Essence_of_Meh

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Don’t Think, Just Jam

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Essence_of_Meh ,

Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! S - it's a wacky visual novel about a group of high-schoolers in a world where melee combat is pretty much commonplace and all the girl MCs are action manga level of strong. Series is hilarious and I can't stop playing it after getting swept of my feet by Momo in the first game (ended up blazing through it in two days which doesn't happen often these days). This one is a sequel with the same (though epanded) crew and I really can't wait to jump back in.

As for the monthly thread, I feel like if it doesn't happen "officially" the first person to have something to write should just post one themselves instead of waiting. Not like there's a lot of activity here so it should remain visible long enough to gain traction.

Essence_of_Meh ,

I get that, it's just if there's no mod to post it I think it's better to have a topic rather than not, especially since it can be pinned afterwards if any mod stumbles into the community again.

We could also bully them into setting up a bot that would post those automatically but this might have its own issues since some people disable bot submissions.

Essence_of_Meh ,

Much obliged for that! I often think about writing on what I'm playing but end up forgetting due to time constraints - threads like this one definitely help with that.

Essence_of_Meh ,

That sounds encouraging. I've been meaning to give it a shot but the backlog is a fickle beast and lives by its own rules.

How're the Kb/M controls?

Essence_of_Meh ,

That's good to know, thanks!

Essence_of_Meh ,

TL;DW:

  • Patrick Breyer and Niklas Nienaß submitted questions to the European Commission on the topic of killing games (the latter in contact with Ross and two EU based lawyers).
  • EU won't commit to answering whether games are goods or services.
  • EULA are probably unfair due to imbalance of rights and obligations between the parties.
  • Such terminations should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis (preferably by countries rather than EU).
  • Existing laws don't seem to cover this issue.
  • Campaign in France seems to be gaining some traction. Case went to "the highest level where most commercial disputes submitted to DGCCRF never go".
  • UK petition was suppose to get a revised response after the initial one was found lacking. Due to upcoming elections all petitions were closed and it might have to be resubmitted.
  • Also in UK, there's a plan to report games killed in the last few years to the Competition and Markets Authority starting in August (CMA will get some additional power by then apparently).
  • No real news from Germany, Canada or Brazil.
  • Australian petition is over and waiting for a reply. Ross also hired a law firm to represent the issue.

This is a simplified version of simplified version, watch the video for more info.

Essence_of_Meh ,

This has be kindasortagenerally known already, it just doesn't really matter if nothing is done about it.

Essence_of_Meh ,

I might be missing something since I'm not completely dialed in with TD lore but didn't we kill Keener? Are they bringing him back or will this just be more of his usual gloating through audio logs? I'm not sure how I feel about either of those options.

Guess I'll wait for a full detail breakdown before thinking about coming back.

Essence_of_Meh ,

Yeah, I just watched the Ubisoft Forward stream with some additional details on the new update. Can't say I'm a fan but whatever - guess they still can't let go of their obsession with him.

Essence_of_Meh ,

While I can't provide you with a proper scientific answer I can offer a basic explanation - it's effort.

Browsing through the never ending amount of content online requires no effort but provides you with a dopamine rush as if you actually managed to accomplish or do something with your time. Other stuff, like watching movies, playing games, reading books, etc. requires attention and active participation, the payoff on the other hand is largely delayed (especially compared to the lazy option).

As for hacks... I don't know any. The only ways I know how to deal with it is limiting your time scrolling through this stuff and forcing yourself to do other things - it can be rough early on but you'll eventually get used to the "normal" way of functioning.

Essence_of_Meh ,

That doesn't seem to do much for me unfortunately. In my case the potential time I need to reserve for a gaming session tends to take precedence over hype whenever I'm in a lazy, scroll-focused rut. Still trying to get back to a recent(ish) release I was super hyped playing during its beta period... At least I have a semi decent explanation for this one, I guess.

NFS OST remade for kids

One of the weird realization for me as I learnt English and listened to authors who contributed to these games, is that many remastered their tracks to exclude swear words and obvious mentions of drugs, or was it EA specialists? NFS Underground and Most Wanted games were filled with rap and metal, but still got rated for teens...

