SleepingSilence

Post a random fact about yourself.

My Christmas presents always seem to come down to last minute purchases. No matter how early I attempt to get on the ball. But at least I did the majority of it yesterday.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

>Knows his hardest boss is poorly designed and let's you skip it. (Even gives you a reward for not wasting your time.)

Thanks Axiom Verge's dev. You get it. Rated: It was fine. Concluded the story well enough. 6/10. (Probably better than Headlanders. If I had to put it somewhere on a list.)

Now for something entirely different.

While secretly hoping my friend gets Elden Ring for his PS5. <.<

What shows/movies are you watching?

I decided to randomly binge a reality show called "The Traitors". Basically combining 'Werewolf' and 'The Mole' poorly. But it's still entertaining to watch a social deduction game, so I gave it a shot.

My mistake was to watch the U.K version first. Where show seems expensive, overly-produced and has a ton of obnoxious pop music in it. And nearly every character is a walking stereotype, and/or an insufferable crybaby. (Or at least, all the actors and scripted events make them all behave like grown-up children in the show.) Apparently, the modern reality show's new trick is to put several "actors" in your cast. So you don't immediately realize it's all fake and scripted. (Like Netflix's The Mole.)

But it hasn't finished its season yet. So I decided to watch the original Aussie version. And my god, the U.K just ripped off everything, but still managed to do everything worse. Because this one is actually filled with a mostly likeable cast and a better host. (Even the challenges are better.) However, it does have two crippling flaws that make it not worth recommending to those bored enough to watch reality television. 1. The editing is baffling lousy. (It is doing 'contestant and their life story' introduction crap throughout the entire show.) And it STILL manages to forget and sideline someone who almost made it to the very end. 2. The winner is incredibly unsatisfying. Because it's one of those "got a special power/returned from elimination" kind of wins' that never work for me. So all the clever actions made by everyone else, became pointless in the end. Because the winner was mostly lucky and not compelling as a person.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

I believe that I’m almost finished. So…

Axiom Verge is a pleasant surprise. If only because I went in with some negative preconceptions. But to get one major thing out of the way; the visuals in this game are fine. There’s far more environmental changes and color variety than first impressions suggest. (And you travel to several locations fairly quickly.) Plus, there’s a variety of H.R. Giger robots, cutscenes and interesting visual changes. So yeah. It’s not actually an eyesore whatsoever. (For me)

And with that said, onto the pros and cons…

Positives

• The story is non-intrusive and far more interesting than other “plot driven” metroidvanias. And the main character is a good and likable protagonist.
• The upgrades are frequent and mostly useful.
• It has tons of good ideas that you don’t get (and want) in other metroidvanias. It gives you the ability to glitch through walls, erase and create platforms, corrupt enemies into useful tools for yourself, a power drill that’s satisfying enough to use, a small attack drone that lets you venture through small gaps and scout through the levels. There’s genuinely so much freedom in that regard, that it easily makes up for other flaws that might kill a game like this.

Neutral

• There’s a lot of weapon variety. But it’s difficult to argue that most of the options are useful.
• The map is in desperate need of more markers, and the UI could use some polish.
• A lot of enemies are obnoxious to deal with. Hidden in walls, lots of health, small and swarming, drains your health fast etc. (Probably to contrast the fact that you can break them.)
• The soundtrack is decent in places. (And has little touches like matching your low HP warning to the beat of the backing track.) But it also has an Ender Lilies “looping vocal track” that I can’t fucking stand. Combining the worst “that one ‘worldly’ vocalist wailing AAAAAAH” in all terrible modern movies, and glitch stuttering that reminds me of a much better instrumental from The Glitch Mob. And it’s a level you find yourself trapped in.
• Level design rewards curiosity and experimentation, but can often be confusing. (For reasons that are likely unintentional.) Especially at times when the game occasionally forces you down one path. But that correct path is beyond obscure.

Negatives

• The bosses are easily exploitable health sponges. Both poorly designed and not very engaging to fight. (But this almost works in the game’s favor, when it has several fake-out bosses that serve its story instead.)
• The backtracking takes quite a bit of time here. Between no fast travel, cluttered maps, two map markers, and multiple ways to unlock potential hidden passages. It’s likely you’ll grow frustrated with how much time you’ve wasted.
• Controls are the most damning flaw; in that they’re clunky and do not always work properly. For instance, the quick select button appears broken on the controller. The odd jump and slippery movement seems to make me miss jumps and fall off platforms constantly. The dash is hard to use smoothly, and can also be used accidentally. And the grapple is a pain in the ass to utilize. Among other things. That only heighten the tedious frustration the game’s backtracking provides.

