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hanselthecaretaker

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Don't you understand? It's art! Don't you want to feel bad about beating the crap out of somebody and feel like a miserable person? Then the game persecutes you for it and make you feel like the ultimate badass! While a game designers act like complete and pretentious dicks about it thinking they're creating something amazing! You understand that feeling don't you?/end sarcasm.

Santa Monica Studio did similar thing with the latest GoW and blood thirsty Kratos, also to great effect and near universal praise. The main difference is he started as a comical action anti-hero (based on Edward Norton’s portrayal of a Nazi in American History X no less) where the literal goal was to make him the “ultimate badass”and was rebooted generations later into something more dramatic and grounded.
 

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Santa Monica Studio did similar thing with the latest GoW and blood thirsty Kratos, also to great effect and near universal praise. The main difference is he started as a comical action anti-hero (based on Edward Norton’s portrayal of a Nazi in American History X no less) where the literal goal was to make him the “ultimate badass”and was rebooted generations later into something more dramatic and grounded.
  1. I saw the documentary for the original God of war, so I am more than aware.
  2. At least Kratos had some character in the first game, everything afterward was just a cartoonish sociopath you were still supposed to find sympathetic and like. When he was neither of those in the second and third main line game.
  3. There's plenty of protagonists that have/had the ultimate badass title before Kratos showed up.
  4. Asura, Dante, and Bayonetta are the ultimate badasses and video gaming as far as I am concerned. Especially the first person I mentioned on the list.
 
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happyninja42

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Santa Monica Studio did similar thing with the latest GoW and blood thirsty Kratos, also to great effect and near universal praise. The main difference is he started as a comical action anti-hero (based on Edward Norton’s portrayal of a Nazi in American History X no less) where the literal goal was to make him the “ultimate badass”and was rebooted generations later into something more dramatic and grounded.
The original GoW game was a very classic, literal Greek Tragedy, and it felt very fitting. I genuinely think the first GoW game is a very good bit of storytelling, in regards to violence, rage, revenge, etc. It's broadly sweeping, uses the greek gods in their roles as avatars for human virtues and vices, and is appropriately cathartic, while also being...well...tragic. GoW 2/3 just dove head first into the gore porn and almost farce level of silliness with things, and, for me at least, started to turn my enjoyment of the franchise. By GoW3, I was actively sick of playing Kratos. I wasn't enjoying his continued, blind charge into utter destruction, even when the evidence of his path was so clearly put in front of him. This might shock you, but I personally don't enjoy being forced to play psychopaths without any agency in making them NOT be psychopaths. So by the end, I was frankly glad it was over, and it left a sour taste in my mouth for the entire brand.

So I was very happy they actually redid him as someone with a dark past, who was actively trying to live past it, with the latest GoW game. There we no more mini-games of me cruely braining a guy, begging for his life, just to fuel the blood for a ritual. When Kratos killed things, 1. He did so very reluctantly these days 2. He would show genuine regret when he had to kill things that hadn't actually shown him any threat. Like That big guardian creature in helheim that he had to take the heart from, to heal Atreus. You can clearly see him desperatly NOT wanting to cut this thing open, and rip out it's heart. And when he's done, he reaches down as if to try and offer an apology to the corpse. Yes he's still violent, because the game is still framed around it, but his reasons for being violent, are totally different. He does so with reluctance, and consideration, and as a last resort. Not as a reflexive, first response to the tiniest slight.
 

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Started playing Star Wars: Squadrons today. Got it free via PS+, and needed a new game to play with the wifey. It's fine, I don't fly very well with a controller, and would much rather have a keyboard/mouse, but preferably an actual joystick.

The switching back and forth between New Republic and Imperial Remnant is interesting, though I've noticed something odd about the Imperial side, that reminds me of when I was playing Farcry 5. So, game devs these days get lots of flak (deservedly in most cases) for lack of diversity in the characters. Well....the Empire is the most diverse, progressive....fascist military state based on literal racists who were all about racial purity. I've literally only met ONE white dude....in the Empire....the...EMPIRE. I just, find it funny that they've gone to such great lengths, to represent every other race...in an organization based around bigotry and suppression
I'm not super deep into the SW lore or anything, but the way I always read it is that the Empire are Human Supremacist Racists, so they're fine with Humans of any sort, but it's the aliens they discriminate againest(Thrawn gets somewhat of a pass because he looked at their finger paintings and beat them all at strip poker and wouldn't give them their clothes back until they let him in as an admiral). Basically, Fantastic Racism, or as the TVtrope page summarizes it as

"Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because—what with trolls and dwarfs and so on—speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green."

