Paul's Thursday Reviews CCLVII · 8:16pm Jul 15th, 2021
Outside of my work, my writing, and my reviewing, my major hobby is gaming. I’m sure most of you know this already, as I’ve already lamented my gaming addiction multiple times. For the last four months or so my goal has been Achievement Completionism (as I’m dubbing it for no reason at all). As of right now I have 157 games in my Steam library and I’ve come to think it’s a crime I haven’t been trying to beat them properly.
Which brings me to two days ago when I 100% completed NeiR: Automata. I’ve owned the game for years, but only in the last few months when I upgraded my hard drive to SSD was my rig able to play it properly. Damn, was I missing out. It’s an amazing game with a conclusion that I adored due to its themes. Truly, that game is a 10/10 for me. If you can find a way to play it, I highly recommend it.
It was also the 13th game in my collection to be completed with 100% achievements. 13, out of 157.
I’ve a long way to go.
Current games being played include Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (multiplayer achievements will take an eternity), Alien: Isolation (replacing NeiR, haven’t started yet), and The Void (which has no achievements, but I figure getting all endings will suffice).
So what games are you guys playing, if any? Anything I absolutely must try?
Enough “me” stuff. To the reviews.
Stories for This Week:
Don't Run Away by SkylerTDaniels
Graph Theory by stillinbeta
A Cruel Angel's Faeces by forbloodysummer
Aftersound by Oneimare
Total Word Count: 106,512
Rating System
Why Haven't You Read These Yet?: 0
Pretty Good: 1
Worth It: 1
Needs Work: 0
None: 1
Don't Run Away
30,236 Words
By SkylerTDaniels
Applejack has fallen for Rarity. Which is great considering Rarity likes her back, but for marshmelodramatic reasons she refuses to allow the relationship to happen. Applejack isn’t about to give up on the idea though.
This is one of those stories you quickly regret picking up. It’s also one of those stories that tempted me to abandon my “always read to the end” rule but, somehow, I persevered. Specifically, by skipping the narrative and reading just the dialogue, since it quickly became apparent that was all I needed.
It’s a nice enough idea. It all stems around Rarity being hung up on her “I must be with my prince charming!” ideal despite wanting to be with Applejack. I’ve seen this done before, and done (disturbingly) well. Alas, SkylerTDaniels has zero idea how to write a story, much less approach this topic with any sort of skill. Their formatting is atrocious…
"There ya have it. To future picnics." Hondo says and raises his glass of lemonade. We all do the same and clink to the future.
Six Months Later
There are a lot of people here, considering.
I look around the barn and find half the students from CHS and Crystal Prep.
...every chapter starts with a blurb from the end of the previous chapter…
Previously on 'Don't Run Away'
“Rarity? Are you alright?”
“My fist hurts.”
...the story regularly contradicts itself…
"Rares, didn't ya bring Twilight and Sunset?"
"I did, but Sunset drove her motorcycle here as well. Just in case I believe."
...and there’s no consistency in narrative voice (although at least that one was, by the author’s own admission, on purpose).
We also have pointless characters, like Coloratura transferring to CHS for no reason, flirting with AJ to make Rarity jealous, then immediately doing a 180 to help AJ get with Rarity as if she’d never done anything wrong, and then disappearing from the story. Her entire presence was shoehorned and added nothing to the overarching plot but a couple chapters of extra drama. Let’s not even start on how Cheese Sandwich is magically a student at CHS so he can date Pinkie Pie, even though there’s zero evidence whatsoever that he goes there.
Oh, and Cheese’s grandparents’ home: “Great Sandwich Mansion looking House”. No, I’m not kidding, that’s the in-story description. So… it’s a house that looks like a mansion but somehow isn’t a mansion? How does that even work?
But you know what really annoys me? Take a look at this crap.
This is more than a crush (quick feet towards the audience)
More than a like, like (clap twice)
More than a love (hearts with hands)
SkylerTDaniels wrote out the lyrics of an entire song (not an original one, I note) with the dance choreography next to it, as if we actually need to see every step of the dance. This was meant to be the climax of the entire story. It’s every bit as bad as it sounds and worse. This stuff litters the story. There’s one scene were Cheese Sandwich appears out of nowhere, sings a song about sex and accosts the girls, all of them one at a time, and they like it.
Oh, and there are at least two occasions where the lyrics of entire songs from Equestria Girls are written out. The author’s got a thing for doing this stuff, even though it adds nothing and even seriously detracts from both the given scene and the story as a whole. With the exception of the last two times it happens, it’s always pointless and unnecessary. And speaking of the last two...
The big climax scene involves Sunset, Applejack, and Rainbow singing a teenibopper rap song from some direct-to-TV Disney musical. It was the opposite of romantic. It was cheap with easy, cheesy lyrics. And somehow this is supposed to be the three of them conveying their intense romantic feelings for Sci-Twi, Rarity, and Fluttershy respectively, rather than insulting them with how shallow their true feelings apparently are.
Even more egregious is Sunset having a solo encore in which she sings a sex song, with theme-appropriate accompanying dance moves, in front of the CHS student body as a means of once again demonstrating her love for Twilight. And then she goes to Twilight and says she wanted the song to be ‘personal’. So what, Sunset, is your entire interest in Twilight related to sex? Because that’s the message you’re conveying here.
