Okay, so I finished LISA: the Painful RPG, and I'm going to post my review of it on here. Because this is how I've chosen to live my life.
LISA: The Painful RPG is the sequel to Dingaling's earlier hit, LISA: The First, which follows a young girl through a mental fantasy world as she copes with a history of sexual abuse by her father. It's an interesting experience, but I wouldn't recommend playing on a full stomach, if you know what I mean. The sequel, despite the name, is a much more light-hearted affair with a simple premise. Your adopted daughter, quite possibly the last woman on earth, has been kidnapped, and you have to ask yourself if you're a bad enough dude to get her back. And that answer is revealed over the course of your journey through a post-apocalyptic sea of jerks, idiots and perverts. It's not necessarily a pleasant answer, to say the least.
There are a number of obvious and not-so obvious inspirations. Earthbound is at the top of the list, with LISA borrowing its sprite art sensibilities, themed locations and general sense of childlike quirkiness. While the predominant aesthetic is Southwestern Desert, you can and will explore areas ranging from tundras to brothels. And most if not all characters have unique art and, in the case of party members, unique movesets and fighting styles that give everyone a sense of charm and individuality. For reference, my final team consisted of a perpetually drunk guy who spits gasoline at people, a filthy thug with a magic duffel bag of fire and wonders, and a one-eyed ex-footballer.
It also takes a few calls from the likes of The Walking Dead, in that the game goes out of its way to make you feel unpleasant and that [nerdvoice] actions have consequences [/nerdvoice]. In the vein of the latter, you're forced to make a few Important Choices in the game, and the game does a good job of integrating these choices with the rest of the gameplay. As the game's Steam page touts, you have the option of sacrificing a limb in some of these Choices, and besides reducing your stats by a bit, you get less attacks per turn and lose the ability to equip certain weapons, depending on how many limbs you've lost. Even the sprite changes, with you carrying a bleeding arm stump for the rest of the game. This aspect of the game is also emphasized by its Pain Mode, which most notably has save points explode after using them, basically giving you a limited number of saves and forcing you to decide whether to use them now or later.
The other thing the game relies upon is teammates. Like I said before, the game goes out of its way to make each of them unique in terms of both abilities and flavor. Of course, some are more effective than others -- that drunken guy I mentioned earlier is low-key one of the most powerful NPCs in the game -- but they're all at least slightly viable. There's 30 of the dudes littering the wasteland, and you'll need to seek them out and coerce them into joining you, because since the game can't outright kill you, it'll get to you through your friends. Besides the Important Choices, which will often have you trading teammates to get out of stuff, your teammates can be kidnapped, permakilled in battle, kidnapped and then permakilled in battle, and put into Russian Roulette games for gold nudie mags and glory. Or they might just abandon you while you sleep, possibly because of the aforementioned Russian Roulette thing. How likely you are to lose characters depends on whether you're playing on normal or Pain mode. On normal, I managed to get through the game with only two lost companions, again to the aforementioned Russian Roulette games, but I also powergrinded before the game gets to the particularly killhappy enemies, so your playthrough may vary.
In terms of flaws, the game does have a tendency to meander a bit at times. There are three main hubs in the game, and most of the really interesting stuff happens in-between them. And there's no direction on where you're supposed to go in the hubs, so you might end up going to the Field of Poisonous Snakes before you figure out where the guy who can cure poison is. Additionally, the plot shows more than it tells, occasionally through spurious flashbacks that reminded me more of Thirty Flights of Loving than anything else. And while TFOL makes those work, their relevance to the plot isn't clear unless you remember everything clearly and pay careful attention on top of that. But it does give that little "ah-ha!" moment when you finally get it. Or cheat and check the wiki page on it.
In short, while the thematic content isn't for everyone, if you have a stomach for the weird and unusual and JRPGs don't give you cancer, then this game is probably right up your alley. Writing's solid, if a bit patchy at points, gameplay's fairly varied for a JRPG, and the setting's a wonder to explore. At least until you sleep at the wrong spot and have to pay a ransom to get your teammates back.
It seems so sudden; he was recording directs a very short time ago. I am going to miss him for sure. It seems like he made a big impact at Nintendo and I think it was kind of neat how he had a programmer background before becoming an exec.
I really should finish Earthbound one of these days. It was one of Iwata's big projects back when he was in the trenches.
I mean, I know what happens. I read a very excellent LP on it. But it's not the same as going through it personally.
I would recommend it. Even knowing more or less how the end of the game would go, I still enjoyed playing it firsthand. I think it makes you feel good afterwards.
“When I’m parting with a friend, regardless of the circumstances, I find it best to just say, ‘See you later.’ We’ll meet again. After all, we’re friends. That’s right—nothing unusual about it. I’ll see you later.
You went on a trip far, far away, even though it was planned for many years from now. You wore your best outfit and said 'Sorry for the short notice,’ though you didn’t say it out loud.
You always put yourself last, after you’d finished helping everyone else. You were so generous as a friend that this trip might be your very first selfish act.
I still can’t grasp what’s happened. It feels like I could still get a light-hearted e-mail asking me out to lunch at any moment—after you’ve made sure lunch wouldn’t disrupt my schedule, of course.
You can invite me out whenever you want. I’ll invite you, too.
So for now, let’s plan on meeting again. You can call me up whenever you like, and I’ll give you a call, too. I still have a lot to talk to you about, and if I come up with any particularly good ideas, I’ll let you know.