Do I like it more than Grime? Eh. Grime's core gameplay is stronger. But I don't dislike Axiom Verge, and I hope it doesn't end as poorly as Ender Lilies or HAAK.

What shows/movies are you watching?

Preamble

Because my friend likes to make me suffer through awful movies. He suggested we watch "Christmas Bloody Christmas". A dumb horror movie that has a 70% movie critic reception on Rotten Tomatoes, and yet IMDB is a whole lot of 1 star reviews. Which scares me more than a shitty movie about an evil Santa ever could...

So I decided to put on "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio". Even though I didn't think I was going to enjoy it...

Because social media claimed it was good and dark. And that worked so well with Lost Ollie.

But I admit, it has a lot of heart and was well executed (for the most part). And it grew on me and my roommate, while we watched it.

Though let's be clear about one thing first. It's "darkness" is vastly overstated, and nothing comes close to the donkey transformation shit in the original Disney version. No matter how many people you kill and blow up off-screen.

But there's some impressive stop motion and nice background shots in there. So once it got past the overly twee beginning. (Where the singing is a bit painful to listen to, and I straight up couldn't understand some of the kid's lines.) I do think it comes together in the end. Even if I wish it had a few less fairy tale-esque contrivances in its script. (I'll go with a 6/10.)

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Darkside Detective can be occasionally amusing. But there's no challenge. Nor deduction. It's a typical bad kind of point-and-click adventure. Where solutions don't always make sense, and it actually keeps you from progressing through it for arbitrary reasons. There's more "bonus cases", and I can't say I'm even engaged enough to do them.

Pokémon: The Next Hunt

@'ing the ones who didn't make it, would've been nice. But good luck folks...

Pokémon: The Next Hunt

@TheNoCoKid For the sake of clarity. Since applications were supposed to be part of a selection process. The question was raised as to whether or not Pokemon should have their moves put in the CS. (And you had said, "Yes. But forgot to include it in the original CS.")

But it wasn't edited after. So there's a handful of sheets that don't include the move set, or leave the relationship page blank/have the unedited text in it. And I figured it be fair to let those people know, and add those details in post. (Because picking and choosing "best" character sheets will be complicated, if basic things weren't included.)

And I was going to raise this point earlier. (Because I was going to ask a follow-up question like, "Do we specifically need four moves, like the games. Or since stats don't seem to play a factor at all, can it be more like the shows where that limit is gone?") But I decided to wait until "the window" was closed to ask.

Because another question that was asked and might've been missed was,

I hope everyone is accepted! Oh, wait, are the GM and Co-GM characters automatically accepted? Does that mean there's only seven other characters that will be accepted? Or is it ten plus those three?

@Nyahahameha

I assume the former. But since I'm already putting myself out there. (I know, no likes 'the questions guy'. But I ask, because I want things to be fair for everyone.) I hope (and politely suggest) whoever isn't originally selected, can still take part in the RP. If someone ghosts, or decides to drop out early. So the RP doesn't die.

And with that said, I hope everyone is able to take part as well.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Game (okay all) Journalism summed up with The Escapist article that I stumbled across.

Headline: "The Guy Who Disrupted The Game Awards Has Been Arrested!"
Last Line: "Well looks like he won't be laughing now. Because he's been thrown in prison!" Smug smug
Update in less than a day of publishing: "He has not been arrested."

Fucking embarrassing as always, guys.

And somehow, the second article might even be worse. (I.E "Good news fellow crybabies, it turns out that the kid is only a prankster. No shit. And said that he really likes the same people we like, to the very people who would and already did assume the very worst about him, if he didn't. So riots and pitchforks down folks. We have other children to actively root for their imprisonment instead.")

One day self-awareness will hit you, but that day is not today.

What shows/movies are you watching?

Violent Night is a cheesy B-movie to watch with friends. (Like I did.) But its modern movie-isms to please the critics are obnoxious. (To me.) And almost everything in this movie could be easily improved upon. So I'd be hard pressed to say that a repeated viewing would do this movie any favors. (5 out of 10)

For instance, the action is shot too dark. (A cheap way to cover its budget/CGI blood effects.) The plot is a complete fucking mess. (And the pacing is a bit all over the place too.) Most lines are cliché one-liners that you'd expect to hear⁠—but they're not used in any clever ways. It's almost always trying to be funny⁠—but not all the comedy works. And my biggest critique is that many of the actors can't act, and their stupid characters are either unlikable or half-baked perfect people. So it's hard to care, beyond the few laughs and over-the-top violence that keeps it watchable.

(Though it's directed by the dude who made Hansel & Gretel. And has some of the Sonic 2 writers. So this does not surprise me in the least.)