How old is this author? Do they have absolutely no idea the difference between ‘sex’ and ‘love’? Do they think the world is a giant music video where anyone can dance provocatively with anyone else and this is considered ‘normal’? Their interpretation of ‘big romantic moments’ is downright insulting to me as a lover of romantic scenes.
So. Yeah. This didn’t just do nothing for me, it offended my sensibilities as a fan of romance stories, to say nothing for The OTP. Maybe when SkylerTDaniels grows up and realizes that sex and romance aren’t the same thing we’ll get something decent out of this author, but not until they also figure out the bare basics of how to write a story. Yet they seem to have left the fandom, so I’m not crossing my fingers.
Bookshelf: None
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
Graph Theory
39,219 Words
By stillinbeta
Alternate Title: Wholly Poly Twily
Princess Twilight was well aware that Sunset Shimmer and EqG Fluttershy were dating. Which was great! She was happy for them. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Sunset asks if she can kiss Twilight. A new world of polygamous dating has been opened before her and she’s not sure how to react to that.
In this endearing romance we get to watch as Princess Twilight navigates the potentially turbulent waters of dating two girls at once, namely Sunset Shimmer and EqG Fluttershy. This is, of course, complicated by living in two different worlds and Twilight having royal duties to attend to, which tend to keep her away from her amours more than not. Naturally, there’s a lot of Twilighting involved.
Rather than giving us a long, convoluted, dramatic story in which we watch Twilight struggle to go through with dating two girls at the same time (who are in turn dating one another and still others), stillinbeta decided to shorten the story and skip to the “good stuff”. This was a risky move, as it could have made the story feel rushed, but this author proves more than capable of giving the story all the attention and care it needs. At no point did I feel like the story was going too fast or the relationship was unbelievable, and that goes a long way to making the entire story work.
It helps that stillinbeta did a decent job capturing our leading cast of characters with their in-show personalities. Mostly. The story is written some time past the events of the show, such that the EqG are all in college (well, those who want/can afford it) and Twilight is in full-on Princess Mode. Our author was able to use this to spice up the characters just a smidgeon without taking away their core aspects.
But all that takes a back seat to the heart and soul of this story: the romance. Or rather, the big moments of the romance. This isn’t a story about gazing into a lovers’ eyes and saying lovey-dovey things to one another. It’s more mature than that, instead focusing on the milestones of relationships: the first date, the threat of jealousy, choosing between your job and your loves, etc. This decision was a great one by the author, as it gives the story a more dramatic flair and lets it be for more than just the romance crowd.
I think the only downside is that I never really felt the emotional impacts the story was going for. I’m not sure why that is. A quirk of the writing? Was it a little too telly? Did the author simply not focus enough on setting and atmosphere? I almost feel like it’s that last one, but I don’t think I can point to anything specific that would be deemed objectively wrong, so I dunno. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mindset.
I’ll handwave it. Even without that added touch, I really enjoyed the story. It’s a pleasant romance where we get to watch Twilight Twilighting over Sunset and EqG Fluttershy. At this point I think the only real complaint is that we didn’t get to see much at all of the Fluttershy self-ponydox, which I was hoping to see a lot more of. We did see at least a little bit, and I’ll take what I can get, but darn it, there was so much potential for Shyabetes!
A solid story from beginning to end. I’m looking forward to more.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good!
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
A Cruel Angel's Faeces
8,972 Words
By forbloodysummer
Requested by forbloodysummer
This was… It was…
Ah. Yes.
It was.
I’m going to preface this with the most obvious issue right off the bat: if you haven’t seen Neon Genesis Evangelion you will have no idea what’s going on. It’s not enough to have heard of it, or to have seen an episode, or for your Otaku friend to have given you their take on it. You have to have seen it. The original series and its movie. From beginning to end. Otherwise you will be totally lost.
Still with me? Okay.
When forbloodysummer asked me to review an Evangelion crossover, I wasn’t sure what to expect. So Pinkie Pie retelling End of Evangelion in her own way with her sisters as the protagonists hit me like a baseball bat from Lil’ Slugger. That’s pretty much all this is, too: ponified Evangelion parody mindfuckery with Marble as Shinji, Limestone as Asuka, and Maud as Rei. Plus Spitfire as Misato and Starlight as Gendo.
I have very mixed feelings about this. There were times when I laughed, particularly when forbloodysummer went the most obvious and nonsensical direction when deciding who should portray the, *ahem*, Angels. But then you get to the mindfuckery and I found myself having flashbacks of the actual EoE which, might I remind you, is terrifying. There are times when forbloodysummer throws in a few choice phrases or events to remind us that this is a parody and Pinkie Pie is the narrator, but that doesn’t necessarily alleviate the complete WTF of the events or the nostalgia.
I can see why this story has such a harsh vote ratio. EoE is a Big Deal™ to a lot of people, and I can see said people not appreciating this attempt to poke fun at something so heavy. I myself can’t decide if I appreciate the attempt to take humor from it or am bothered by the attempt.
I don’t mind these feelings. At all. If anything, forbloodysummer has made me eager to rewatch the series again from scratch. Or maybe I could watch Rebuild of Evangelion, which I never bothered to see.