If that sounds stupid and nonsensical, well, Racism is stupid and nonsensical. Hell, people who White Supremacists wouldn't have considered "White" a century ago have slowly got to join the "Whitey=Goody" club in their eyes, notably the Italians, Greeks and Irish. Fuck, the Germans were suspect to these idiots in the 1850's and there was an entire party built around that shit in the US. It's fucking bizarre, really, how slowly everyone gets to be white, eventually, except of course the Blacks, Mexicans and the Muslims. At least until we discover Aliens, and then aforementioned groups will get to be officially "white" too, I'm sure. Probably best not to waste time or mental energy trying to figure out their stupid race logic.
 
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happyninja42

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I'm not super deep into the SW lore or anything, but the way I always read is it that the Empire are Human Supremacist Racists, so they're fine with Humans of any sort, but it's the aliens they discriminate againest(Thrawn gets somewhat of a pass because he looked at their finger paintings and beat them all at speed chess). Basically, Fantastic Racism, or as the TVtrope page summarizes it as

"Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because—what with trolls and dwarfs and so on—speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green."

If that sounds stupid and nonsensical, well, Racism is stupid and nonsensical. Hell, people who White Supremacists wouldn't have considered White a century ago have slowly got to join the "Whitey=Goody" club in their eyes, notable the Italians, Greeks and Italians. Fuck, the Germans were suspect to these idiots in the 1850's and there was an entire party built around that shit in the US
Oh I agree, they are a more speciesist than skin tone racist. But the reality is, the way they first showed that, in the OT, was to have the Empire be all Whitey. Because you know, they were Space Nazis, and the Nazis had a pretty distinct trait they felt was important. What I find funny about the whole thing, is how far in other direction they went with it. From the real world angle. I don't really care about the in-universe rationale for it. Bottom line is EA and the dev team, populated the bigoted, racist faction with, almost exclusively, representatives from the various human races, that have been the victims, of said bigotry and racism. Under the guise of diversity, representation and inclusion in gaming. I mean the Asian Imperial guy, is even gay, talking about his husband in a casual conversation. I just find it funny, given how the people who would actually look at the imperial mandate and think "yes...that is a valid policy to live by" would be furious by the way it's being presented. Asian woman is my commanding officer?! A GAY Asian guy is my copilot?!? Multiple black WOMEN working along side me?!? Rabble rabble rabble. I just, find it amusing on a personal level.
 

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Oh I agree, they are a more speciesist than skin tone racist. But the reality is, the way they first showed that, in the OT, was to have the Empire be all Whitey. Because you know, they were Space Nazis, and the Nazis had a pretty distinct trait they felt was important. What I find funny about the whole thing, is how far in other direction they went with it. From the real world angle. I don't really care about the in-universe rationale for it. Bottom line is EA and the dev team, populated the bigoted, racist faction with, almost exclusively, representatives from the various human races, that have been the victims, of said bigotry and racism. Under the guise of diversity, representation and inclusion in gaming. I mean the Asian Imperial guy, is even gay, talking about his husband in a casual conversation. I just find it funny, given how the people who would actually look at the imperial mandate and think "yes...that is a valid policy to live by" would be furious by the way it's being presented. Asian woman is my commanding officer?! A GAY Asian guy is my copilot?!? Multiple black WOMEN working along side me?!? Rabble rabble rabble. I just, find it amusing on a personal level.
It is a little wierd. There are only 2 things I can think of to justify it(and I don't know if either are correct).

1.) Perhaps the recruitment policies are drawing more from the Roman Empire here then the Nazis(and the Romans are an arguable influence on the empire), and while the Romans were Xenophobic to an extent, they were also more then happy to fill the army with anyone who was willing and able to pledge loyalty from conquered provinces. Which is how you get Germans serving in the Legions fighting other Germans, etc. As long as you were loyal to Rome and did Romes Bidding, Rome couldn't care less what you looked like for the most part(and already know the Romans were cool with the gay part).

2.) On another level, Yeah the OT, the Empire were all Whitey but so were the Rebels for the most part. You didn't even see non-humans in the rebellion for the most part until Return of the Jedi and there was still mostly white dudes in the extras, no doubt due to casting decisions of the 1970's and 1980's. When you get ot the prequels and new films, you start seeing more in the way of actual diversity in the military, reflecting real world politics and casting shifts. In Rogue One there are numerous female pilots and POC in the rebel ranks who weren't seen in A New Hope, because of that change in casting.

This could lead to the conclusion that the both the rebels and the empire were 90% white male humans as seen in the OT, or that we saw a very small representation of the rebellion and the empire(and when everyone who isn't an officer is wearing a face concealing helmet and full armor in the Imperial Military it does beg the question) which just happened to be mostly white and male humans during the OT and the new works show a more accurate representation.
 
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happyninja42

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It is a little wierd. There are only 2 things I can think of to justify it(and I don't know if either are correct).

1.) Perhaps the recruitment policies are drawing more from the Roman Empire here then the Nazis(and the Romans are an arguable influence on the empire), and while the Romans were Xenophobic to an extent, they were also more then happy to fill the army with anyone who was willing and able to pledge loyalty from conquered provinces. Which is how you get Germans serving in the Legions fighting other Germans, etc. As long as you were loyal to Rome and did Romes Bidding, Rome couldn't care less what you looked like for the most part(and already know the Romans were cool with the gay part).
I honestly doubt EA put that much thought into it. I think it was just "put non-whites in there so they don't grill us for not being inclusive" Fans will back fill in-universe reasons for it, like they always do with EVERY detail in star wars, like why Luke had a green saber in RotJ, instead of simply just letting it be a different color. NOOOO...it MUST have a REASON. IN UNIVERSE. Don't worry that it's simply because "blue saber against blue sky in desert looked horrible in post, so they changed it to contrast more easily with the background" Nope. it's because Padawans are given blue sabers, and true Knights, graduate to a green saber. Like fucking martial arts belts. :rolleyes:

So sure, I have no doubt someone will say, like you did, that it's because of this in-verse reason, about pulling from wherever they can for troops, and all that. But the reality is most like EA was trying to appease the fans, and the current social climate, and just didn't really appreciate, or notice the irony of having a group based on actual racists, be some multi-cultural, rainbow collective of hate and bigotry.

2.) On another level, Yeah the OT, the Empire were all Whitey but so were the Rebels for the most part. You didn't even see non-humans in the rebellion for the most part until Return of the Jedi and there was still mostly white dudes in the extras, no doubt due to casting decisions of the 1970's and 1980's. When you get ot the prequels and new films, you start seeing more in the way of actual diversity in the military, reflecting real world politics and casting shifts. In Rogue One there are numerous female pilots and POC in the rebel ranks who weren't seen in A New Hope, because of that change in casting.
Yes, back in the mid 70s, it was not easy to get a job in hollywood if you weren't white. And as for aliens, I suspect it's mostly due to the quality of prosthetics and makeup back then, looking fairly like shit. Which is why when you did see the aliens, it was in dark rooms, like the cantina, with ambient lighting of various colors to help mask bad makeup/masks. And for short periods of time before an edit would cut to another shot.
 

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The super SUPER edgelord edginess of both this Garrett, and the female main character, physically causes me pain to listen to them talk. I understand why the reboot died on the vine with this release, I just wish someone had picked up with the franchise, and done a new/better game.
You don't know true edge-lord edginess until you've seen or played Dead to Rights: Retribution.

 
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happyninja42

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You don't know true edge-lord edginess until you've seen or played Dead to Rights: Retribution.

Oh wow I vaguely recall that game. I remember enjoying the doggo mechanics a bit, but I think, like that first clip, that was a rental for me, and I never finished it.
 
