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Underrated and Overrated Video Games

Insurgency

@Lady Selune

I thought insurgency 2 was pretty alright for like... One play through. But it's basically a revved up flash game.

Most anticipated Games of 2018-2019

it's not Gundam, but it still looks amazing:

@Rex

But will there be a battle royal mode?

Underrated and Overrated Video Games

The biggest reason why I rarely/never played the other races was just because of how fun the magic fusion system was to fuck around with. Yuke magic stat is god and being able to summon explosive shockwaves was way cooler than all the other charge attacks.

Except for maybe the Clavats? I recall them having the most busted physical combat capabilities. Strong enough to easily wipe most bosses without taking a single hit cuz shields were so easy to use.

Underrated and Overrated Video Games

These guys were the coolest thing that the game produced. Yukes are amazing... Things.

Caravan: Resurrection

Feral Cove, Near Ayer and Paric's Landing
_{3rd of Summer - 9:42 PM}

Dannisus was anxious, to put it lightly. Upon spotting a small dot on the horizon growing larger by the second, his feet scrambled through the sand for a moment until he dropped down onto all fours and charged towards the jungle brush behind him to take cover. That's where he hid, curiously eyeing the approaching craft. It was hard to make out, but as a researcher of Magical Artifacts, it was natural that he'd have a device for just such an occasion. He reached into his backpack, pulled out a monocle - something that he'd coined as a Soul Spyglass - and held it in front of his dominant eye. His view through the glass ring was enhanced tremendously, allowing him to see the two figured clearly, despite how far they were from shore. An Eldi and a Human, both looking as if they were having a bit of trouble on the water. He noticed the trouble moments later, and lowered his eyeglass in shock.

"That's a Nillium. It's not mating with them, right? That would be silly right?"

He rose the eyeglass again to confirm, and then closed his eyes.

"It is. It's mating with them."

Animals were stupid. Even as a Myti, he could admit that. The ability to speak with them didn't change his opinion. If anything, it confirmed his suspicions. Within minutes, the boat neared shore. Dannisus considered turning from the two and retreating right then and there. But he noticed one other thing on board that vessel before they landed. Something that the human clutched closely. He didn't recognize it, but it reminded him of an artifact. When the boat hit the coast, he hid himself quietly, waiting patiently with his ears at the ready to discern exactly how approachable these people were. The last thing he wanted to do was get involved in the southern forest's silly turf war.

Baeshri Hills, West of Centaurus
_{3rd of Summer - 10:42 PM}

With Daelin passing out, Hyo cursed under her breath. She expected him to at least have the chance to combat her psychic assault, but it seemed that the man was not very well versed in his mana control at all. The Myti flinched when a piece of metal bounced off of her back, sending her closer to the ground. Great. Now they were chucking things at her, and the whirling winds were making it exceptionally difficult to hear any assaults. Her eyes darted from one side of the rocky landscape to the other, from knight to knight. There wasn't anywhere to go, and she had no way to communicate with the knights without getting up close and personal. Ellorei waited for a command, and Noru waited for a chance to get close. He glanced at the druid and nodded. "Can you sink them? Open the earth?" He said just quietly enough to try and prevent the Myti from hearing a word. But the Myti heard it anyways.

Baeshri Pass, Caravan Centaurus
_{3rd of Summer - 11:02 PM}

Blake walked towards the edge of the ruined cart as those within funneled out in a panic. Zay got up quickly and ran for the exit. He looked past Rem as he directed his attention towards the archers and ran forward with Neal at his back. "Right, out of the big wooden deathtrap!" He ordered, "Towards the back line!" His mana had been partially restored with what rest he was allowed, but even with access to his magic, he wouldn't last in a four-on-one in the shape he was in. Fortunately, Pyra had awoken, and Neal felt capable of putting some work in himself. Captain Copp stopped after passing Rem, only looking back at Rem's display of energy for a split second. Neal slapped him in the head lightly and ran past the man. There were more pressing mattered to attend to.

The archers quickly reloaded as Zay's team vacated the Caravan, while Bart took aim with his strange artifact. "Don't let'em near me," He grunted while funneling his mana into the length of the translucent spear. Another volley of Crossbow bolts followed his order, but they were met with another wall before meeting the line of warrior. Two bolts struck Zay, only to shatter against a partial shield covered his body, while another headed for Neal, only to fall to the ground before reaching him. Captain Copp rolled his eyes.

