable. But its narrative twists and turns to be different from other typical sports anime become really predictable, and it's not a very engaging in the long run.

Kaiju No.8 has a premise that I adore and it starts off quite strong. But I feel like the story is meandering along, after the MC revealed his identity and endured no consequences for it.

Nomads is an "adventure" Webtoon that has a lot of decent comedic timing and a fun premise that it honestly doesn't do a whole lot with. But I suppose that's due to the slice of life/modern cartoon approach to its plot.

Questions and Answers

I assume the question is 'do you think that you're a good spontaneous gift giver, or do you give gifts based on information and what you believe people want'. And I definitely fall into the latter. I've ended up getting last minute gifts for the past two years, because I have no earthly clue what to give my family sometimes. Since most of them are quite difficult to shop for. And the ones who aren't, are also harder to please.

(I know it's early. But I already have my New Year's Resolutions in mind and in progress.) What are your New Year's Resolutions?

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Nearly everything on my Steam wishlist is on sale. But I don't want to spend any more money. Yet I am unlikely to resist such a temptation. ;-;

Grime continues to have little bright spots that make me endure the frustrating moments. But I've died more from bugs in these terrible platforming sections, than I've lost to bosses (the actual challenge/fun part of the game). So I have a feeling that I'll put this a tier below Blasphemous, when all is said and done. We'll see...

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