Your video game hot take(s) thread

meiam

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Yes? I don't know what this is, I can barely even read the title. Want to make an argument with words?
Mana khemia, its an off shoot of the atelier franchise (imo the atelier franchise should have been the one to disappear and khemia continue). Crafting is pretty good in it because its fully integrated into the story/system (you go to an alchemy class) rather than a side activity. Every recipe call for category of item (say 1 wood 1 metal 1 processed good and so on) and then you can craft it with any item that fit those description, all item have both attribute and mana level. Some of the attribuet will be passed on to the crafted good and depending on the average mana level the final good will also earn additional attribute. High level recipe require crafted goods themselves, so you often have to plan ahead to make sure you have the right mana level so you can use the correct materials to transfer the attribute you want. Sadly the game is also really easy, so if you go heavy on the crafting you end up killing everything so quickly it doesn't really matters. Otherwise the game as a bit of a persona side to it with time management during the day and school homework and grade.

The game is worth tracking down but I haven't done PS2 emulation in awhile so can't point you anywhere you can dl the game safely.
 

Drathnoxis

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Mana khemia, its an off shoot of the atelier franchise (imo the atelier franchise should have been the one to disappear and khemia continue). Crafting is pretty good in it because its fully integrated into the story/system (you go to an alchemy class) rather than a side activity. Every recipe call for category of item (say 1 wood 1 metal 1 processed good and so on) and then you can craft it with any item that fit those description, all item have both attribute and mana level. Some of the attribuet will be passed on to the crafted good and depending on the average mana level the final good will also earn additional attribute. High level recipe require crafted goods themselves, so you often have to plan ahead to make sure you have the right mana level so you can use the correct materials to transfer the attribute you want. Sadly the game is also really easy, so if you go heavy on the crafting you end up killing everything so quickly it doesn't really matters. Otherwise the game as a bit of a persona side to it with time management during the day and school homework and grade.

The game is worth tracking down but I haven't done PS2 emulation in awhile so can't point you anywhere you can dl the game safely.
Looks like Vimm's Lair has it (as well as, like, every other rom in existence), but last time I tried PS2 emulation it was a slideshow.
 
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Chimpzy

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Looks like Vimm's Lair has it (as well as, like, every other rom in existence), but last time I tried PS2 emulation it was a slideshow.
If you got a pc remotely capable of playing any modern games (including indie), you can emulate PS2 no problem. Might wanna eshew mentions of Vimm's tho. Technically still against the CoC.
 
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Specter Von Baren

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Mana khemia, its an off shoot of the atelier franchise (imo the atelier franchise should have been the one to disappear and khemia continue). Crafting is pretty good in it because its fully integrated into the story/system (you go to an alchemy class) rather than a side activity. Every recipe call for category of item (say 1 wood 1 metal 1 processed good and so on) and then you can craft it with any item that fit those description, all item have both attribute and mana level. Some of the attribuet will be passed on to the crafted good and depending on the average mana level the final good will also earn additional attribute. High level recipe require crafted goods themselves, so you often have to plan ahead to make sure you have the right mana level so you can use the correct materials to transfer the attribute you want. Sadly the game is also really easy, so if you go heavy on the crafting you end up killing everything so quickly it doesn't really matters. Otherwise the game as a bit of a persona side to it with time management during the day and school homework and grade.

The game is worth tracking down but I haven't done PS2 emulation in awhile so can't point you anywhere you can dl the game safely.
Also there was no leveling system. Instead, in order to learn new abilities and increase your stats, you had to make specific items so you could unlock them. Love the game series.
 
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Chimpzy

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Having neither as PS4 or 5, I decided to watch an lp of God of War Ragnarok

And here's the spicy take: based on my time with its precessor, I feel like watching it be played isn't a significantly worse experience than actually playing it
 

BrawlMan

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Having neither as PS4 or 5, I decided to watch an lp of God of War Ragnarok

And here's the spicy take: based on my time with its precessor, I feel like watching it be played isn't a significantly worse experience than actually playing it
Ragnarok is pretty much just a more refined and better version of the previous game. There wasn't going to be too many changes, but they at least bothered to add more verticality to combat and traversal sections, accessing the nine realms, with more variety of bosses, mini bosses, and enemy types. Not too different from how God of War II was a more refined God of War I.
 
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Old_Hunter_77

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Here's a "hot take" of mine that I've probably already made but I'm having a slow day so whatever:

You know what's a good game? Horizon Zero Dawn. You know what's another really good game? Horizon Forbidden West.

That series is the ultimate "game reviewers are bored" victim. I also think that whole "overshadowed by BotW/ER" is nonsense- it's different games.