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Oh wow I vaguely recall that game. I remember enjoying the doggo mechanics a bit, but I think, like that first clip, that was a rental for me, and I never finished it.
Dead to Rights...what a waste of a possible franchise. The only good game is the original back on XBOX/PS2/GC. DTR II while technically having better gameplay, is just a straight up arcade shooter that's a prequel for no reason, and has no plot. No one talks about the horrible PSP game. That reboot I just showed you: We're talking about one of the most...blatant....Gears....clone....ever....made! Namco really missed the fucking point of the first game and is one of the many AAA developers that missed point of Gears of War and/or COD, and made something no one wanted nor asked for.
 
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Dalisclock

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Recruited the 4 champions in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and did a bunch of the little sidequests/side missions. Having the big strategy map is an interesting addition to this though it does feel like it's cribbed from numerous other games(A number of the older Assassins Creed Games had something where you invest resources on a map to get more resources/income as a break from the main game, but bunch of other games have done something similar). It's a nice decompression between battles and the small benefits give you a reason to spend a few minutes doing it.

Still trying to figure out the blacksmithing thing. I know you can sacrifice weapons to level up other weapons and add secondary buffs, though I'm still not sure how to trigger adding some of those buffs to my main. It does beg the question why Link couldn't do this in BOTW to keep his weapons from breaking every 5 minutes.

The smaller missions are nice to practice with the new characters and movesets in a smaller chunk then a main mission, since each main mission takes upwards of an hour unless you're skipping cutscenes and huffing it. I also notice there's a training, er "meditation" room but haven't really needed to use it much yet.

Of the characters I've got so far, Link is my mainstay because he's generally good at everything, but I've grown quite fond of Urbosa the Thunder Goddess and Mipha, who is a lot more powerful then she looks. Garuk is....he's fine. Ravalli has an interesting and flashy moveset I might play around with somewhat. Zelda, OTOH, it looks like she might be useful if I could figure out just how her moveset actually works, but right now she's not there. I don't know if she eventually gets a power/skillset upgrade or what but right now she comes across as pretty weak(Maybe this is tied to plot progression?).

The gameplay loop is growing on me, though it does get a little predictable at times. Run through map, capture outposts, inevitable counterattack at some point, mini-boss enemies every couple minutes, etc. It is wierd going straight from BOTW which was very open with it's map to having a series of linear paths(with locked gates that only open when you clear checkpoints to boot) and it makes it difficult to really map the levels here to the BOTW equivalents at times. The Divine Beast levels(2 of which so far) are kinda fun but also a bit gimmicky. On the bright side they don't overstay their welcome and it does feel kinda nice to rain bloody hell down upon a bunch of Lynels from a massive mech. The downside is it's sometimes really fucking hard to tell what's a target and what isn't(especially during the Death Mountain stage in Vah Rudania). I guess that's what the giant death laser is for.

Also, I do find it interesting that the Gerudo and the Rito apparently have a very large army, considering how many of them you have to fight in their respective recruitment levels. Especially since I feel like I damn near genocided the Rito, which I'm sure is totally going to endear them to me. The Gerudo at least had an out because they were being misled by an imposter, but the Rito pretty much just decided I was in the wrong neighborhood *Cue the smell of roasted bird feathers all the way up the mountain*. Man, Zelda popping up and commenting about neither Link or Ravelli being hurt........apparently she didn't notice all the dead bird folk on the way up. Awkward.

Speaking of Awkward, I mentioned this before in my BOTW commentary, but Links inability/unwillingness to speak feels even more awkward here because now you have conversations between multiple people in the cutscenes, a lot more frequently, and Link is just kinda there hanging out for the most part. For the canonical main character(and numerous characters credit link with victory at times), LInk has very little to contribute to the actual story bits aside from being Zeldas bodyguard.....but she has Impa for that too and Impa can fucking talk. This is where the SIlent Protagonist thing starts to really show it's limitations, where the devs really want the character to be a player insert except it becomes increasingly weird and all the other characters have to do the plot/character heavy lifting for the player character, but that's a whole topic by itself.
 
