Yeah. I think there’s a problem with the modern development cycle that a fuckton of the budget goes into marketing and marketable assets (i.e. all them graphics that look great in the trailers but nobody’s computer can actually handle, and then the rest of the team’s on the hook to make a game on a shoestring that can actually use all of that content - The only way you can possibly accomplish that with a fraction of a fraction of the budget is if it’s super simplistic and repetitive gameplay that’s stretched over 40+ hours like a peasant on a torture rack.

Think about how many games you’ve played over the last decade, and how many of them were still fun to play after the first five hours, either because the primary gameplay loops were satisfying enough to keep you engaged, or because the game was keeping it fresh with new mechanics that didn’t bungle clumsily atop one another like a raspberry and beef trifle. Making great games is difficult and expensive, and most studios would rather put out something with a guaranteed return than anything that’s fun to play.

You know, the fucked up thing about it all is I was always told that the kind of delayed gratification that came from major accomplishments like a college degree, a steady career, a comfortable savings account, would all outweigh the fleeting pleasure of parties and stupid little trinkets and other such fun. I wish I had taken so much more time for myself because I burned out so hard achieving some of these things and failing to achieve others that I struggle deeply to imagine a future with me in it.

I hope whatever youth is left in the world spends their time having fun. I hope their lives are worth living now, and that mine will be someday too.

People could avoid paying $70 for bad games by not preordering. Like seriously, it takes maybe two hours after release for the criticism to start pouring in.

Yeah, the silver lining of the whole gaming industry fallout is that the indie game scene has never been better. I was lamenting the fact that we hadn’t had a good top-down zeldalike in a long time, echoes of wisdom notwithstanding even though the formula is pretty altered. Someone pointed me in the direction of Master Key and it was an incredibly satisfying time. Almost like it would have fit in perfectly between LoZ 1 and Link’s Awakening.

I kind of feel that - I think the issue for me is that there’s a lot going on in each of these games that is tangential to the primary gameplay loop that on the surface isn’t obligatory, so if you find it not to your liking you can choose not to engage, but avoiding the secondary activities locks you out of some rewards for the PGL often and severely enough that you do feel obligated to engage to the point you can get these rewards. Especially in the gambling minigames, I often feel relieved when the points you buy end up being the same points you exchange for said rewards because it means I can just engage in the fighting a little more instead of having to gamble.

Case in point, I’m playing Infinite wealth right now and it feels like a big step up from the first Like a Dragon, but I’m still finding myself pulled into the Sujimon quests even though I personally don’t like monster tamer games. I don’t even know what the rewards are but half of the map icons are raids and trainers, so I feel like I should at least be putting time into maintaining a team with the ones I can catch just from grinding out fights for Job XP.

You say that like it’s a bad thing. We have more in common with the average Chinese citizen than we do with our government, our wealthy and our celebrities.

Yeah. Clearly the only thing that matters is money, if we’re meant to idolize these ghoulish billionaires. My country should be proud of me following the example they set of selling out everyone they can in the name of the almighty dollar.

I think you mean “Straight” person

SAY IT!

It’s funny, I own a switch and I would have bought the game (and I probably will still if the technical and QoL issues get resolved) but I’m emulating it better than the hardware can run it right now.

I like it more, but I’m a fan of the more classic Zeldas. It’s good, but it’s marred by the same technical issues that plagued the LA remake, and the lack of some basic QoL features like a Quick Select or Favorites wheel is bringing it from ‘great’ to ‘good.’

I actually really like the SNES game, it is objectively not great though. You can’t even save, so emulation is a must unless you can dedicate an 8-10 hour sitting to it.

Particularly that it switches between top-down outdoors and a pseudo-FPS indoors, and the claustrophobic interiors and darker music give it a lot of charm.

And they’re probably carving themselves a nice bonus out of the tax write-off for the studio closure.

I mean, let’s not forget that the early consoles had their own pitfalls, a period of gaming that spawned tropes like ‘Nintendo Hard’ and ‘Guide Dang It’ in order to, among other things, pad out the length of what we would consider an otherwise barebones game, and to sell time on their hints and tips hotline. I do feel like there was less bullshit in the past, but it definitely still existed.

I preferred the switch lite with a protective case that gave the grips a little more body, made it way more comfortable to hold. At least until I picked up a Steam Deck, which ended up being pretty much everything I wanted out of portable gaming, and waaaay easier to emulate on.

Linda…

Redfall also flopped last year

Feels like an understatement - this was the game that killed Arkane, because a majority of the team decided they’d rather fuck off than work on whale chasing live-service nonsense. And like, good on them, but it means no more Dishonored, no sequels to Prey, no chance of Arx Fatalis II, and it fucking sucks to see enshittification strangling good talent. I hope they’ll find success outside of MS’ looming shadow.

I don’t know if I could call it good, exactly, but one unique concept that I haven’t really seen captured anywhere else was the Dungeon Maker series on PSP, that allowed you to build dungeons that you would then explore/fight/loot, to give yourself funds to build out further/deeper, ad infinitum. It was clunky, controlled pretty stiffly and basic as ARPGs go, and after a certain point you kind of went on autopilot, but there’s a certain je ne sais quoi to it that I really quite enjoyed, especially if you planned out your builds. I think a similar title was released on the DS but it was turn-based and not particularly well-executed.

Seconding the Dark Clouds, god I wish that series had continued.

Volatile

Read: We don’t want to put the time and resources into making quality games when we can prey on whales in shitty Skinner box mobile apps.