What are you currently playing?

[BrawlMan]

I like Evangelion, but this makes even me groan. Anime can sometimes have such a huge boner for Christianity that it would even make a fundamentalist christian go 'Would you just relax, it's not that big a deal'.

Ironic, because I hate Eva with a passion, yet none of the story, characters, and themes in Automata bothered me once.

But they're made to fight, right? So why would sexiness be necessary in the context of battle?

Been too long; can't remember. I recommend watching the Clemps 4 part video I posted for further clarification on that one.

Or is the story that they're refurbished pleasure models?

That part I do remember, and no, that's not the case.

It's trying to tickle my brain with science fiction concepts, but that's kinda impossible when characters are running around in clown shoes (not literally, but you get my point).

Eh, sometimes you just gotta go with it or not. For me, I had no issues, so I went with it. I knew things would be bat shit insane anyway, cuz Yoko Taro.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

As far as I can tell, it is that easy. A number of things in DS3 were streamlined, including this(granted, you have to kill an annoying boss to get that abiity). I ended up holding onto a lot of boss souls till later just in hopes one of the weapons would seem viable but most of them require either high magic skills or huge amount of strength to make it worth it, and honestly, picking a regular weapon and just upgrading it seems a lot more useful then like 90% of the boss weapons I've seen so far. The Dancers Swords are kinda cool for a dex build since one blade has fire and the other has dark.

I think there's one special weapon you can only get if you go through two complete game cycles and combine the same boss soul from both cycles The Twin Princes but I have no idea if it's worth it honestly.

FROM made up for it by making a bunch of the NPC questlines easy to fuck up if you weren't using a guide or paying close attention. Including the secret ending

I used those boss souls as I got 'em haha. The only ones I really ended up seriously trying though were a Lightning infused Lothric Knight GS for Nameless and the Farron GS on the Twins IIRC, but ultimately resorted to my trusty Heavy Claymore for pretty much the whole back end of the game + DLC. Some of the others could be interesting on a NG+ for experimentation though.

 

[Worgen]

Ironic, because I hate Eva with a passion, yet none of the story, characters, and themes in Automata bothered me once.

Its weird, I kinda like Eva but I hate all the characters, they all suck, they are great characters, but they suck. But I find it interesting enough to put it on the like list, not top 10 or anything, just on the like list.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

For everyone who hated the huge multi-page Dark Souls discussions earlier in the thread, good news! Now we're in a huge multi-page Nier: Automata discussion instead! I'd throw in my own 2c, but I didn't play that much of it, and it was a pretty long time ago. About up to when the giant hole in the ground in the first area opens up during 2B's route, if I recall.

OT: Finished exploring the sixth Palace in Persona 5 Royal. Now I just gotta wait for the boss fight to start, and try to clean up a few more Confidants in the meantime. Also found Persona 4 Golden in my Steam library from a while back, so I started that while my parents have been watching gridiron on the TV. Only just finished the tutorial, but though I didn't think much of the boss changes that I saw, the tutorial bosses have actually been rebalanced to be more than just tutorial fights; maybe there's hope after all.

I also managed to get into Streets of Rage 4's online mode with a friend in Los Angeles; with ~220ms ping, the lag was noticeable, but not completely unplayable, at least for Stage 1 on Normal. It could be a bit tricky when tougher enemies and bosses start showing up, but even then it might still be okay. Guess BrawlMan's co-op dreams aren't dead.

 

[Dalisclock]

I used those boss souls as I got 'em haha. The only ones I really ended up seriously trying though were a Lightning infused Lothric Knight GS for Nameless and the Farron GS on the Twins IIRC, but ultimately resorted to my trusty Heavy Claymore for pretty much the whole back end of the game + DLC. Some of the others could be interesting on a NG+ for experimentation though.

I picked up an Astora GS somewhere early on and infused it with lighting(because it's absurdly light for a GS). It's my go to for big threats in this game that resist the charms of my refined twinblades I normally use. And like the first game, a LOT of bosses are weak to lightning(including all the Lords of Cinder) and the ones that aren't tend to be staggered by getting smacked with a big ass hunk of metal. It's wierd I started as a Dex build in this game instead of my default stength but once i soft-capped Dex I ended up pumping a lot into strength too just because those two to complement each other a lot in weapons scaling, so now I'm back to using greatswords for bosses as usual.