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hanselthecaretaker

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@Dalisclock the obvious reasoning would be the save on hiring voice talent for the PC, but then it’s like well, apparently they didn’t seem to mind for NPCs (or could they just reuse a person for Link?) so it begs the question, when will Nintendo finally just go all-N er, IN? It’s kinda to the point where they shouldn’t really be given a pass on it anymore.

They need to either stick with the old handful of sound blips and text for dialog and story or buck up some more of those Wii monies they have tucked away and give everyone the same treatment and attention.
 
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happyninja42

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Still trying to figure out the blacksmithing thing. I know you can sacrifice weapons to level up other weapons and add secondary buffs, though I'm still not sure how to trigger adding some of those buffs to my main. It does beg the question why Link couldn't do this in BOTW to keep his weapons from breaking every 5 minutes.
I STRONGLY suggest you check out a YT video explaining how it works. Basically, the traits on the weapon being sacrificed, will go onto the primary item. They have these symbols next to the various effects, and if you put traits with the same symbol, you get a synergy bonus, that makes the independent traits slightly more effective (boosting a +10% effect to +13% for example). There is a limit to the number of traits the weapons can have, based on a few factors, and I think you can only ever synergize 3 trait symbols on any given weapon? So the other set of 2 (i think the max is 5 traits), you would want to use some other trait symbol. It's more complicated than that of course, but yeah, go watch a video on it. Quick tip, the items that have the +weapon fusion XP, you should level those up BEFORE you sacrifice them. The higher their level when you fuse them with something else, the more benefit you gain from the fusion XP.

Of the characters I've got so far, Link is my mainstay because he's generally good at everything, but I've grown quite fond of Urbosa the Thunder Goddess
*highfive* MY MAN!! She was my favorite for the majority of the game, until a specific thing related to one of the other characters happens later on, making that one my favorite. But yes, Urbosa's lightning dance of death was SOOOO fun to play.
 

happyninja42

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Zelda, OTOH, it looks like she might be useful if I could figure out just how her moveset actually works, but right now she's not there. I don't know if she eventually gets a power/skillset upgrade or what but right now she comes across as pretty weak(Maybe this is tied to plot progression?).
Yes and Yes to your two questions. Her baseline skill set, with the sheika slate is....not my favorite, by far. But, well, you played BOTW, I think you can guess what happens later on related to her, that might make her go from Awkward Ineffectual Princess to Princess of Power ( I mean she IS a bearer of a Triforce afterall). Once that happens....she became my new personal fave. She definitively replaced Urbosa as my #1, though Urbosa is a very strong #2. :LOL:
 
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Still trying to figure out the blacksmithing thing. I know you can sacrifice weapons to level up other weapons and add secondary buffs, though I'm still not sure how to trigger adding some of those buffs to my main. It does beg the question why Link couldn't do this in BOTW to keep his weapons from breaking every 5 minutes
I don't know? Alternate universe maybe?
 
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happyninja42

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Against the Storm Royal Woodlands Demo

It's like Frostpunk, but less brutal, and more...I guess probably Warcraft 3 art style I would say? Basic premise:

This world has constant, evil rainfall, that destroys everything it touches (or at least all of your society, wildlife/plants seem just fine). But the people that live there, die if they are exposed to it for too long. Luckily, the Fire Queen, rules the last kingdom on the planet, and she has magical flamey powers, and can keep eternal flames burning to stave off the rains in local areas. But her power is dying, and so she has sent you out to establish colonies/outposts of her last city, to try and help keep everyone alive.

You are then tasked with building up a city with various resource needs, but you are on a schedule. The Queen has tasks she wants you to accomplish. If you don't accomplish them, she gets pissed and bad things happen, eventually game over. So you have to manage the needs of your people, the resources you have access to, expansion, upgrading, AND fulfilling the Queen's tasks, all while making sure you don't let the town fire die out, killing everyone.

It's pretty fun, but I am biased towards games about establishing communities in a hostile environment, and making it sustainable.

**EDIT**

Ok so, played more of this demo and, first off, there's a lot in this demo. There are a handful of starting towns that are literally called Tutorial Town, where they teach you the basics, and then after that, you get to pick a new starting location further out from the central city. And the locations have varying levels of difficulty. And whooo boy does that spike up fast. It wasn't kidding when it said "Very Hard" when I poked my nose in a certain area. Town withered horribly, and I had to abandon. But, it's kind of a rogue lite, because even if a colony fails, YOU gain XP, and this will....I guess unlock new starting resources/structures? I'm not sure yet, haven't actually leveled to see what new things show up.
 