Essence_of_Meh ,

A lot of explicit music has (or used to have) a "radio version" which silenced or changed the offensive language so they could be used in places and products aimed at a younger audience. That's what this is.

Music isn't the only thing with censored cuts. Have you ever seen old TV versions of mature rated movies? Die Hard, Scarface and many others had swearing redubbed in corny and unfitting ways just so they could be played on the small screen.

It's just another way of "protecting" kids from one thing while completely disregarding other, more screwed up elements still present in the same media.

Essence_of_Meh ,

Ahhh, gotcha. I checked the links in OP this time and honestly the NFSU version sounds like many radio edits I heard before so I'm not sure what to tell you. Couldn't find an official radio version to compare but I don't really hear anything strange there.

Is it a ham-fisted way to do it? Sure. Personally I chuck it up to the fact not every label bothers with a less noticeable edit for their songs.

Essence_of_Meh ,

That's positively surprising, I expected them to leave it at that until petition reaches the second milestone (if that even happens). Let's see if anything new comes out of this.

Essence_of_Meh ,

In case you're not aware, there's a project called VCMI which rewrites the Heroes 3 engine to add lots of modern improvements, fixes and easier access to mods. Thought it might be of interest since you like the game.

As for other games, how about XCOM? These games are turn based so you should be fine with touchpad + there's plenty of time to think. Don't know what specs we're talking about but in case of modern revival, XCOM: Enemy Unknown should work without issues. XCOM 2 is slightly heavier but might also work.

You could also go for 4X titles like Star Ruler or Total War series.

Finally, there are turn-based RPGs like Knights of Pen and Paper - it's light and pretty fun (as far as I remember anyway). A bit simple but might be enough to spend some time on.

Essence_of_Meh ,

Oh, totally. I never went beyond Shogun 2 so I forgot to mention it. Good catch.

Essence_of_Meh ,

Can't talk for the others, obviously, but I tend to avoid unsolicited advice since I know how annoying it can be.

Essence_of_Meh ,

Probably fifth and sixth gens (PSX-PS2 era), for three reasons:

  • graphics - there's something about art styles used at the time that aged surprisingly well and is just pleasant to look at, even compared to later games.
  • variety - both gens were filled with mid budget titles trying out new, often weird ideas that didn't always work but can be really interesting even to this day (as long as you can overcome jank usually present there).
  • (least important point) there's a lower chance I'll find games from this era to be too old-school for me. I have a high tolerance to old game design but I'm not immune to it. Sometimes there is such thing as "too old" and that's alright.
Essence_of_Meh ,

Lame? Not really. Cheating? Maybe a little bit but yeah, if we were to go by access to the history of gaming then "current year" always wins.

Essence_of_Meh ,

Nothing wrong with that.

The ability to play all that old stuff is a thing of beauty and seems to be getting stronger, both in practice and as a general concept within the industry, with each passing year. It's great!

Essence_of_Meh ,

Couple of disclaimers to start with: I'm primarily a PC player, even most of the console games I played happened via emulation so I'll drop stuff from both. I'm also really fond of games willing to try something different, even if they end up mediocre or bad - these ain't GOTY material.

With that out of the way, here's a short list of titles I really enjoyed:

  • Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (PC, PSX, Sega Saturn) - 3D platformer with relatively slow and clunky gameplay (kind of similar to classic Tomb Raider games). Colorful, cute and simple.
  • Kao the Kangaroo (Dreamcast, PC) - series very similar to Croc though might feel a bit less polished at times. Don't really care about the sequel even though it's not a bad game.
  • Parasite Eve (PSX) - JRPG set in 1990's New York. Interesting combat system focused on guns and positioning, great art and fun story.
  • Gothic I & II (PC) - German RPGs with a unique atmosphere and world. Surprisingly open-ended with some of its quests. Has an unusual keyboard-centric control scheme.
  • Sheep (Mac OS, PC) - game about herding sheep through various wacky levels. Lots of humor.
  • Metal Wolf Chaos (Xbox) - crazy story about an American president fighting FOR DEMOCRACY in a mech suit, created by From Soft. Has modern ports for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
  • Oni (Mac OS, PC, PS2) - the best Ghost in the Shell game without actually being one*. Third person action with a great melee combat, big empty levels and rough difficulty spikes. Has a community made "Anniversary Edition" with fixes and access to mods.