As for this story, I think I’ll place it on the middle ground. I can see some people taking great humor out of it. I can also see some people being offended by it. I’d like to call it random (it does have the tag), but it follows the events of the show too well for that, and yet it’s also a retelling by Pinkie Pie, which means there’s a ton that won’t make sense even within its own context, and with Evangelion context is kinda-sorta important.
If you’re a fan of Evangelion and have seen the entirety of the original series and movie, then this may do something for you. Or not. If you’re not at all familiar with Evangelion, you’ll probably leave it wondering what crack forbloodysummer was on when writing this. I have zero hope of telling you whether you’d like it or not. I guess you’d better have a really forgiving sense of humor and/or zero fucks to give.
Bookshelf: Worth It
Aside: I'm just gonna leave this here. Spoilers and adult content are abundant.
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Dancing in Melancholy — WHYRTY?
Mine For The Taking — WHYRTY?
Why Are You Here, Your Majesty? — Pretty Good
Aftersound
Partial Reading (37,082 / 302,817)
By Oneimare
The war against Sombra is turning desperate. Twilight Sparkle has designed a new flight suit that she hopes will turn the tide, and today Rainbow Dash will test it. That was the plan, at least. Something went wrong. Something catastrophic. When next Twilight wakes up, she’s not in her own body. She can’t use magic. She’s not a unicorn. She’s not even a pony.
I was really looking forward to this one. The title, the cover art, the science fiction setting, it all sounded fascinating. The story, at least what I read of it, has Twilight regain consciousness as an android (or equinoid, as they’re called in-story) built by a filly in the slums of Canterlot 500 years after her apparent death. The princesses are no more, Canterlot is a sprawling dystopian state, and the world beyond its borders is home to an endless, brutal blizzard.
I really must commend Oneimare’s setting and worldbuilding. In a mere 40k words I was fascinated by a constant stream of new information, questions voiced but unanswered, and mysteries aplenty. The setting is a grimdark city of warlords and factions with a cyberpunk aesthetic that never ceased to interest me. Even the Equestria that existed before Twilight’s death was completely new thanks to severe revisions to canon events, particularly around the Canterlot Invasion and the return of King Sombra. At no point was I ever not interested in what was happening.
Couple that with a pitch-perfect Twilight who barely understands what’s happening around her and two ever-bickering fillies trying to help her regain her memories and figure out what happened to Equestria on the whole. The characters were interesting, and I even got a look at the story’s first (presumably major) villain before I had to stop reading.
Ah, and that’s the problem. I made the mistake of commenting on the story, which alerted Oneimare that I was indeed reading it for a review. They asked me to wait as they were in the middle of a rewrite, but my schedule is such that I either read/review it now or potentially never, so I politely declined. Oneimare then went overboard and scrubbed the story from FIMFiction. Needless to say, this put my reading to a firm stop. (EDIT: It’s since been brought back, but only with the rewritten chapters.)
I’m trying to be reasonable about this. I don’t want to paint Oneimare in a negative light. I have extremely negative feelings regarding this decision, but I don’t know this author and don’t want to make assumptions regarding their reasoning. It just… disturbs me that they seem to have such little faith in themselves or pride in their work (by their own admission). What I was reading was good, really good, and I can’t grasp a mindset that would decide to rob us of it. I understand the author has some insecurities and I don’t want to belittle that. It just felt like such a waste.
Well, what’s done is done. It’s too late to fix it, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity and room in my schedule to read this in full, assuming Oneimare finishes the rewrite. I feel like I’ve lost the opportunity to read a real gem. All I can do now is move on and hope they gain a little more confidence in themselves over time.
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
Stories for Next Week:
Necromancy For Foals by Queen Sanguine Dreams
Sunset Shimmer's Sick Day by CapNTilfy
Co-Incidence by Bradel
Sparks Catch by Tale Swapper
One and All by TheEveryDaySparkle
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Ten years ago, I would have said you were missing out on some good mindfuckery. 1.0 and 2.0 were just...retreads of the series. Until they suddenly weren't. Oh sure, there were MINOR differences in 1.0, and the beginning of 2.0...and then [REDACTED].
Then 3.0, which was supposed to answer questions raised by 2.0, went EoE levels of WTF. Oh, and was delayed in America (I prefer dubs myself) by 4 years.
According to wikipedia, 3.0 + 1.0 will be released in NA in August. I remember watching the teaser trailer last year and going "OMG FINALLY!?" but beyond that I haven't spoiled myself much.
It's...it is still Eva, after all.
Looks like Aftersound would be interesting, so I checked out its page to save for later. Turns out that Oneimare relented to some people and posted the unedited version in an external GDOC. So there's that option if you still have time to read it.
Oh god
I used to be absolutely terrible with making sure all my games were 100%'d to the best of my ability, to the point that I let it inform which games I bought and played. Granted, this was mostly during the years of owning an Xbox 360, and the mental effect that a profile-connected Achievement System has on the mind, even a spectral mind.
Having being solely on Nintendo hardware for most of the past decade has helped, and perhaps because I'm starting to get older enough, I'm not letting it affect by buying and playing patterns. Oh, I still very much attempt to 100% all games I own, but not to the extent of it being a chore or wretchedly anti-fun. I still have a hefty chunk of the really difficult built-in achievements on Hollow Knight incomplete, and I'm actually okay with that. Feels relieving.
Just manageable and kept it check.
Course, I say this as I'm still working on a Living Dex in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - including the 28 Shinies programmed in. So the completion bug is still very much there!
If you've never played Hollow Knight, that's a must-do, fantastic game.
I noticed that Aftersound's description had a link to the GDocs version of the story's original take, so the author did retract slightly on their stance - it is available to read. Course, this was done after you'd already resigned yourself and written this up, after however many days it it being properly gone, and with your airtight schedule, no way to get the story back on. Does make it a big shame. Story doesn't look to be my cup of tea either way, but thought I'd chime in there.
If you like games with plenty of nooks and crannies to investigate, you should try Cultist Simulator.
droidgamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2dc6528fe35d5d537f4e6e2643359c7c2507c68a212f0c60f903dc1894493e90_product_card_v2_mobile_slider_639.jpg
Done by the people who did Fallen London and Sunless Sea, in Cultist Simulator you build your cult, investigate the world, seek enlightenment, and rise in the Mansus. Aside from demonstrating the basics of operating the game, it is extremely hands-off, you're expected to figure things out yourself, discover how to proceed and succeed.
*read that first review* Oof, yeah, that couldn't have been fun. Regarding your other hobby, you don't have to 100% every game you play. As The Completionist can attest, sometimes it simply isn't worth the effort. As for me, I'll be playing this once my collector's edition cart comes in the mail. I didn't even need to play all the way through the demo to be 100% sold.
There are so many games that I will never 100%. There's always just a few achievements where I look at the hours it would require and think "But I could play that game and another instead" and move off. Though I have 100%'d a few titles, like Sonic Mania and both Subnautica games.
What have I been playing lately? Well, Gears 5 (horde horde horde), and I'm trying to get Battlezone Redux working on my PC (having some control issues) so I can go through that. The new Streets of Rage 4 DLC just dropped, and I've completed my replay of Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, though I still have some achievements to get in Rise (just waiting for the reward week challenge to show up and nab them for MS points). Need to finish Battlefleet Gothic as well so I can start the sequel.
Granted, my game time over the last two weeks is below my usual average, since I've been busy. The last few nights I was writing until 1 AM or later, either working on Starforge or adding to Two's Company ...
Alien Isolation is the greatest horror game ever made, and I need to replay that. I just ... can't play it late at night, or I have trouble getting to sleep it gets my adrenaline so high. SUCH A GOOD GAME though. Do recommend.
And I really should do another Stellaris run ... Maybe once work on Starforge is done.
EDIT: My only goal achievement wise with most games is to keep the average completion per game above my steam average of like 39%. On Xbox, I own fewer games, so I tend to delve them a bit more deeply.
Also, have you looked at Deep Rock Galactic?
The review of Aftersound is misleading and posted against my consent.
I think you should pick and choose your achievement hunting a bit more carefully. It's certainly worth it in some titles, but "jack of all trades, master of none, but often much better than master of one", to an extent. Trials of challenge and/or doing it for fun are worth it, but care that you don't grind yourself out or sunk cost your way into chasing some achievements that aren't worthwhile. It can be more of an achievement of willpower to choose to be okay with less than 100% and decide that your time is worth putting elsewhere.
I'm reminded of Breath of the Wild's Korok seed hunting - 900 seeds are spread across the world, about 10 (increasing per purchase) will increase your inventory size, capping out at 441 seeds for a max size inventory. You can choose to get all 900 seeds - but the reward is a gold piece of poop and kind of an implied waste of time.
But, y'know, hell yeah for 100%ing Nier Automata, I loved the music and the combat and the themes and it was so satisfying. City Ruins (Shade) is such a great overworld theme.
This review was everything I was hoping it would be! Best review I have ever received
I wasn't expecting the suggestion that End of Evangelion was a sacred cow that must be held immune from piss-taking, but that would definitely be a good explanation for the downvote ratio. Maybe I'm just in enough Evangelion meme groups that the idea of taking it only seriously honestly hadn't occurred to me. Third Impact may be one of the most spellbinding sequences ever committed to film, but surely no one fails to snicker thinking back on the scene of Shinji in the hospital.
That said, I was shocked a couple of months ago to learn that the English-speaking fanbase generally hate the translation of 'First/Second/Third Children,' rather than child, so what do I know. I thought that term made it exotic and different, but reddit had a very different opinion. They are pretty universal, though, on the rebuilds not being worth watching. I'd just watch the series and movie again, really (it's all on Netflix now, with some shiny new subtitles some people have very strong opinions about).
Excellent video! But for EVA music videos, I really must insist on the Tenacious D mashups (I actually went back and watched Pick of Destiny for the first time on the strength of that first video). There is also a magnificent MLP/EVA comic mashup in the form of the final comic from the askthepiesisters tumblr, in which Limestone goes through Shinji's journey from The Beast that Shouted 'I' at the Heart of the World (tumblr does not link well, but it's the four most recent entries here, starting with fourth-newest going through to first).
And then there's the leaked original ending to the 2017 MLP movie, the most effort I've ever seen anyone put into a fan video.
Thank you so much for the review, it sounds like you really got the story. That's all that matters with this one. I like the idea that if something's weird enough, it can be stupid and moving, funny and hypnotically compelling all at the same time.
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Fortunately, reviews do not need consent to be published.
Great reviews as always! I'd recommend checking out The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth, and if you like it, definitely get the DLC. An amazing game that I will continue to play for a long time.
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Hey, Onimare! I don't mean to speak for Paul on his blog - in fact, I am explicitly not speaking for Paul, or anyone other than myself. But I used to do a lot of fanfic reviewing, and if you're feeling a little sore about Paul's words or his decision to review what he'd read, I hope you won't take it the wrong way if I offer a little unsolicited advice.
See, that review isn't for you.
Which feels weird, right? I mean, it's your story, how is this review not for you? But the thing is, Paul's not doing the kind of review where he edits your fic and advises you how to change it; he's doing the kind of review where he tells other people what's in the story, and whether they might enjoy reading it or not, based on their interests, preferences, and tastes. In other words, it's a reader-centric review, not an author-centric one.
The distinction can seem a little blurry, because reader-centric reviews often also have lots of advice that the author could use. And Paul, in particular, likes to pepper his reviews with suggestions for how he might have preferred something be handled. But the aim in these kinds of reviews isn't to make the fic better; it's to get the potential reader to see what's going on in a given story, and whether or not it's something they might like to read. Point is, authors are drawn to reviews of their works like moths to flame, but it's important to understand that, unlike when someone's editing/commenting under your fic, you aren't the audience - everyone else is.
In my experience, lots of authors love seeing people review their stories in this way, and a few absolutely hate it. Feeling either way about it is fine! But once you realize that Paul isn't talking to you in his review - he's talking to me, and the other people down here in the comments, and everyone else who happens to feel like reading some ponyfic but isn't sure which ponyfic to read - then maybe that'll take the sting out of it. In the context of a reader-centric review, you aren't the painter: you're the painting.
And, if you'll let us, we're all eager to admire you.
Don't know if you were ever interested in Digimon back in the day, but if you need a new JRPG, I highly recommend the Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth games. Originally PS Vita titles (Cries in actually owning a Vita from Day one), It's a monster collector game with all your typical monster collector JRPG elements you expect from Pokemon/Persona/Shin Megami Tensei, with the second one (Hacker's Memory) taking even more from Persona and having a bit of the whole 'social link' thing going on. Between both games, I got every non-online achievement I could get and had a blast playing it.
I will say I'm absolutely bias though, because I was one of those kids that thought Digimon was better than pokemon, growing up when both were still new, and I'm still right. I love it to death, Gabumon makes an amazing pun in Hacker's Memory that still gets me when I think about it, and I could not recommend it more highly.
5555661 Nah, you're right. Digimon was better
but I'll back your rec. Digital Sleuth and Hacker's Memory are really good games.
I don’t exactly agree with Oneimare’s decision of deleting those chapters (as in, I wouldn’t have done it myself), but to play devil’s advocate, maybe the reason the story was so great is that the author is such a perfectionist, and if they didn’t have the mindset to delete those chapters for the sake of revisions, then their story wouldn’t be as good in the first place.
Anybody else here ever play Caeser 3? I played it as a kid all the time, then got it cheap the other day and accidentally stayed up till four in the morning replaying it. Good times.
Paul, sounds like this was a tough weekly review to write. Hope the rest of your week is pleasant .
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The review applies to the version of the story that no longer exists. It doesn't correctly reflect its current content and as such misinforms a potential reader.
Oh boy, I am looking forward to this.
I have some opinions about it, but I'll wait until after your review to avoid influencing anything.
I usually take achievements on a game-by-game basis, and I don't even have many games. If a game has a lot of achievements that will clearly require a ton of playtime, I won't generally go out of my way for them. At least, not for over a hundred games.
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This. I might even be responsible for pushing Viking over the edge into getting DRG, and he can probably attest to the fact that I will drop in on your games (uninvited) about as often as I can (provided that you're playing when I'm not asleep...). It's a 100%-co-op FPS; the gameplay and atmosphere are fantastic. You can not go wrong here.
As it happens, DRG is the only game that I have 100% achievements on.
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).
I have some of those too... Now I'm a bit curious. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for that blog (and your comments there
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Geez, there's a lot more Eva going on than I thought. Now I'm sure what to watch. Granted, I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to it in the first place.
5555519
I could, but I dunno. I've clearly spooked Oneimare (to put it lightly) and right now I feel I should avoid the author entirely lest they try to accuse me of something else entirely.
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I'm well aware that some games would be monsters to 100%. Hell, I've got five different Civilization games, and I'm not sure if I even want to consider acing them like that. Plus the six Total War games. I might skip those entirely.
Another great example is this multiplayer Resident Evil game that came with some special I grabbed on Steam (I think it came with RE 3?). I took one look and was like "Nnnope". Who wants to go achievement hunting through a dead MP-only game?
Right now I'm operating on a "Rule of Three". I play three different games in tandem (different game a day), just to avoid burnout on any one. I keep another three games on standby as the next ones I'll play. I won't buy any games at all unless I've mastered (or at least exhausted my willingness to play) three games. It's that last one that's important: at 157 games, it's blatantly obvious that I'm buying more than I'm playing, so this whole thing was really meant to be a way to properly enjoy the games I have before I fork over money to get more. It's been a rewarding experience so far.
5555523
Hollow Knight, eh? Well, I always was kinda curious. Perhaps I'll add it to my wishlist for later.
5555606
I have indeed heard of Breath of the Wild's Korok Seed hunt. I found it highly amusing. Dunno if I'd be among those who would go for it.
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I have that one actually. Bought it shortly after the first DLC came out. It is indeed a rewarding and interesting experience. In fact, it's become my go-to game to play when I'm visiting my parents as it's easy to jump into and doesn't demand a high-end PC (which my laptop decidedly is not).
I also got Sunless Sea, specifically because I saw it was made by the same people. Never was able to go through a whole playthrough on it though.
5555552
I'm sorry to say I'm avoiding console games right now. I suppose I could get back to playing them (I've certainly got the hardware), but I dunno, I've been quite satisfied with my computer-based games these last few years. Plus I've come to question the wisdom of buying a new console every few years at an increasingly exorbitant cost when I could just upgrade my computer for a fraction of the price without fretting over backwards compatibility or worrying whether the uncaring Corporate Behemoth decides that little known indie game I loved is worth remaking for the new system.
If I buy a computer game, I have it. It's mine. It's not going anywhere, and my computer will still be able to play it in ten years if I'm feeling nostalgic. Has anyone here even heard of Einhander or Bust a Groove?
5555559
...I was unaware there was more than one Subnautica game. I considered adding it to my wishlist for later, but for some reason decided against it. Can't recall my reasoning.
I wasn't even aware there was a Streets of Rage 4. I remember being a beast at the third game. Continues? I don't need your stinkin' continues!
I love the latest Tomb Raider games. I'm definitely looking forward to replaying them later for my achievement hunt, 'cause they're worth it. I could never get into the old Lara Croft games, but those? *chef's kiss*
Can't play Alien: Isolation late at night? Pfft. There's no other way to play but in total darkness. As a lover of horror games I refuse to do anything less. This will be my second attempt to get through the game; I died so much the first time that I gave up out of frustration. This time I did a lot of research on the alien AI, so I'm much better prepared.
Ah, Stellaris. That's probably another nope on the 100% achievement run (although I haven't checked what the achievements are, so maybe?). Still, I won't be opposed to another playthrough.
5555559
5555765
I make it a point to avoid multiplayer games. I'm already addicted to single-player ones, I don't need to add the social element to make things worse! Still, I'll consider it.
5555617
ORLY? I supposed there would be plenty of purists who'd refuse to give the remakes any credit. I might still be willing to watch them. The last time I saw the original was nearly a decade ago and it had a really bad translation (or so my Japanese-fluent sister claimed), so I'm not as 'invested' in the original as some people might be.
I'll have to take a look at these other videos! I only know the Dragula one because it came out at a time when I was really into AMVs and anime in general.
5555631
Ah, forgot all about that one! To be honest I was never all that interested in getting it, but I would not be opposed to adding it to my wishlist for later.
5555661
5555665
I have never at any point in my life had an interest in either Pokémon or Digimon. I don't know, I think it was the timing that they came out. My younger cousins were at least briefly crazy about it, so I just assumed they missed me by a generation or something.
Still, no reason not to look into these. Having never actually played one before, I can't really say if I'd like them or not.
5555745
Have all my thumbs ups. All one of them.
I adored Caesar 3 as a kid.
5555790 So the Digimon games in general do still have the "collect-the-mon" format integrated into them, but they are much more heavily focused on story progression. You can do the usual grinding for specific evolutions and such (which are much more involved and complicated than Pokemon) but The Sleuth and Hacker's Memory are really good examples of Digimon story arcs. Plus, if you play it, the Digimon crossover in Isekai will make more sense
5555786
My apologies; the multiplayer aspect is 100% co-op. The game has solo play too. Unless you start a mission on solo mode, fellow dwarves can join ongoing missions (and you can too). The devs have built up a surprisingly non-toxic (on average) community; greybeards will generally take good care of you (sometimes they drop in on low difficulty missions specifically to help new players learn the ropes).
5555777
It's really not a whole lot, actually. Watch EoE, or even give evangelion a rewatch since the og series is on netflix, then go watch the rebuild series for more Orange Tang™ mind fuckery after that. All of it is excellent, and the third arc of Sometimes they call me Super (Persona) was directly inspired by it. I may or may not have stolen a few angels here and there.
5555790
Pokemon has basically been the same for the last 25 years, but Digimon has gone through phases.
The games are almost always more mature than the TV shows, and the gameplay varies wildly between most of them, save the 'story' games, which are all very similar to SMT/Pokemon/monster collector JRPG style. Some of them are better than others. My favorites are the cyber sleuth games, and the world Dawn and Dusk games for NDS.
Edit:
And, of course, who could forget the time in Adventure 20 when we tried to crucify Gabumon, huh?
This is a real screenshot.
i.redd.it/y7hok7vf75k61.png
5555796
If it was a matter of PvP vs PvE, I'd have been playing WoW ages ago. The issue isn't the style of multiplayer. Rather, it's an awareness of how addicted I am to gaming in general and the fear that playing games that have a social aspect to them will make that addiction even worse.
5555797
Yeeeeah, I'm not touching Netflix with a 9-1/2 foot pole.
You have caught my attention with the Digimon stuff though.
5555798
Ah, yes. Fortunately, (I swear this is true) I find it far easier to manage playing DRG than most games that I've played (like, say, Factorio); it's also kind of hard to want to keep playing endlessly, even with multiplayer. I absolutely recommend at least taking a close look at it.
5555802
Factorio (which I finally 100%-ed) is indeed addictive, as my "stay-up-until-2-AM-on-a-workday-because-I-keep-noticing-little-problems" situation two months ago can attest. I might consider the game, but a half-lifetime of adamantly refusing anything even loosely affiliated with the concept of MMORPG is tricky to get past. But again: considered.
5555800
"Netflix" *Coughs in tricorn.*
I'd say if you were to watch any of them, 2020 has spectacular animation, but no dub. Tamers is hard to find in decent quality, but I really loved the dub team that did it way back in the day (Steve Blum, a.k.a. Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, the Toonami guy, The Great Teacher Onizuka himself, etc, is in every digimon series dub, and he's the main human antagonist and our main digimon, Guilmon in Tamers). Savers is kinda campy in the beginning, and of course the original I have conflicted emotions about sub versus dub. I grew up with the dub cast, but the music and acting in the sub is 1000% better. Whatever you're willing to tolerate I suppose. Only Adventure 02 and the tri movies are directly related to OG Adventure, the rest are all stand alone.
5555807
I grew up on subs. Seriously, I was watching subbed anime since I was, like 10. I would have played NeiR: Automata in subs were it not for the fact that it's got intense action going on while the characters are conveying important plot information; it's kinda hard to read subtitles while paying enough attention to not die.
5555814
In that case, yeah, watch 2020. Stand out moments are:
Mimi. Just, all the time. She's the Rarity of the show and is always the best.
The absolutely horror that is the eyesmon line.
Episode 4(?) in which we redo the events of the our war game with the horror that is the Argomon line.
Any time we get an episode that features Matt (Yamato) and Gaubmon as the lead/focus. There is one particular episode that happens in the teens somewhere that I can never forget because it's a perfect example of show don't tell, and absolutely conveys 'friendship is magic' without saying a word about it. One of my favorite episodes to date.
The first time we get a main digimon properly going from Ultimate/Perfect (from 5) to Mega/Ultimate (form 6). "Break the Chain" is a fucking bop. (the forms go, In-Training/Baby 1 (form 1) > IT/Baby 2 (form 2) > Rookie/child (form 3, our main digimon are usually here) > Champion/Adult (form 4) > 5 > 6 > Ultra (form 7, very rare, very special occasions, like movies or series finales))
Like, the entire past 20 episodes, they've almost all been really good (as of this moment, we're 56/66). 10/10 show.
5555814 the 2020 series is definitely the way to go if you don't want to burn through all of them (although you'll be missing some BanchoLeomon if you never give yourself the chance to watch Savers). It's really different than the original Digimon Adventure, even if it's the same characters, but I've been enjoying the hell out of that one. Tamers is a really good overall story, the guy that directed Summer Wars was involved in that one.
5555819 alright, so to you which one is worse, 02 or Frontier? Personally, I really dislike 02 for a variety of reasons, but I'm curious to hear from a fellow Digimon fan.
5555827
It's probably been ten years since I watched 02, but I sat down last year since I'd never seen it all the way through and binged the whole of Frontiers.
Arc 1 is pure garbage because the main cast is just bratty kids at that point, and awkward, uncomfortable transformation sequences. 02 at least reacquaints us with characters we know, though Davis is a pretty terrible MC, but Veemon makes up for him. Shout out to Mummymon and Arukenimon for being a decent team rocket clone, and DM Emperor for being a hammy fun antagonist.
Arc 2 improves Frontiers by adding filler episodes that are more enjoyable than the main plot, TBH. In 02 here is where we forget Takeru is a character. Ken takes over, we get into the Jogress stuff, and like... what even is the plot anymore? Maybe if it was fresh in my mind like Frontiers, I'd know, but even then, that's dicey. The Baddest MF ever shows up in Black War Greymon, so that makes up entirely for the lack of plot. 10/10 character in 02/10 show. ba dum tsh
Arc 3 Make Frontiers watchable. This is easily the best part of the show, and Koichi is actually best girl. Dude brings up the entirety of the cast by being humble and good natured, where everyone else still has a lot of brat to get though in them, most of which never grow out of. Maybe Kouji is tolerable by the end of this arc, but Takuya is still kinda ass, even after his little Flamon adventure.
This is the part where 02 gets weird with the dark ocean stuff. 1, that shit was creepy as hell, and soulless eyes kari is my paralysis demon. 2, what the actual fuck is going on, and where did this come from? Despite being just poorly written, Frontiers at least hinted at Lucemon in the very beginning. this was like the digimon movie, like they had to take the plots of three separate moves and find a way to string them together. It didn't feel like the same show anymore.
Arc 4 single handedly ruins Frontiers with its team Rocket, Crusadermon/Roadknightmon and Dynasmon. Whoever thought this was a good idea was off their fucking rocker. This shit should've been two episodes, not EIGHT. But, it isn't enough just for this part of the show to slog on as we watch Takuya and Kouji do their best with the best powers we have and still get their asses kicked over and over again, no, we have to have four more episodes of fucking Lucemon trying to spread communism and ultimately being defeated by Suzano-omon the second time he shows up. Twelve episodes that could've been two. No character development happens, nobody grows or learns anything, we just finally put it in the air that Koichi is dead. And that's the big twist of the whole series, revealed like ten episodes prior! We don't even get an epilogue, they just see the guy wake up and it ends, right there. I hate this arc because it was wasted potential. The second half of the show could've been decent, but it just sucks so bad. Everything about it was mishandled and I still get mad thinking about it.