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Whatever, just wash your hands.
I finally beat the Imperial Campaign in Battle Fleet Gothic 2. Took 60 hours, no wonder only 3% of players have beat it on normal. I'm considering going into the Necron campaign now.

Also playing Monster Train again.

I grabbed Team Sonic Racing and Sonic Mania on super sale, might start one of those also.
 

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Finished Axiom Verge.

It's a pretty good game. The cutscenes and overall presentation feels a bit amateurish but the central gameplay is really solid. There's a bit of a weapon overload (I got 15 different weapons and I'm not sure I got them all). Even half would've been twice as many as I ever needed. The upgrades and tools centering on mobility - the high jump, the drill, the grappling hook, the phazing coat and the drone w/ ability to teleport you - were much more critical to the evolution of gameplay.

It's also probably too much like Metroid for its own good. Could've done with a more unique sense of identity. There's nothing all that memorable about it since all the places look more or less the same, the bosses are cheap as hell and the story is too obtuse to be gripping. Games like Hollow Knight and Blasphemous are much more effective at maintaining the atmosphere (the lame out of place humor and constant phonecalls are a disservice to Axiom) and creating truly unique moments of wonder and discovery.
 
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Just finished the Star Wars: Squadrons single player campaign. It's....eh? The plot is dumb on toast. It felt a lot like the various single player tutorials you see in multiplayer games. Minimal effort put into that component, just to explain the mechanics for the multiplayer. It's ok I guess, as far as a medium fare SW story. The super weapon this time belongs to the Republic, but..it's a really dumb weapon. They hype it up like it's going to be this game changer, but, the way it's used is just, really dumb.

So, it's a giant tractor beam ship. A cap ship, with a tractor beam x10 stronger than any other tractor beam. They slapped it onto a cap ship because......reasons? Seriously it makes no sense. They USE it in the game, to rip up a Star Destroyer, but....why not just make a big damn laser? And, this isn't a silly question, because one of my copilots fucking asks that very question, when we see the device in action for the first time. Specifically saying "Why don't we just build a death star?" Another copilot responds "We aren't the bad guys." Which...makes no sense, because they USE it like a giant death beam, so they might as well make it a cap busting death beam? I find the idea of trying to use it as a non-lethal device silly, because assuming it's not going to rip apart every ship you grab with it (which again, why not just shoot them?), then all it will do is lock a single cap ship in place, but it would still put the tractor beam ship at risk, and the rest of the enemy fleet could still engage as normal. It just doesn't seem like a practical device, at all. My wife came up with a MUCH better idea for a "non-lethal" device, if the issue is blurring the good guy/bad guy line by giving the Republic a big death laser.

Let the super device be a fleet scale shield generator, that is mobile.

It can project a field so large, that it protects multiple ships in a fleet. And since shields in SW are one way, it would still allow the defensive cap ships to fire OUT at any attacking fleet, while preventing any enemy cap ships from effectively firing capital weapons at long range. Forcing them to run a gauntlet of laser batteries to get inside the shield, and at best, letting their fighters go in alone. But that would make it where it's enemy fighters vs defensive fighters + defensive cap ships. A HUGE advantage. But, it's also non-lethal. Makes WAY more sense.

But, they apparently didn't put much thought into it.

Oh, the combat...yeah I guess I should talk about that some. It's ok I guess? The game introduces drifting, which is something I love in space games. But the way you activate it is really dumb, and so situational as to be useless. I mostly just muddled through it, and dropped the difficulty down to Storymode, because there was one mission, on normal difficulty, that the amount of concentrated fire on me and an optional objective, was just stupid. If you picked it up for free from PS+ or something, and just REALLY love SW fighter content, I guess it's a good pick maybe? My wife and I only found it mildly enjoyable, and had more fun making fun of how you move around the pre-flight locations, like someone on a segway. Already un-installed it, don't plan on ever playing it again.