"They're just idiots." He sighed with relief.

Blake on the other hand, planted the base of his hammer's shaft in the ground when the lightning whip headed for him from one side. A flash of energy sparked so brightly that the underside of the rock looked as if it were kissed by daylight for a moment. The streams of energy that Rem conjured froze and his whip went taught. As the energy's glow dimmed slightly, his whip slowly began to fade. It was, somehow, wrapped around Blake's hammer. The large man let out a laugh and patted his knee with one hand.

"Nice mana," He taunted, "Why don't you try that again?" The mana in his elemental spell was quickly losing form despite its raw power, and would not approach Blake's body. That hammer of his acted like some kind of conduit which not only attracted the electricity towards, but physically deconstructed and drained the mana that composed it. Close inspection would in fact reveal that several tiny runes along the hammer's handle were glowing brighter as the attack was dispersed. That was no ordinary hammer. It was an artifact.

The situation only got worse when Neal heard that man's voice. His eyes widened and he spun around. Zay turned to him for a moment and called out, "Hey, eyes up front!" he shouted. Neal didn't acknowledge him. When he saw Blake's face, his shoulder began to ache. That was the same man who had killed his Caravan Mates earlier in the day.

Berganfont, The Sewage Crevice
_{4th of Summer - 9:04 AM}

Matthew cringed with every one of Vizz's accentuated syllables, but wasn't scared by the little guy in the slightest. Most kids would have already dropped their belongings and turned tail by now, even if they were in the sewer. Not this kid though. He spent a great deal of time dealing with the guards of Berganfont, and typically danced with death with every single heist he pulled. If they hadn't been so kind to him because of his age, Matthew would definitely be dead by now. When Vizz pulled out his little trinket though, it piqued the boy's interest. His bi-colored eyes - red and blue respectively - narrowed to inspect the small amulet closer. Was that thing even valuable? Come to think of it, was Vizz telling the truth earlier? Matthew reached into his pouch and pulled out the small black gem to inspect it again. Was this thing valuable? It was cloudy, definitely of a low quality, and didn't let light through it at all. The creepy little rock looked to be absorbing the light itself. The Eldi child looked down at Vizz and then back to his amulet.

"You're suspicious," He said quietly. "My dad always told me never to trust suspicious guys that are shorter than you." He looked at his gem again and then up at the bridge above them. "I never liked him though." Matthew walked past Vizz towards one of the gaps in the side of the wall, pretending like he wasn't even there for a moment. This kid was absentminded, aloof to some kind of extreme. But before leaving, he turned back towards the Gibu and gestured towards his apparent exit. "My name's Matthew. Only trade with friends. So let's be friends, first."

Underrated and Overrated Video Games

@Inkarnate

I don't know what critics said about it. But it can be argued that the game wasn't as well received as the fanboys say.

If you compare its sales to other FF titles released around the same generation, its sales were abysmal. FFX clocks it at 8 million worldwide, IX sits at around 5-6 million, and XII, which seems to draw quite a bit of ire, still sold 6 million units. Crystal chronicles clocks in at a measly 1.5 million, with lower reviews than all aforementioned titles.

You could attribute that to the fact that it was on the game cube, which many Play-station owners likely wouldn't have had. But considering how titles with similar popularity still reached 6m+ sales on game cube, I find that difficult to believe. It's especially surprising how people glossed over it when it was probably one of the most mechanically interesting titles in the Final Fantasy series, if not the best.

I adore the game, but it feels like it has a niche in its genre and presentation. It's not a typical RPG in its game-play, characters, or story. It has a very cartoonish style, but constantly plays with mature themes and adopts very dark tones near the endgame; The typical player would miss out on most of the game's most alluring details until they were to invest a great deal of time into it. Considering how many people judge a game by its box art, it's not too surprising that it didn't sell well as a final-fantasy title. Most friends that I tried to get into the multiplayer were also at odds with the game play being too sluggish, or the game in general having a goofy feel to it. In my experience, it's not easy to find people who actually like the game.

Bad Movies Worth Talking About (Hotel Artemis & Bright)

Do you know what the Bechdel test is? Are you familiar with this way of grading if a movie meets even the most basic levels of feminism?