* I haven't played all of the GitS games to back that up.

Essence_of_Meh ,

Yeah, Metal Wolf is a cheesy action movie filtered through Japanese lens. It's crazy, stupid and unintentionally hilarious.

As for Gothics, I think they hold up really well as long as you can overcome a few things:

  • get used to the controls - they really aren't bad but they were created when standards weren't as established as they are now.
  • treat them as worlds you are a part of rather than games - it helps figure out alternative solutions to quests and avoid some unpleasant surprises (in universe, not bugs).
  • game world does not revolve around you - early on even basic wildlife will be a challenge, treat enemies with respect.
  • there's no level scaling - some areas will be unavailable to you until you're strong (or crafty) enough.
  • don't play Gothic II with Night of the Raven expansion installed from the start - it adds a bunch of difficult enemies available from the get go and will make the game way harder if you don't know how to avoid them.

I think some of those points might sound more serious than they really are but should make for a good primer anyway. There's a lot to like about those games (even compared to another titan of that time, Morrowind) so I hope you have fun!

Essence_of_Meh OP ,

Because that's what it is. I think some of it might have to do with the limited content of the petition itself (a pretty short description about "customers being robbed" without any broader ideas suggested by the campaign) and some with the fact they get plenty of petitions so the first reaction is to stick with what's already there. That's my guess at least.

I hope that if this petition reached 100k signatures and went to a parliamentary hearing there could be a chance for a more nuanced presentation of the topic but who knows, maybe I'm just being naive.

Essence_of_Meh OP ,

That's cool, didn't know that!

gmr_leon , to Patient Gamers
@gmr_leon@mstdn.social avatar

How do you like to approach writing about games?

I've noticed there are some folks writing at length here on their experiences playing games, so this felt like a good place to ask. Do you take notes as you play, and/or after each session, then write out full thoughts upon completing a game?

Or are your reflections compiled only after finishing a game, no notes?

I've dabbled with different approaches, and haven't really settled on a consistent process personally.

@patientgamers

Essence_of_Meh ,

I'm one of those posting walls of text so I guess I'll throw in my thoughts on this.

I tend to write down bullet points about stuff that pops out the most while playing - I jump between many different games all the times so it's a useful habit to avoid mixing my thoughts about them. I note these points shortly after play session (if I'm on my PC) or the next day (if I was playing on handheld in bed) and then expand on them after I'm done with the game.

Since I don't really have anyone to talk about older titles my write ups tend to be on the longer side and read more like a draft than a thought out summary. My desire to include as much info as I can also doesn't help with this issue. Lots of thoughts + no way to filter them through a third party + limited time do not make for a sensible process.

In the end, I just want to let people know about the weird jank I play. Bad and mediocre games need love too!

Essence_of_Meh ,

Joplin is my goto as well!

I've got a lot of jank to write about in my backlog, might find some interesting surprises if you like that type of experiences.

Essence_of_Meh OP ,

You're absolutely right about the dialog and I'm not sure why I forgot to include it in my post - that's a pretty stupid decision on dev's part, especially since there's enough downtime that could be used for that purpose instead.

While mission design is pretty linear I never really found it to be a huge issue. It might be because I never expected any openness to begin with so anytime there was an option to avoid full-on combat seemed like a nice surprise. It doesn't help that there isn't much room for experimentation since enemies can be really deadly at times.

It's definitely not a game for everyone and I can understand why you bounced off of it. I've been molded by jank so my tolerance to many of game's issues is rather high. Or maybe I just have a soft spot for mediocre titles - I seem to drift towards them more than to polished, high-budget games.

Essence_of_Meh OP ,

On the other hand they do have a history of protecting customers (weren't they the main reason behind Steams refund policy?) and that's what this is about.

Essence_of_Meh OP ,

That's why the campaign is aimed at multiple jurisdictions - there's a chance at least one of them works out.

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