I somehow held onto the Greatwood soul for like almost the entire game before eventually cashing it in and realized it was only worth 3000 souls, in a part of the game when I need 40K+ souls per new level. So yeah, that was a dumb move on my part.

 

[Dalisclock]

Its weird, I kinda like Eva but I hate all the characters, they all suck, they are great characters, but they suck. But I find it interesting enough to put it on the like list, not top 10 or anything, just on the like list.

I like Eva and maybes that's why. The characters are terrible but also interesting. Or the lingering mysteries all over the place. Or the fact the whole thing goes from"Teens go to school and then fight giant monsters in mecha" slowly into "Everyone is having nervous breakdowns, it becomes clear the saving the world from cthulhu monsters is cover for something far more dangerous and mysterious and the people in charge are far more interested in their own agendas then actually saving anyone other than their own asses".

I mean, hell, EOE is basically just a very literal take on "Turn em and Burn em" by upper management SEELE. NERV has outlived it's usefulness, time to burn the whole thing down. [/ISPOILER}

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I picked up an Astora GS somewhere early on and infused it with lighting(because it's absurdly light for a GS). It's my go to for big threats in this game that resist the charms of my refined twinblades I normally use. And like the first game, a LOT of bosses are weak to lightning(including all the Lords of Cinder) and the ones that aren't tend to be staggered by getting smacked with a big ass hunk of metal. It's wierd I started as a Dex build in this game instead of my default stength but once i soft-capped Dex I ended up pumping a lot into strength too just because those two to complement each other a lot in weapons scaling, so now I'm back to using greatswords for bosses as usual.

I somehow held onto the Greatwood soul for like almost the entire game before eventually cashing it in and realized it was only worth 3000 souls, in a part of the game when I need 40K+ souls per new level. So yeah, that was a dumb move on my part.

I wound up beating basically the entire game except Catacombs and Yhorm only using the Longsword that I started the game with. Was it the best way to handle most of the bosses? Heck no. Was it fun? Heck yes. By the time I got any more interesting/viable weapons, I'd already learned the Longsword's ins and outs to the point where adapting to a totally new weapon just didn't feel worth it.

 

[Drathnoxis]

But they're made to fight, right? So why would sexiness be necessary in the context of battle? Or is the story that they're refurbished pleasure models?

I don't actually know what game we're talking about, but I think I've seen enough fiction that I can unequivocally say that sexiness is extremely important part of combat. It could take your enemy by surprise, or make them reluctant to fight, or in the best case scenario make them so horny they are unable to continue the battle.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Mortal Kombat 11.

Started this one today (story mode) aaaaand....got to the final fight as well...today. Didn't beat it, because that final boss is a fucking PITA, but...yeah it was pretty damn fast. It was fun, even having like zero memory of MK 1-3 (the ones I played), and nothing past that, but it really wasn't needed. The plot is very straightforward. I'm sort of ambivalent on the changing of the roster as you play the story, because some of them I just don't like playing as. But some were fun as hell. Like Jaquie was an enjoyable character, and I liked her basic attacks as well. But, Johnny Cage, both versions, was really damn fun to watch. Not so much to play as, but I really enjoyed the actor playing him. He seemed to be having a blast playing both versions of himself, and the chemistry between them and the rest of the cast was fun. A lot of the sub plots for the different groups were interesting. Like Jax and Jacquie were an enjoyable storyline, as well as Jade and Kitana. Would've liked to see more of those 2 sets, but eh. *shrugs*

I don't like fighting games like this with a controller. I need an arcade joystick apparently. As I lost count of how often I felt like I was doing Left,Right, Button, and apparently it was reading it as Left/Down/Right, so I wouldn't do what I wanted. I did not have that much trouble with just basic move control in the arcades. I think it's the difference in fine control between my whole hand with a joystick, and just my thumb. Luckily you don't really need to know moves to make it through the story, and can just cheese with some good old gouda cheese moves to just win....at least until the last fight. Which again, fuck that boss!

It's fun, I'll probably beat it tomorrow. I might fiddle with the other stuff, though we'll see. If it's just grind stuff to unlock finishers and the like, I'll honestly probably just skip it.