Oh I actually do know this one! I think it's a completely reductive, and shortsighted method. As far as film analysis goes, it's an absolute joke and is not to be taken seriously.

it's only nebulous to you because you are unfamiliar with it

It is nebulous because of nonsense like the Bechdel test being taken seriously. Though I'm not sure if you implied it to be anything more that a cute litmus test, to be honest. If so, holy shit. I am familiar with basic feminist philosophy, but I am not familiar with the bias of feminist film theory, or any other 'complex' philosophies therein. The reason feminism is nebulous is not because I'm not familiar with it. It is nebulous because of how subjective it is as a social science, and how unfocused it seems in recent years. This is why it requires clarification and directness, otherwise it fails to leave an impact in conversation as anything more than a faulty line of thinking. I'm a firm believer that social science is a terribly subjective school of thought in general. Ideas are not affirmed by their own existence after all. They are affirmed through reasoning and experience, hence why argument is such a useful tool in both strengthening, and taking apart schools of thought that are grounded in seemingly complex hypotheses.

Declaring my point of view as wrong or misguided while citing feminist theory as your source is poor argumentation. I've already conceded that by your criteria, Kill Bill would in fact be a feminist film. I have now clarified, however, that I believe this criteria to be inadequate. "Feminism says otherwise" or "You don't understand feminism well enough" are not counterpoints. They are... Well, I think I've clarified that already.

Let's not even involve the fact that your knowledge and understanding of feminism is further hampered by your capacity for thought. I'm not implying that you are unintelligent, or incapable, but as with every other person on the planet, you are inclined to error and I cannot for a second give you the benefit of the doubt when you claim to have an understanding of feminist philosophy, regardless of your education. A man can read fifty books on argumentation, and still get outwitted by an unschooled hobo. Our education does not define our ability to think and understand, it's quite the opposite, really. Our ability to think and understand defines how well we will take to education. This is why I laugh at people when they bring up their social science degrees as a validation of their thoughts.

No this isn't 'stricter' criteria

Yes, it... Is? Disagree with the thought process behind it if you please, but it is in fact stricter criteria.

Again you are conflating a film being feminist in terms of representation of it's characters and a character within the film being a feminist by your LGBT analogy.

No I'm... Not? I can see how somebody would make this mistake, but you'd have to be taking my analogy very literally. The point I'm trying to make is that simplifying a particular set of themes with a label that doesn't have any substance is inane. There's no productive dialogue to be had as a result, rendering the subject moot with its redundancy, simplicity, or irrelevance.

There is some quite a lot of subjectivity in feminism and it is very divisive in general, as with all ideologies.

I just edited the quote with my beliefs, which I think are wholly accurate, mind you.

But the basic ideas of the ideology are very straightforward and can be applied to Kill Bill.

I do still disagree that the film should be labeled as 'feminist', but I will concede that the film correlates with the general idea of women being treated no differently than men. But I don't think that there's any emphasis on this. Maybe the emphasis comes from the fact that it was released in the early 2000's? Maybe the fact that the lead is female had a great deal of significance back then? I'm not sure if that's a stable argument as I'm not exactly a film buff, but it's possible. But if we hold it to today's standards, there is absolutely no way in hell it meets my expectation of a feminist text.

Now to be clear, you have humbly admitted you know little about feminism and holding to the fact you don't Kill Bill is feminist. But me, @Fabricant451 and the very smug @Inkarnate do know more about feminism than you.

So with all do respect 1 person's opinion on a film in regards to an ideology that they don't fully understand, isn't going to hold much weight in a debate against those who do understand it.

I'm afraid this is where I draw the line. This is, and I mean no ill intent with this phrase, is the most ignorant thing you've said thus far. Not because it's untrue, but because of the nature of such an assertion. An appeal to people, as well as an appeal to authority, are both outrageous fallacies. Especially considering the subjective nature - the very subjective nature of social science as a whole - which plagues the body of knowledge you're referencing. If you simply have no interest in carrying the conversation any further (I certainly don't at this point) then it's adequate to simply say so, or stop responding.

My argument as it is now (after learning that my memory of Kill Bill is in fact completely inaccurate, and that our arguments have not been entirely congruent) is more in line with how slapping the feminist Label on films with such general criteria is shallow and pointless. Despite this, I have not changed my own criteria on what a feminist movie should entail, and I would still cite several of the points I've already made to support this idea as it is.

