Lurker > Bringit

The majority of the hunts are basically busy work, I wouldn't let yourself get too bogged down in them because it could burn you out long before you're done with the story.

I really enjoyed the game overall though, in spite of the flaws.
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Completely agree. Bayonetta sexualizes herself and uses it as a kind of power over people and enemies, similar to Spider-Man's often deliberately poor one-liners that keep his opponents off-guard. She wears it like armor and so far in the games there's been exactly zero evidence she's interested in actually having sex with anyone (it never goes beyond teasing). I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out she's asexual.
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Spooking posted...

I think the problem with FF7 is that the battles are too fast to make use out of the Materia. You can just spam attack and get the job done on regular enemies. Not to mention debuffs like Slow were pointless on regular battles and bosses were immune. Lower the encounter rate while making enemies stronger is something I would do with the turn-based system.

The FF4 remake basically did this and it honestly got so tedious after a while. At a certain point in the game, most of the regular enemies had specific strategies intended against them or you'd end up getting your ass-kicked. Repeating what is basically several mini-boss fights 30 times throughout the course of a dungeon is exhausting.

Even though most mooks in FF7 were easy, at least the majority of your attack options were viable for each enemy that wasn't a boss. With the FF4 remake as a comparison, even hitting level 99 was no guarantee of victory because you still had to fall back on specific strategies or die.

EDIT: Even worse on a blind playthrough because instead of just boss fights, regular fights were complete trial and error until you worked out the right way to fight them.
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Tonally similar to Saints Row 2 in that it has a healthy balance between zany and grounded. Enjoyed my time with it.
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It's between 7 and 8 but it's a tough call because 7 has a bigger quantity of iconic characters but the whole Squall/Rinoa relationship resonated with me in a way 7's character arcs didn't.

Also FF15 deserves a mention; the tighter focus on the group and their friendships was awesome and I absolutely loved Ignis.
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The game really is a slog. I did them all except for Leon (was saving his for last because best haircut), got to his campaign and I did like the first mission or two and ended up uninstalling it -- couldn't muster up the motivation to keep going.

It was so repetitive.
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Watched like 3 or 4 episodes. It was decent but considering it stars Craig Robinson and Adam Scott, it really should have been a lot funnier than it was IMO.
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MaxEffingBemis posted...

Not to mention it just doesnt look good compared to the past two games

The deciding factor for me was just the lack of offline content. I know the game's being made to be competitive which is fine but it's a bit out of the FF wheelhouse so doesn't appeal much to me on that front alone. I also don't have a PS+ sub as I mainly use the PC for online games so I'd paying on top of the price of the game.

Want the game, just doesn't make fiscal sense right now. Probably would have picked it up if there was a PC port, though.
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I loved it up until 9 with the car change.

Just kinda vapid now with any strategy that was there now removed and I miss the grueling 50 turn games I used to spend hours playing with friends. I even had fun with it solo in the (now non-existent) story modes. I'd also argue Bowser has never been scarier than when he rocks up on a Mario Party board...

Not even close to the worst series. I mean, I love/d Postal 2 but 1 is boring/repetitive and 3 is a mess. 3D Sonic games have had more bad than good entries at this point too. Hell I'd argue the Mario Tennis series is worse just because it's been bad for so long. Mario&Sonic franchise has it's charms but nobody would play them if it wasn't for the roster.

I think Mario Party's biggest offence is that after the first game or so, it stopped adapting the Mario universe when it came to boards. It's just generic settings like "the wild west" or whatever instead of taking levels from the Mario games as inspiration. The first game was the best in this regard with stuff like DK's Jungle, Bob-omb Battlefield, Peach's Cake and Yoshi's Tropical Island (names from memory so might be a bit off). In sequels this was a lot rarer.

I'm hoping this gen with the Switch Nintendo shake-up all their sports/party games and breathe some life back into them. Except for Kart, they pretty much all peaked on the N64 which is kinda ridiculous.
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Hades was indeed a show-stealer but I also think Meg was a standout too. She had a really cool personality, kind of a less polite/moral Jasmine, and her song was awesome. All the characters are fairly memorable. Movie doesn't deserve the shit-list, IMO but I'll admit it doesn't feel quite as iconic as some of the other films.

I can't speak for Pocahontas as I haven't seen it in so long, though.
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I have a weird history with the Mario RPG series.

I really liked SMRPG once I finally got the chance to play it and I LOVED TTYD.

I've tried 2 or 3 Mario and Luigi games, always got bored after a couple hours and I went through the entire Paper Mario 64 and thought that too was mostly a snore-fest in comparison to TTYD. It had very little (if any?) of TTYD's humor and instead had a simple, shallow story that was played entirely straight -- even children's fairytales generally have more nuance. With nothing backing it up other than the gameplay and visuals, it got repetitive so fast, from about the middle point I had to drag my feet the rest of the way to the end. I don't even remember the party members other than there was a Goomba and a Koopa; the writing was just so bland.