Did you do the Aftermath expansion story as well? Shang Tsung plays a big part in that one, and the plot ultimately kinda flips the base story mode on its head in general.

Also wondering if you ever tried the left stick for movement. I know it’s an odd substitute for an arcade stick but always wondered if anyone was able to make good use of it in fighting games. Oddly enough I’ve always felt more comfortable with a Dpad over any arcade stick, from SFT2 SNES-onward. It took hundreds of quarters to get past erroneously jumping from simple bf or quarter circle motions at least once or twice a match. I think it stemmed from the angle always feeling off kilter between my hands and arms or something.

As for kontent, it really depends on what you’re looking to get out of it. The vast majority of the outfits and brutalities are found either in the Krypt or living towers as-noted in the Kustomize>Characters section (along with some special limited ones in Kombat League). But fatalities, friendships and basic brutalities are listed in that Kombat Academy link I posted earlier.

 

[Dalisclock]

I wound up beating basically the entire game except Catacombs and Yhorm only using the Longsword that I started the game with. Was it the best way to handle most of the bosses? Heck no. Was it fun? Heck yes. By the time I got any more interesting/viable weapons, I'd already learned the Longsword's ins and outs to the point where adapting to a totally new weapon just didn't feel worth it.

I got through the first DS with the Zweihander and the longsword and pretty much nothing else.

This one I tried to do the Sellsword twinblades and those work really well for most things, but their shortass range is a problem with some enemies and bosses(like Lothric knights).

I don't remember what I did for DS2, honestly, other than the occasional Boss weapon that turned to be a massive waste of time and effort.

It's interesting at times to see what players do as far as weapons in these games. A friend of mine who is playing DS3 is roleplaying so he's trying to do everything with a broadsword, some people want to try out like every weapon and then there's me who finds a few weapons that work for like 90% of situations and are easy to upgrade and manage and just stick to those because they work.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I got through the first DS with the Zweihander and the longsword and pretty much nothing else.

This one I tried to do the Sellsword twinblades and those work really well for most things, but their shortass range is a problem with some enemies and bosses(like Lothric knights).

I don't remember what I did for DS2, honestly, other than the occasional Boss weapon that turned to be a massive waste of time and effort.

It's interesting at times to see what players do as far as weapons in these games. A friend of mine who is playing DS3 is roleplaying so he's trying to do everything with a broadsword, some people want to try out like every weapon and then there's me who finds a few weapons that work for like 90% of situations and are easy to upgrade and manage and just stick to those because they work.

Yeah, I recall loving Nito’s Gravelord Sword for most of the game in the original. It still stands out to me most even though it was eventually swapped out for I think either a Black Knight or Artorias GS. Personally nothing beat the Greatshield of Artorias though. I was able to one-time Manus mostly thanks to that show stopper, and as a bonus avoid the fat roll burden rate baggage that so many of its far heavier ilk carried.

 

[happyninja42]

Did you do the Aftermath expansion story as well? Shang Tsung plays a big part in that one, and the plot ultimately kinda flips the base story mode on its head in general.

No i didn't buy that dlc, i might buy it, I dunno. MK's not a huge thing for me, despite playing the shit out of it in the arcade when I was a kid, and it first came out. I just, got tired of fighting games.

Also wondering if you ever tried the left stick for movement. I know it’s an odd substitute for an arcade stick but always wondered if anyone was able to make good use of it in fighting games. Oddly enough I’ve always felt more comfortable with a Dpad over any arcade stick, from SFT2 SNES-onward. It took hundreds of quarters to get past erroneously jumping from simple bf or quarter circle motions at least once or twice a match. I think it stemmed from the angle always feeling off kilter between my hands and arms or something.

I was using the left stick for movement the whole time, that was the source of my problem. Like I said in the other post, apparently my "move stick with entire hand" control, is far more precise than my "move stick with just my thumb", because i had a hard time pulling off even the most simple moves. and i know for a fact that i didn't have this issue when i played the games in the arcade. Because I played my old favorites (Liu Kang, Raiden, Kung Lao), and was having trouble just doing basic fireballs, cycle kicks, etc. I THINK, it's that, in the arcade, my hand is positioned directly above the stick, just sort of hovering. And that makes it easier for me to be more precise with which direction I'm pressing. But, with my thumb on the left stick, since my thumb is kind of at an angle, it, apparently throws off my alignment just enough. so like, instead of pressing directly at say, 270deg, and then moving across to 90deg, I'm instead pressing like 245 deg, and then to 110 deg. juuust slightly off of directly Left/Right, for the game inputs to register properly. I found it easier to do the fatality that I had with the Dpad, as that was much more precise. never tried fighting with the Dpad though, as that felt odd after so many years of unconsciously controlling movement with thumb in a game.

As for kontent, it really depends on what you’re looking to get out of it. The vast majority of the outfits and brutalities are found either in the Krypt or living towers as-noted in the Kustomize>Characters section (along with some special limited ones in Kombat League). But fatalities, friendships and basic brutalities are listed in that Kombat Academy link I posted earlier.

Yeah I just, didn't find myself motivated to get those. Just knowing that 1. they intentionally cordoned that shit off to try and incentivize me to pay for them, and 2. the stuff the devs were made to watch (real life footage of mutilations and executions), to be "accurate" with the gore, to the point that many of them developed psychological issues from it, I just really didn't enjoy it. I remember thinking, the first time I saw one of the cutscenes from a Fatal Strike move "eeeeh...so like, someone probably had to watch someone getting shot in the face a lot for this clip." The scene itself didn't bother ME, because it's just pixels and I'm usually fine with that. But, I know that someone else, had to watch the real shit...over, and over, and over. And...yeah I just didn't like that. Plus, grinding just to get skins, and them intentionally making me default to the undead versions of my favorite characters (and I hate undead) just felt like a very money grabbing fuck you. So I really haven't felt compelled to play it again. Maybe if the story in Aftermath is good, I'll check it out but, eh...*shrugs* I dunno.

Like it was a fun time, but it's not burning a hole in my brain to dive back in for more combat that feels just like stuff I played 25 years ago.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

[snip]

For reference there’s a button timing window option that might help with inputs


But yeah, I get it. Some of the stuff can get obnoxiously gruesome, but it’s more to the point where it’s so over the top you can’t help but laugh. The friendships were an extra attempt to add further levity I suppose.

The finishers and skins actually aren’t pay-walled though; more like play-walled. Only a handful of select items are randomly available to spend time krystals on or whatever the in-game currency is, but even then most of the time it’s built up through playing matches. The rewards were pretty paltry initially, but it was one of those occasions where enough fan bitching made it far less of a grind. Shame on WB for trying to pull that shite in the first place though.

 

[happyninja42]

But yeah, I get it. Some of the stuff can get obnoxiously gruesome, but it’s more to the point where it’s so over the top you can’t help but laugh. The friendships were an extra attempt to add further levity I suppose.

Well the friendships have been around since..what MK 2? It's not the fact that the kills are gruesome, I mean it's not me going 'eeew! gross! guts!" though I admit I'm not a huge fan of gratuitous violence for violence sake. It's that I can't help but think, every time one of those shots come up, that "a real human, had to sit and watch hours of real people, being dismembered, in order to render this sequence. to the point that they had nervous breakdowns, and the company they work for doesn't give a shit." THAT is what bothers me more now than the actual violence itself. I am having an empathic reaction to the violence, but not for the digital person being mutilated, instead for the real human who might, right now, be having a panic attack, nightmares, be taking medication to handle mental issues, simply to bring me a slightly more "realistic" image of a dude having his head cut off and impaled on a spike. And frankly, I don't find that trade worth it.

Frankly I just came to the realization years ago, that I've grown out of the brawler genre. It's just not my jam anymore, based on my personality. Just like racing games aren't my jam, or sports games. I don't fault the genre for existing, though that whole "we've traumatized our programmers with real imagery" does make it abhorrent for me, it's just not something that I want to spend hours playing. I don't feel compelled to play just to unlock stuff, and the 2 minute story beat at the end of the Towers for each character, isn't enough motivation to replay those with each person. Since the majority of the roster are people I don't really care about, aside from like half a dozen.

Those Kronika skins for the various champions were slick as fuck though, I'll give them that. Every variant of that outfit that I saw was like "ooh, that looks sweet. Wish my character looked like that, and not a fucking undead, glowy eyed demon. oh well."

 

[BrawlMan]

Frankly I just came to the realization years ago, that I've grown out of the brawler genre.

By brawler do you mean actual brawlers (beat'em ups of the 3D or 2D variety) or tournament fighters (1-on-1 fighting games)? I think you got them mixed up.

 

[happyninja42]

By brawler do you mean actual brawlers (beat'em ups of the 3D or 2D variety) or tournament fighters (1-on-1 fighting games)? I think you got them mixed up.

Is the term for MK a tournament fighter? Then that. I mean I haven't played brawlers like Double Dragon since probably the 80s/90s either, mostly for the same "just not my jam" reason. In my head I kind of consider them the same thing. Where the game is nothing but fighting, and that is the only medium through which you move through the game. Whether it's just a 1v1 thing, or wandering a map and fighting waves of dudes, to me, that's basically the same thing. I get that for others, like oh, someone named Brawlman, they are significantly different but for me, they are sort of lumped in the same category.

 

[BrawlMan]

Is the term for MK a tournament fighter? Then that.

Yes.

I haven't played brawlers like Double Dragon since probably the 80s/90s either, mostly for the same "just not my jam" reason.

I recommend you play Double Dragon Neon. It's out on Switch now, but there is no online, unless you're playing the Steam version.

In my head I kind of consider them the same thing. Where the game is nothing but fighting, and that is the only medium through which you move through the game. Whether it's just a 1v1 thing, or wandering a map and fighting waves of dudes, to me, that's basically the same thing.

Be careful saying that around fighting game fans (people that play games like MK, Street Fighter, Tekken etc.), because some will get offended and correct the shit out of you. If this was the 90s and you lived in the UK, you could get away with calling tournament fighters brawlers, but even that term for them fell out around the mid 2000s. Do as you wish, but I wanted to warn you.

BTW, it's ironic with Tekken, because the series has had a beat'em up mode since the 3rd game called Tekken Force. It does not show up in Tekken 7 unfortunately.

 

[Dalisclock]

I finished Project Wingman and it was fantastic, kinda working on the conquest mode but I have other games to play.

I haven't seen many people talking about the game, which is a shame because it sounds pretty good and you'd think it would get more press considering there are few air combat games that come out. I can only guess it's a combination of all the big games that came out in the past 2 months(It's kinda nuts how many big games drop in the last 2 months of the year, no doubt because of crimmis, then the first 3 or 4 become this big game dead zone), Cyberpunk 2077's debacle grabbing everyone's attention, all the reviewers polishing their End of Year lists and so on.

How does it compare to the Ace Combat series, considering it was apparently started as an unlicensed Ace Combat game before AC7 was announced? I've played AC4 and AC7 so far and enjoyed both of them, so how does Project Wingman stack up? Or is that the wrong comparison to make?

 

[happyninja42]

I finished Project Wingman and it was fantastic, kinda working on the conquest mode but I have other games to play.

Every time I see someone mention this game, I think it's a dating simulator, where the objective is to help your dorky, awkward friend get laid.

hhmmm...actually that could be kind of fun, like, have it where you have to juggle between propping your friend up to the person they are into, while simultaneously trying to prevent the friend from saying stupid shit that will torpedo their chance at getting laid. You could even have stats, like skills that focus on making the love interest like your friend more, and a skill tree that focuses on reducing your friends idiotic comments that make you facepalm.

I think that would be funny as hell. Have the framework be, this friend of yours, your life long pal, with you through thick and thin! Has had your back on countless occasions! Just completely fucking DUMB when it comes to trying to attract a mate. So you make a vow to them. "We WILL get you laid this weekend!" And have 3 separate nights, with multiple locations you could try. Like do you hit up night clubs? Or do you try and find other venues that might suit your friend's personality more? Or maybe places likely to have the kind of lover they are into. They could have randomly chosen preferences on different playthroughs. "Likes red heads, dislikes sporty types, but is into theater geeks." next time around "likes blondes, is into dominant lovers, wants an older lover" etc. So you have to gauge the friend's kinks through conversations and clues, say in their room or something, and then plan accordingly.

Shit I wish I could code, I'd actually like to make that game now for lulz.

 

[gorfias]

Happy New Year. First game of 2021: I got this free to Amazon Prime Members: Sword Legacy Omen. I'm playing as Uthor in the lead (I have a team, including Merlin). I'm thinking this is just for the opening as... Uthor doesn't make it far in the stories.