Aloy is awesome, the games are gorgeous, the worlds are amazing- I dunno man, I'm a simple guy, I get to shoot 'splody arrows at robot animals, it's peak gaming. And obviously many agree.
Sure I have the criticism that enemies are too fast and fly around and it seems I have to do way too much radial menu during combat but that is a minor quibble and personal preference. Still feels amazing to take down a robot snake dinosaur thing.

Personally I enjoyed it more than Elden Ring. I am not saying it's objectively better or whatever, just that I get this feeling that it's cool to crap on them 'cause some folks are bored by Sony exclusive single player cinematic narratives but that's their problem.
And some criticism that it's just a sequel, doesn't offer anything new or is not as novel as the first which- ok, fine, but why pick on Horizon when everything else gets repetitive sequels. Oh look, Football Manager 2023 came out, go pick on that.
 

BrawlMan

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Personally I enjoyed it more than Elden Ring. I am not saying it's objectively better or whatever,
You just described my feelings between Shadows of the Damned and Alan Wake. The latter is definitely more polished and objectively better, but I enjoyed Shadows of the Damned more.

And some criticism that it's just a sequel, doesn't offer anything new or is not as novel as the first which- ok, fine, but why pick on Horizon when everything else gets repetitive sequels. Oh look, Football Manager 2023 came out, go pick on that.
🤜🤛
 

hanselthecaretaker

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BrawlMan

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Not really a hot take, more of a shower thought, but why do people have such a fondness for Phil Spencer when Xbox hasn't exactly been too hot for almost a decade now?
Because he’s…well, he’s…I guess he’s better than the fools before him in that role?
Anyways, also this for some reason -
He did actually try and keep Microsoft from exiting the console race. Originally, the investors and suits wanted out, because the XONE wasn't doing so well at that time. Despite the console's problems, Spencer tried and succeeded in turning some things around and improving sales.
 
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BrawlMan

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Anyone that says the SNES OST of Final Fight is better than the Arcade or GBA version, needs to get their ears checked badly. The GBA versions has its flaws, but soundtrack is mostly faithfully translated from the Arcade game. The Sega CD version is still superior of course in terms of music.

 

BrawlMan

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A lot of these critics hating on arcade 3rd person shooters like Evil West and Gungrave GORE, can fuck off. I am more so referring to GORE as the reception is more mixed their. Many of these reviewers either don't get the game, want it to "innovate", or set impossibly high expectations of asking for exploration and side paths. GORE is not that type of game! From the very beginning with the first trailer, the developers outright stated it's an old-school arcade shooter. If you're expecting a deep narrative, the combat to be exactly like DMC, Bayonetta, or God of War, and innovation, you're a dumb ass that does not pay attention.

The game does have some flaws I noticed, but nothing game breaking yet. GORE does have several combat improvements. You can now grab enemies or pull enemies towards you. Execution grants you bonus health or shield. Grave even gets his own Devil Trigger by pressing L2 + R2. Grave can now use human shield; something I've been asking since the second game. He even has a melee move set that can be upgraded. It's not the deepest, but it is an improvement. I swear that even YouTuber users don't know how to review games anymore, and a lot are no different from the professionals they hate or rag on for not "reviewing the game correctly".
 

RhombusHatesYou

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It sounds ridiculous, but you have to consider how many people bought PS2's and PS3's because they were, respectively, cheap DVD players and cheap Blu-Ray players.
Yeah but the tech MS was pushing for the XB1 was quickly overtaken by the prevalence of smart tvs and cheap plug-in smart boxes... and it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that it was coming.
 
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hanselthecaretaker

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It sounds ridiculous, but you have to consider how many people bought PS2's and PS3's because they were, respectively, cheap DVD players and cheap Blu-Ray players.
But they were also what helped drive the adoption of the DVD and Blu-Ray as dominant media formats, before all the digital marketplace stuff took off, because they were the next logical steps in game storage formats after the CD. Microsoft...basically tried to railroad this as a new standard -

 

RhombusHatesYou

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Yeah but the tech MS was pushing for the XB1 was quickly overtaken by the prevalence of smart tvs and cheap plug-in smart boxes... and it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that it was coming.
To add:

That in and of itself wasn't the problem, the problem really stems from MS taking for granted that 360 owners would all flock to the XB1 but by pushing the angles they did instead of, for a wild example, gaming they basically gave 360 owners no imperative to rush out and grab them. "Hey look, a new Xbox that does all the shit your tv already does" isn't a strong selling point and the CPU architecture swap kicked backward compatibility in the head... They should have been pushing launch titles and xb1 exclusives (those were a thing, right? My memory is getting something something) and all the gaming angles not "hey! Netflix and sport! sport! sport!".