Combine those past experiences with the middling/mixed reactions to post TTYD Paper Mario/RPG games and I've basically avoided the whole Mario RPG thing in general for many years.
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I'd be surprised if this game wasn't envisioned with heavy reliance on microtransactions and now might be the worst time to have that as a focus after the clusters that were Battlefront 2 and Destiny 2 back-to-back. Consumers are more aware and informed of those shitty practices than ever right now.
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Tmk posted...

In my case the durability of bows barely meant anything to me because arrows were the limiting factor of my usage, not durability.

Yeah, I got into the habit of buying out every store's stock of arrows whenever I passed by. Can never have enough, really.
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pres_madagascar posted...

I do wish there were more large enemies to fight. The trailer made it seem like it was a big focus but most enemies are just small fry.

This quickly became one of the bigger turn-offs towards the end for me. Constantly fighting bandits and wolves, goblins, harpies etc... gets real boring once you're used to cutting down Cyclops', Chimaeras, Gryphons and the like.

It does not help that all the spawns are static, so you're not only fighting the same enemies but they're all in the same places. Makes the lengthy on-foot traveling even more tedious.

Great game overall though and a well-handled sequel could easily perfect it.
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I agree in that it's weird. I don't think it's a big enough deal to hurt the game but at the same time I don't think it helps either.

I'd have been quite happy with just three or four swords with increasing power like a typical Zelda title. Managing durability and swapping weapons was just a thing I kept doing throughout the game, it was just kind of there for no particular reason. Maybe in the next game (if they keep the mechanic) when a weapon breaks it could give crafting materials that eventually lets you smithy your own weapons.

I'd be fine if it just went, though.
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I used to main Galadriel in Guardians of Middle-Earth. Loved how she glided across the battlefield like she didn't have a care in the world.

Wish that game caught on more, it was a good but casual take on the MOBA genre -- it even worked decently well with a controller. Had a lot of cool characters with interesting kits too. HotS kinda reminds me of it.
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Best clock I've ever seen.

Though, I wish there were a version with only Disney characters. I feel like if you were to hang that up most people would just be like "???" when they looked at it.
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Fantastic show.

The whole cast is excellent and it's a fairly unique and strikingly well realized concept. Also, Adam Scott once again reminds us all that he is somehow, in spite of Parks & Recs, the perfect asshole.
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The licenses are all over the place and can be worse depending on country.

I don't think there's one consolidated place to get them anywhere. I'm not sure all of them have even been officially released in modern formats (?). Hell, even some of the ones that were released on DVD are now out of print and cost a small fortune. It's a mess.
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It was a pretty cool sci-fi flick but the G-Man was a bit of a letdown visually speaking. He was barely animated, looked like a tree half the time and he mostly spammed atomic breath (so they only had to animate his mouth for the most part) during battles.

I kinda felt like being animated and all, the battles would have been turned up to 11 in comparison to the movies so it was a bit of a bummer. Definitely missed a trick not showing some of his fights vs the monsters at the beginning too.

Hopefully they'll up the framerate for the next movie because this one looks like it's dipping to sub-20fps in some scenes hence the stutter.

I did like the plot, though.
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Strong agree.

I can't think of another soundtrack that can beat it. There is stuff I'd put alongside it for the most part but nothing above.
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Darkninja42 posted...

Saw this at Target for 20 bucks. I got the first one for the same price a long time ago and didn't despise it, just thought it was really average. Would you say it's a marked improvement over that?

It's a fun romp with a decently sized campaign, entertaining side-missions and likeable characters. Kinda reminded me of Saints Row 2 in how they balanced the realism and surreal.

Gameplay-wise it's an improvement over WD1, you get a lot more options with the hacking. Narratively, it's just preference. First game is dark, gritty and serious. This one is much more light-hearted but manages to raise the tension at times.
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I feel like there absolutely is life out there and on the off chance there isn't it's because we're either the first or last in what will be/has been a long line of civilizations.

Only other explanation for me would be that what we perceive as the universe is somehow just a fabricated existence but if that's the case then some intelligent being has to be overseeing it anyway, though I guess they could be the real humans and we're just fake ones.

Don't enjoy not knowing either way, so I try not to think about it too much.
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I honestly think Fear The Walking Dead was better than TWD this past season. It trounced TWD in pacing, characterization and dialogue, hell it's even shot better 90% of the time.

TWD is built on a strong foundation and their characters should absolutely ecplise Fear but... it's just been executed so poorly for so long that it isn't living up to it's potential anymore.
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The Farsight in Perfect Dark was pretty bullshit.

The aim can see through walls... and the bullets can go through them too. I think it was even a one-shot kill now that I think about it. Good times.
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I definitely think Sabretooth should have been in Logan over a clone. They chose a clone of Wolverine as symbolic of what Wolverine is afraid he could become if he were to lose himself or fall under a bad influence.

The thing is, that's exactly the entire point of Sabretooth's character. He's the same as Wolverine, the only difference is Sabretooth doesn't fight off the animal-side of him, he embraces it. It's why most the time in the books whenever the two 1v1 fight, Sabretooth will generally win -- not only does he want the blood more but he will fight so fucking dirty (targetting innocents etc..). This also helps demonstrate why Wolverine needs the X-Men, he needs the support and love of others even if he's hestitant to openly admit it.

I like to think the real reason Logan was hanging out with Caliban and looking after Xavier in the movie wasn't because he's a good person per se but because he was afraid of becoming a bad one.

But yeah tl;dr Sabretooth works better IMO. Maybe they felt it would have required too much exposition or something?
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Hexenherz posted...

Well I think that about answers one of my questions which is whether or not there's some special upgrade you unlock to make the racing more tolerable.

There is actually a nitro boost skill for the vehicles. I never went back to the races again though so I can't vouch for how much easier it is.
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Hexenherz posted...

I uninstalled that game for a really dumb reason >_>. I did all the yacht races just fine but there was a series of ground races where the time limit was really strict... and the one on the ATV was like impossible because there was always at least one jump that just totally screwed up my orientation and killed my chances.

So.
I don't know why that was the thing that made me stop playing it >_>.

I discovered that ATV race very early in the game, after maybe the first time I got into the open world. It almost made me hate the entire thing, it was complete BS. I had to swear off the racing entirely after that and only allowed myself to do main missions and side-ops.

Really enjoyed the game but all the races are staying unplayed forever.
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Darmik posted...

Bruce Wayne as a symbol would work way better than Batman tbh. Especially if he ran for Mayor and have the GCPD Waynetech resources.

I think deep down, even Bruce knows this. It coincides well with his support of Harvey Dent in various stories -- he's trying to get someone else to fulfill the role he knows he should be undertaking himself but he won't give up being The Bat to do it.
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He's a bit nuts himself, I think.
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They're wearing Vives in the pictures, though?
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It's frustrating. I don't think the license should be in a single studio's hands and I hope Disney come to the same conclusion once the exclusivity contract expires.

Can't believe EA already cancelled one of the upcoming games, and the next one isn't due until 2019 at the earliest IIRC. I really like Battlefront 2 but I want a more narratively compelling and immersive experience at this point but EA clearly value games as a service and will prioritize multiplayer aspects for monetization opportunities.

Imagine if EA get the contract again for another 10 years? What a waste.
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LJRENEGADE posted...

Hexenherz posted...

I heard the Chloe actress got upset because she couldn't play the role for BTS and people were saying the new Chloe sounded exactly the same xd.

I didn't know there was even a new VA at first tbh

I wouldn't say exactly the same but she did a really good job. That said, the original VA was a consultant so I bet that helped.

I played this game like 2-3 days before Christmas and it was a dumb idea. Talk about a buzzkill, holy shit.
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IMO she did a little but only because of the lack of aliens.

Now, I'm not saying unusual hair color = alien but if there had been more varied alien species in the backgrounds with rainbow colors as opposed to just the new norm of grey-brown, I think it would have stood out much less.
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Yeah but you don't have to buy an Alexa/GoogleFace or whatever to still use Amazon/Google.

Didn't they also have an always online thing too? Or you couldn't play a game until you authenticated it online or something?
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Yakuza has a cool system where if you lose a fight 3 times (I think) in a row, it'll ask you if you'd like to drop the difficulty, but it's only for that fight and resets after you win. Very cool.

Anyway, the more options the better, IMO. The older I get the less time I have for difficult games. I'll start everything on normal but won't hesitate to drop to easy if I feel the difficulty is getting in the way of my fun. I even prefer some series entirely on the easiest setting (Uncharted and TLoU flow better like that for me as I'm more interested in the story). Persona is another series I opt to lower the difficulty on, it's still a 90+ hour game regardless.

If I want a real challenge, I'll play a competitive online game. I have nothing to prove against the CPU. I know I can do it once I've learned the patterns or found a cheap strategy so increased difficulty just isn't interesting.

EDIT: My biggest exception to this though is simulator/sports type games, you want the AI to put up a challenge otherwise it won't feel like the real thing.
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For the most part, I think the movie still holds up. It's kind of like a much more violent superhero movie.