Here, 02 just kinda... pulls a gainax and does that weird dream ending? I remember this vividly because it was just so strange, but I didn't exactly understand why Davis alone had to save the day with three different versions of Veemon. The epilogue, however, makes my day when I see it, so that redeems the weirdness, and Ambassador Agumon and Adult Tai bring a smile to my face. All the kids all grown up with their own big families and digimon, it's just a big happy fuzzy thing, and I will take that over any part of frontiers any day.
TLDR, fuck Frontiers for arcs 1 and 4, and 02 is just the redheaded stepchild of the first five digimon series that I have no strong feelings for or against. Tamers > Savers > Adventure > 02 > > > > > > > > > > > > Frontiers. fffffuck Frontiers.
5555827
5555842
Well then, I guess if I ever actually watch the show, 2020 will be the one I go with.
I for sure won't ever 100% NieR: Automata, and that's because it has - in my opinion - the greatest achievement of all time: one you unlock by positioning the camera so it looks under 2B's skirt.
And players who do that get an achievement. On their steam user page. So all their friends get a notification about them looking under a girl's skirt.
Just the thought is hilarious and so, so satisfying to me.
5555919
I didn't even know about it until I went and looked to see what achievements I was missing, and then I was all SRSLY!? There's also an achievement for having poor 9S go without pants for at least an hour. I don't know if this reflects the minds of the creators or that the creators know their audience. Probably both.
It's not the first game to do it either. Lollipop Chainsaw (which I found insanely fun and lament it hasn't been remade) offered the same thing for looking up Juliet's skirt.
So I’ve thought about this for a while and sorry for the late comment but while I don’t think in the slightest that zone Oneimares attitude is constructive, helpful or even appropriate in the slightest, I don’t blame them for being spooked. While I honestly think you’re quite fair most of the time, sometimes Paul you draw some critiques in your reviews that criticize the author as a person versus their writing. Mind you, this is very very rare but.. well,
Case in point.
Your critiques are fair. The author is immature. They seem to have expressed some very strange views. Hell I even think you’re right to feel insulted as that’s what you feel. But while authors age may be relevant to the maturity of the writing, a writers actual age shouldn’t be actually up for discussion, so I found that harsh. Your second last sentence for the review (maybe when skytdaniels grows up) was bordering on unprofessional as it was basically an backhanded insult. Yes, I know you were pissed at them. You can chew out their writing for being immature and disgusting. But dude you have no right to tell them to grow up, especially since we have no clue as to what the authors circumstances are.
5556163
You're wrong about my comment being a backhanded insult. If anything, you've demonstrated how people can misconstrue what is written to mean something entirely different from the intended meaning.
Nor did Oneimare have any reason to be spooked, as I made it clear in our private conversations that the review of the story was going to be positive. In fact the one and only negative element to the whole ordeal was his reaction to being reviewed at all, regardless of outcome. Being spooked was entirely his own doing.
Even so, your point is generally valid. I should keep an eye on what I say and how people may misinterpret it, and my criticisms should be limited to the story rather than the author. Alas, it is not possible for anyone to avoid such problems 100% of the time, and I make no claims otherwise. If someone thinks I went too far, the best I can offer is to keep trying not to do it.
5556179
Yeah I think that’s more than fair and basically what I wanted to communicate. And yeah I don’t expect you to be perfect I just wanted to point that out.
Oh and yeah in this case this was onemaires own fault, I was trying to point out how... how someone might think when being reviewed in general because most reviewers aren’t as skilled as you are xD
I feel pretty bad for Oneimare honestly. I don't think that they made the best decision here, but I've met a number of content creators who have this kind of insecurity in regard to their work. It can be hard sometimes to feel comfortable with one's creations, and they clearly already had it in their head that there was something wrong with the story if they were going to the effort of rewriting it, I don't think they were in the right headspace to handle further judgment on it.
On the subject of videogames, did you ever get around to looking into No More Heroes after all these years of people getting titles mixed up? :u I'd personally recommend getting it on Switch if possible, if not tracking down the original Wii releases, but it is available on Steam now. It doesn't really have any similarity to No Heroes aside from the main character also being an assassin (in the loosest sense of the term) and, uh, anime tropes, but it's a fun action beat-em-up game with lots of great humor and characters and music and style. Also blood. Lots and lots of blood.
I would also have to make another strong recommendation for Hollow Knight. One of my favorite games to come out in the past decade, a Metroidvania with snappy gameplay and a fantastic world and story. And, most importantly, bugs. If you're going for completionism, though, be forewarned that it's a bit steep. It's a big game, and the skill ceiling gets really high for some of the late-game content.
Lastly, Control. Another contender for being among the best games of the decade imo. A surreal mindfuck of an experience which masquerades as a third-person shooter with mild platforming and steadily evolves and builds as you gain the capacity to break reality over your knee. Honestly has had a huge influence on me as a writer. And now it's not an Epic Games Store exclusive! I have heard it's a bit finicky on PC though, it's very graphics-intensive.