So let’s meet again. No–I suppose we’re already meeting. Right here, right now.”
Gun Mettle Upgrade is somewhat disappointing. First few rewards were good, but now it's dropping crates rather than items. I resent having to pay to unlock something that I've already paid for.
But the crates are selling well on the market, to the point that I might just make back my investment in a few days, so I'm not complaining too much.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is not a perfect game and doesn't quite capture the same allure the first game had, but it is still incredibly fun and I am enjoying it a lot. I can tell because I'm very tired.
Like I said, not perfect (I still take issue with the introduction for example), but enjoyable for me. I think I'll give my fuller thoughts once I've fully completed the game, or done the main story.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
At some point, Lo Wang stops being an asshole. You know this, because he says "I used to be an asshole" and tries to help someone who isn't himself, a world that he doesn't live in.
The problem is that I have no fucking idea when that is. I don't know when the turning point is.
Street Fighter V has announced that you'll be able to buy DLC characters with in-game Fight Money, which can be generated simply by playing.
Not only does this mean that DLC won't be as 'holding you by the ankles and shaking the money out of you' as usual, which makes it look good in the eyes of the gaming populace, but it also gives a distinct advantage to people who buy the game at the release date. I'm impressed, Capcom
I mean, it's still pretty calculated. Keep them playing long enough that they'll achieve brand loyalty, Stockholm Syndrome style. And they're still letting people buy their way into DLC.
But I'm already invested, so this just means that whenever I upgrade from USF4, I won't have to bother with waiting for Steam to put the DLC on discount
That's a good system and I feel like it's probably more viable in the long run than similar attempts to monetize fighting games after their initial releases (MKX's 'easy fatalities' come to mind as a kind of poor example, for instance).
In other news, I'm making it official: I don't think I'm capable of enjoying competitive online multiplayer shooters. Except for TF2 and Garry's Mod (neither of which particularly fits the traditional mold), I have had nothing but negative (and often embarrassing) experiences with them as a genre.
The weird thing for me is that as far as PvE goes I'm actually decent (hell, maybe even good) at FPSes. I love Borderlands and a few other single player shooters, and so far all of the enjoyment I've drawn from Destiny has been c/o the story missions and patrol (Bungie's fancy word for sidequesting). On the other hand, the very same game's arena mode (appropriately titled Crucible) is nothing but a deathfest, round after round, with maybe one or two kills here or there per match if I'm lucky. More often than not I feel like I'm a liability to the team instead of a member.
In all honesty, I don't think I'm built for it anyway. I'm not the type that values a KDR or needs to feel a sense of dominance over other people at all, so I feel like it's not really worth my time to try to dedicate myself to game modes that prioritize those very things over everything else.
But anyway. The Ur-Child is the final superboss of Etrian Odyssey II. For the past 7 years (the game came out in 2008), players have been insistent that it is physically impossible to beat it solo.
Etrian Odyssey II. It's in the video title, even. -_-
For those somehow not in the know, Etrian Odyssey is a series of very challenging Wizardry-style dungeon crawlers made by Atlus, and it's a great series if you like classic hack-and-slash. Generally, players travel in parties of five, but Fossilmaiden here has been taking out the game's toughest bonus bosses... with only one character.
Like how I know you're awesome at Touhou but not the specific games you've 1cc'd
I 1cc'd every single Touhou game, years ago, because they are relatively easy within the danmaku sphere, even if you play at the highest rank. 1cc's are shit, easy, and boring, literally just the first step in playing a danmaku seriously. I play for score because there is a lot of depth and competition, and that's where the brilliant game design really shows.
Like how I know you're awesome at Touhou but not the specific games you've 1cc'd
I 1cc'd every single Touhou game, years ago, because they are relatively easy within the danmaku sphere, even if you play at the highest rank. 1cc's are shit, easy, and boring, literally just the first step in playing a danmaku seriously. I play for score because there is a lot of depth and competition, and that's where the brilliant game design really shows.
is that really an appropriate response to a compliment
Comments
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
It seems so sudden; he was recording directs a very short time ago. I am going to miss him for sure. It seems like he made a big impact at Nintendo and I think it was kind of neat how he had a programmer background before becoming an exec.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Ain't no stopping the Revenge train.
Two floors left.
Judge at will
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
edgy teen fantasy simulator is shadow the hedgehog, obviously
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Tiny Girl vs. Final Boss Mecha Dragon, the little known Megashark spinoff.
Begone.
Let's not beat around the bush here. To my knowledge, I am the first ever person to solo this fight.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
that's awesome
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
In other news, I'm making it official: I don't think I'm capable of enjoying competitive online multiplayer shooters. Except for TF2 and Garry's Mod (neither of which particularly fits the traditional mold), I have had nothing but negative (and often embarrassing) experiences with them as a genre.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
In all honesty, I don't think I'm built for it anyway. I'm not the type that values a KDR or needs to feel a sense of dominance over other people at all, so I feel like it's not really worth my time to try to dedicate myself to game modes that prioritize those very things over everything else.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Final Fantasy.
Not Final Fantasy.
But anyway. The Ur-Child is the final superboss of Etrian Odyssey II. For the past 7 years (the game came out in 2008), players have been insistent that it is physically impossible to beat it solo.
So
I have that
relatively i mean
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead