Lurker > TVontheRadio

2016 and 2017 have so far been the worst years for me personally (although 2014 was also pretty bad)

2020 was looking bright in the beginning, but it's sucked since this pandemic locked down the entire world. i'm still in a much better place personally, which in the grand scheme of things is something i'm grateful for, because i don't know how i would be today dealing with everything else going on in the world if i had been in a worse situation.

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+10 The Beginner's Guide
+9 Disco Elysium
+8 The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series
+7 Pyre
+6 NieR: Automata
+5 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
+4 Gone Home
+3 What Remains of Edith Finch
+2 Devotion
+1 Her Story

i made my list based on a random mix of plot, characters, dialogue, tone, themes, and how the game took advantage of the medium to tell its story

mgs2 is the only game that relied on me having played a previous game from the series for its story to really pay off

stuff that i also heavily considered but ultimately cut

eliza
final fantasy tactics
the last of us
butterfly soup

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while i think life is strange deserves some recognition for being a big breakout hit with a queer teen relationship at its core, building a large community from that very community, it's still hella tropey regarding the serious issues it tackles

and also yeah the dialogue in general along with the wonky voice acting (apart from max and chloe) really drag it down for me that it wasn't too hard of a cut for me on my original list of like 25 games

life is strange 2 does handle its own set of issues much better, but god did the endings leave a bad taste

and as much as the writing improved, i still found a lot of the dialogue and voice acting to be inconsistent

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my list so far

+10 The Beginner's Guide
+9 Disco Elysium
+8 The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series
+7 ??? (99.99% sure this didn't make it)
+6 ??? (100% sure this made it)
+5 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
+4 Gone Home
+3 What Remains of Edith Finch
+2 ??? (99.99% sure this didn't make it)
+1 Her Story

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persona 5 making it was already a bad omen but mgs4 also making it broke the seventh seal

jesus christ what a mess of plot, characterization, dialogue, and presentation those two games are

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i'm the only one who gave love to the beginner's guide huh

and i'm only one of three who voted for her story huh

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based on mgs4, mgsv, and death stranding all being narrative trainwrecks, i don't really have much else to say about kojima's writing chops. he can still direct a cutscene like no other, but he's basically been all style no substance since mgs4. he's got some interesting ideas, but he's proven to be completely inept at presenting them in a way that's engaging apart from "here's a cool cutscene", and that's dependent on whether or not there's a bunch of talking, because he's also shown he has no ear for dialogue. nobody talks like a human being in death stranding!!! and it expects you to empathize with these characters spouting gibberish. the actors did a commendable job, but good performances here couldn't carry a leaden script.

i really don't use this word often because i think it's overused especially in internet forums, but death stranding is actually pretentious. its unearned confidence in believing the story it dedicates hours and hours to fumbling through has something profound to say is downright enviable. whatever insight you could gain from it can only be taken from the moment-to-moment gameplay, not from the thousands and thousands of words written for its plot, characters, and world-building.

which goes back to the main point that he is indeed a brilliant game designer and a hack writer.

you aren't wrong with your first impression. the way the game wraps up is bad.

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that whole stretch where the game starts to end is the most i've been so thoroughly over a game being completely smitten with itself.

icon is right that there isn't a single good character in all of death stranding, save maybe for heartman, but he was more amusing in his presentation and fascinating as an idea for a character than he is actually anyone with a story you can be invested in.

the ending just double downed on trying to make you care for these characters, as if the big scenes were supposed to be these satisfying pay-offs. but i didn't give two shits about any of them, and they all just kept talking and speechifying with their terriblly written dialogue spouting the most inane nonsense that the game thinks is ~so profound~ for hours and hours.

just so much of it sucks

which is a goddamn shame because yo actually playing that game is great! haven't played anything like it, and the design is just executed so well.

Lightning Strikes posted...

Kojima is a hack writer and a genius game designer.

Hes a gameplay guy, not a story guy. He hasnt had a good story since MGS3.

basically this

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don't get the complaints about the combat because i really liked it and felt it was pretty punchy! all the different forms of the service weapon had their use, and they all had just the right amount of kick when you fired them. and if you aren't flying and flinging around stuff constantly, you aren't having fun!

the ashtray maze was neat, but it got a bit overhyped for me. it wasn't the revelatory experience that it apparently was for a lot of people.

but yeah, that game is cool crystallized and just weird enough to keep the narrative intriguing all the way through. definitely one of the best of 2019.

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if you're not going down the route of having fire+elemental on two party members' armor to make ifrit a non-factor, just bank your limit breaks for when he shows up. two of them back-to-back should delete him quickly. with how much damage bahamut outputs, it shouldn't be hard to charge up your limit meters before ifrit gets summoned.


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from what i've heard, "easy" pretty much removes any tactical considerations from battles because of how much weaker the enemies are, and classic mode sets the difficulty to easy.

normal is plenty tactical! as long as you take the time to learn how the combat works, normal presents the right amount of challenge that is satisfying to overcome.

you also have the option to change difficulty any time, so if you end up not enjoying the combat and just wanna see the story unfold, you can bump it down to easy or classic.

so i recommend starting with normal and see how you like it! for what it's worth, i think this combat system is the best one i've ever experienced in a jrpg, and it gets even more rewarding on hard mode!

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yeah, i didn't catch that when i was playing! it's a neat little detail seeing their descriptions when you assess them, but the implications are staggering.

too bad we won't see the resolution for another decade on the ps6!

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having played the original and not retaining any sort of reverence for the story like a million other people do, i fucking love the audacity of squeenix to do something as bold as they did with the ending of this remake. og ff7 is one of the medium's most beloved titles, especially for its plot and characters, so i wasn't expecting anything but squeenix to play it safe and keep fans happy considering the years-long anticipation and how much resources they're pouring into it. kojima is the only other big AAA name i could think of that would be willing to do something as bold with the amount of money and the storied reputation riding on this project.

it's fascinating how so much of this remake is in conversation with the original and the legacy it left behind. there's just no denying the history of ff7, both in-universe and on a meta level, and i'm very glad nomura and co. decided to confront it directly. just making it as faithful as possible to the 97 version would have been... fine. definitely would have made it less controversial and financially risky! personally, i don't think i would love it as much as i do now if they had gone down that route. i wasn't even planning on playing it anytime soon, but the word-of-mouth regarding the entire ending sequence got me hyped enough to preorder the digital version a couple of days before release to preload it. zero regrets! i'm also just way more excited to see where they take the story! i went from not really caring about this to being bummed at the idea of having to wait so much longer to get the sequels, because let's face it, they aren't coming out anytime soon!

i say all this being fully aware that the new direction has WAY more potential of turning into hot garbage narratively simply because of the nature of time travel/alternate dimension fiction and what people say about nomura's handling of kingdom hearts' story (i dunno i only played the first). but i'm always for the excitement of the promise of something new, and i applaud risk-taking in media. time will tell if it pays off, but right now i'm living in the moment where potential can go so many ways.

and if it does turn out to be a trainwreck, the original will always be there!

also, as long as the combat remains amazing and gets refined for the better, i'd go along for any wild narrative ride.

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Disco Elysium

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RE2

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Resident Evil 2

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Disco Elysium

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Resident Evil 2

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ain't fair matching these two up now when they're far and away the best games remaining

but yeah

Outer Wilds

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A Short Hike

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Resident Evil 2

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Tetris 99
Super Mario Maker 2
Outer Wilds
Disco Elysium

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Control
A Short Hike
Sayonara Wild Hearts

Bloodstained

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+18 Pyre
+17 The Witness
+16 Return of the Obra Dinn
+15 Hotline Miami
+13 Overwatch
+12 Titanfall 2
+9 Until Dawn
+8 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
+7 Dishonored
+6 Fallout: New Vegas
+2 Resident Evil 2 (2019)
+1 God of War (2018)

oh jeez i can't believe i forgot to vote for hollow knight that should be higher than it is!

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A Short Hike
Death Stranding
Sayonara Wild Hearts
The Outer Worlds

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Control
Devotion
Sekiro

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+18 Pyre
+15 Hotline Miami
+12 Titanfall 2
+8 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
+7 Dishonored
+6 Fallout: New Vegas
+2 Resident Evil 2 (2019)

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Devotion
Sekiro

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MoogleKupo141 posted...

why does the chiral artist have a heavy accent but her mother doesnt have one at all

there is an explanation for this, but you have to see through the worst "sidequest" of the game

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Elsinore
Eliza
Apex Legends

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i wish it stayed as funny in the next hundred hours as it is in those first couple of hours

good game though. just completely terrible storytelling, and i'm not really one to be hyperbolic about criticizing games!

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