One aspect of the film has become super cringy now (the rooftop scenes). Other than that though, I loved it and only saw it for the first time a few years back.
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Infinite 2003 posted...

Ya know for how much shit the PT gets it's insanely quotable

I'm not saying all the dialogue was stellar but for the amount people attack it, you'd think they would stop quoting it almost two decades later.
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Complete waste of time, IMO.

Not only is there so much cool shit I'd hate to see removed (planets, characters and their designs etc...), there's also no guarantee the movies will turn out much or any better.
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Nobody was a bigger hater of AoS than I was during Season 1. Like holy shit it was so mediocre. Offered zero value and somehow demonstrated even less ambition.

It got better.
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I have no problem with it in games with straight-upgrades.

I get kinda pissed off in games like Xenoblade Chronicles X where most things are side-grades in that it will boost one aspect of your character while sharply diminishing another. Turns the whole thing into trial and error because unless you're using a guide, you have no idea what kind of enemies you'll be facing next so you might be setting yourself up to be stomped due to things like elemental weakness or whatever.

Also not a massive fan of weight systems. If you have to limit my inventory, do so just with weapons and armor but not potions, alchemy/crafting ingredients and bullets/arrows. It's a chore. I usally end up manually modding this out, especially in Bethesda RPGs. After one of the earlier Witcher 3 patches though, I felt it had a very fair system so I left it IIRC.
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I mean, even if it's only vaguely accurate -- that's at least a huge step up from literally not being able to parse a single word.
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Zanzenburger posted...

Because as awesome as it would be to have games off of recent superhero amd action movies, they would suck cause they are cash grabs.

But at least they existed. As mediocre as the game was, it was cool to have a taste of being Superman with Returns, flying was fun at least. Even The Incredible Hulk game was at least enjoyable to leap around the city and demolish buildings.

Now there's just nothing. Sucks.
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SRR Capdown posted...

Cocytus posted...

Assassin's Creed Origins: the tools, don't ever feel a need to use them and they're a little bit of a pain in the ass to use, imo.

I used bezerk a few times and poisoned a few corpses, and firing sleep darts into a fire was really useful if the opportunity arose. But yeah, overall they were pretty pointless.

I find the tools are actually pretty powerful but they're just so cumbersome to use. Constantly crafting/looting more, having to manually switch to them each time etc... I don't have a better solution but they're not particularly fun.
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Oshawottownage posted...

Like half the entire fucking game in Xenoblade Chronicles X. A complex web of mechanics + stupidly small text and yeah your gonna miss stuff.

Oh man, the game sucked at teaching you how to play. Even reading through the electronic manual only served to help a little. Had to do a lot of my own research to get to the point I was confident that when I won a fight, it was on purpose.

Even then I ignored some of the mechanics like elements on armor, augments etc. Everything had pros and cons to balance and I was never really sure if I was helping or hurting myself. I had a great time with the game in the end, sublime combat system once you discovered how it worked (still never re-arranged soul voices or any of that stuff though) but I opted to focus the story because I didn't even want to know how deep the rabbit hole was going to go if I started looking into post-game content.
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They should ditch lootboxes at this point and just add stores into games, where you can either pay for stuff via currency earned in-game through playing or just buying something directly via cash (NOT PURCHASING IN-GAME CURRENCY).

I'd be more tempted to put real money into a system that works that way, as it stands I've never spent cash on a lootbox despite ample opportunity.
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Darmik posted...

I liked Nier Automata but I don't think it's GOTY tier honestly. The story was good but the gameplay was a jack of all trades master of none affair.

I think it depends most on how you personally value a game. So while Nier didn't hit the heights gameplay-wise that other titles in similar genres have reached, the story picks up the slack. In contrast had the gameplay of BotW or Mario been mediocre, they would have nothing else going for them.

Admittedly by my own formula, Horizon should probably take it for having both great gameplay and story but Nier not only moved me -- it genuinely surprised me and I can't even remember the last time a game truly did that. That god damn soundtrack, too.
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Hour for hour, I had the best time with Horizon out of those (though haven't played P5 or PUBG) so I guess I'd go for that.

Nier: Automata would have been my first choice if it were there, though.
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Wonder how heavy the voice acting will be and if they'll use the same/similar voices to the games.

Curious if Peach will still get kidnapped (damsel in distress really isn't in vogue right now). I could maybe see them switching it to Luigi instead.
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Did Sonic Team get completely rebuilt at some point? Surely they can't be the same team behind so many classic Sonic titles and even stuff like Phantasy Star Online.

Their track record is so bad now, I'm not sure why SEGA don't just license out Sonic to other studios that are capable of making good games. It's not like there's a quality assurance concern anymore.
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