Simply put, I have already conceded that by your definition, Kill Bill is a feminist film, but I do not agree with your criteria, as by that notion, a great deal of films could be considered 'feminist', something I also disagree with. In the same fashion, and allow me to reword this, I would not label movies that display homosexual individuals as no different than others as 'LGBT', despite the fact that this falls in line with the idea that sexuality is not to be stigmatized. Instead, in both cases, I would apply the label of 'feminist' or 'LGBT' to movies that offer an intelligent dialogue about the trends they are discussing, while referencing the aforementioned as 'movies that fall in line with X's ideals'.

I suppose to reword it, so it makes more sense:

-Movies like Kill Bill fall in line with feminist ideals, but offer no significant dialogue on feminist themes, therefore they are not Feminist texts.
-Movies like Ex Machina discuss feminist themes in depth _{(I'll just assume this to be the case)} despite not lining up with feminist ideals (I'll assume this is also the case, even if it isn't). Therefore, it is a feminist text.

I see where you're coming from, I really do. And to an extent, I agree. But I also think that this flagrant simplification of genre, which is how I've been viewing this from the start, is harmful and wholly reductive.

I think I'm going to eject myself from this conversation at this point. You're spouting fallacies (although I'm sure you don't intend to) and constantly evading my inquiries. I lack sufficient knowledge to further extrapolate and kind of don't want to, considering. Worst of all, the topic has drifted too far from movies to warrant a discussion further in this thread.

It's been interesting. I do apologize for my tone early on. I have a bad habit of picking on people, lol.

Bad Movies Worth Talking About (Hotel Artemis & Bright)

His name is Buck and he's here to fuck.

@Fabricant451

Bad Movies Worth Talking About (Hotel Artemis & Bright)

@Fabricant451

I will attribute most inaccuracies to my terrible memory of the movie's characters and plot, which is strange, because my memories seem so vivid. I don't even remember half of the details you're referring to, including the parts where her comatose body was tossed around for sexual purposes. I'd certainly have to re-watch it in order to reaffirm my judgement, but from the sound of things, I'm not sure if I'd consider her methodical practice of murdering people to be reasonable, nor would I agree that Beatrice is at all mentally sound.

Caravan: Resurrection

Baeshri Pass, Caravan Centaurus
_{3rd of Summer - 11:03 PM}

The line of archers braced themselves as the wind sped towards them. Some lost their footing and tumbled back a few feet. Two remained study with their arms covering their face as the winds died down.

"No good Bart," one man noted, "That's some serious elemental force. Is he the captain?"

"I don't give a shit. There ain't a captain alive capable of blockin' this thing." Bart grunted, throwing his crossbow aside angrily moments before drawing the strange artifact from his back. It looked almost like a glass tube with a sharpened tip, like a rapier of sorts. But he wielded it like a crossbow, holding the shaft while threading two fingers through the loop at his base.

Blake's good ear twitched, and he turned around as Rem jumped above him. This guy wasn't any normal knight. Was it the Captain of the crew? He didn't particularly care. The end result would be the same. As Rem's staff came down, Blake hefted his hammer's pole into its path and blocked the strike, sliding backwards slightly on two shards of wood, towards the crack he'd made in the caravan's roof. He shifted his left leg and heaved forward with a great deal of force, motioning to push Rem straight back the way he came.

"Get outta' here!" He shouted. The amount of strength this man possessed with phenomenal. His size was one thing, but the way he moved was completely indicative of some form of soul magic.

Northern Marrenfall, Gybol's Cafe
_{4th of Summer - 11:07 AM}

Richard listened with a gradually disappearing smile as Gybol recounted how he acquired the amulet, while slowly placing both his hands on the table again. He leaned forward, lowering his eyes to the counter top. It was heavy to have affirmation of Jakob's demise, even if he didn't fully believe it at first. There weren't many people capable of killing him in the world, and he wasn't one to wander the wilds alone. What did him in? Was it even him? Richard sighed and nodded to himself quietly, but he wasn't finished there.

"I don't suppose you're willing to bargain for knowledge on the whereabouts of his body?" He offered, "I may not look it, but I am a powerful man in some cities." He reached for his belongings and set himself as ready to depart. "All I need is a few moments to collect the bones and investigate the place of death. I can promise you that my knowledge will remain mine."