Hawkwing
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Posts posted by Hawkwing
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I wouldn't mind if they returned, but the game would have to be designed with them in mind. Shadow Dragons maps are large enough that the 3-10 range is helpful without being overpowered, the hit rates and strength vary between ballista weapons without ever quite reaching 100% chance to hit, and the limited ammunition means you have to decide whether or not an enemy is worth using a certain weapon on. They're helpful, but they have limits and won't win the game for you.
That said, they aren't something you can just plop into any game and call it a day. In a game like Awakening, they would likely be yet another overpowered class, thanks to high hit rates not being difficult to achieve and how even the worst characters are at the very least competent. It's pretty telling that their immobile variant has appeared far more often in the series, and even then those ranged in how annoying they were to fight and how useful they were when the player got their hands on them. As a playable class, ballistas have proven to work, but the fact their mobile form hasn't become a series staple shows they likely aren't the easiest things to plan around. It would be awesome to see them return, but I would also rather not see a haphazard implementation.
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It turns out this is an intentional distraction, and Kellam sneak attacks anyone who falls for it. Plop this in the range of a horde of enemies, and watch as they all fall to the invisible shield. Thus, Kellam has mastered the art of dodgetanking that doesn't require having spectacular speed or defense.
I give Nils Leon's gangster outfit from Resident Evil 4 and a saxophone, and tell him he should give people another turn in style.
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Heck yes! One of the first topics I made discussed this very thing!It ends up coming off as uncanny as it seems that every enemy is clone of the same person, just with a different head. It also seems that reoccurring enemies and even your own units can't decide which colored mount they want to ride today.
I wish that the games that have more than one villainous and/or heroic factions wore different styled armor to make them easier to distinguish.
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Banned because I want to do a longer version of that joke, but it would probably take a few weeks just to find all of his awesome moments.
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Okay guys. I'm done posing for the awesome picture. Now can you please help me lift this thing?
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Wonder if they are wielding a giant hammer or a sword stuck in a pedestal.
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Banned because my laptop broke yesterday yet the software still works. I can still check emails for work and such, but it's not exactly, uh, mobile anymore.
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Thanks to being stuck between a rock and a hard place, I haven't really explored the genre; Either I wouldn't be scared and feel like I wasted my time and money, or I would, and thus end up psychologically scarred, and I like my sleep. I don't mind when other games or movies have nightmare inducing elements (for the most part, anyway), but I've never really been interested in a pure horror experience.
With that said, I have become more curious in trying out more horror games after playing Resident Evil 4. While I didn't find the game to be all that scary (I would say that "tense" or "suspenseful" are better descriptions), I did enjoy the survival horror side of the mechanics, such as the game not being afraid to make you run low or even out of ammo, one-hit kill enemies that you had to be cautious towards approaching, limited healing options, and a control scheme that made it seem like you were never fully in control. It made me curious about the rest of the series and the mechanics of other horror games.
Similar case for horror movies after watching The Terminator. I wasn't scared or even frightened at any point, but I greatly enjoyed the story and loved the efficient execution of the titular killer robot. It really made the famous description seem accurate instead of just another over-hyped tagline.
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The only popular game I can say I actively disliked was Double Dragon, and even then I can see why people love it. I'm just not that good at beat' em ups, and didn't know the tricks to approach enemies without them getting the first hit in. It is the game I've been the most frustrated with, though, and I have to actively restrain from judo tossing the arcade machine whenever I give it a try.
Otherwise, I can't say there are many other popular games that I didn't enjoy playing. Majora's Mask 3D and the Mega Man X games come close, and even then I far from hate those games; they just didn't click with me as I expected they would. The time elements of the former are pretty cool and are utilized extremely well, but having to redo progress all the time added up pretty quickly, and was especially frustrating when I discovered how to proceed in certain side quests or dungeons via trial and error, meaning I'd likely have to repeat steps later on. As for Mega Man X, I think that's more due to how I haven't played a platformed in a long time and am probably out of practice. Doesn't help that the game requires frequent dodging, which I was never really good at doing in 2D games in the first place. I aim at giving these both these titles another shot someday, maybe when I finish the dozen or so I'm currently playing.
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Banned because I found out that the 3DS version of Metal Gear Solid 3 doesn't have the Hawk codename, meaning I speedran the game on Hard when I could have done so on Normal.
Proof:
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The 3DS version of Metal Gear Solid 3 doesn't have the Hawk codename, meaning I speedran the game on Hard for something I could have done on Normal.
Oh well. I least I can say that I managed to defeat The Boss with only CQC before the Snake Eater theme played, all while wearing the sneaking suit (which kills your camo index during said boss) by accident.
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Wonder if now is the time to finally give the Kingdom Hearts series a try.
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Have a booger hanging out of my nose, because chances are a few photos probably have that exact scenario.
WYR walk barefoot through a carpentry shop or a blacksmiths forge?
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I wouldn't I have many "silly" reasons for not playing a game that don't fall into the "it has gratuitous violence/sexual content/language" or "it has religious content that I'd rather not deal with" categories, which I don't at all consider silly. If anything, I'd say it's more surprisingly when I end up enjoying a game that has such things, but I digress. I suppose some examples that could fit the topic:
Games That Force The Player To Do Something And Then Blame the Player For It: Also known as blaming the railroaded player, I hate whenever a game does this with a passion. It comes off as a cheap way of showing the heinous actions a player might commit just to get ahead, when in truth an observant player can easily see how forced and hypocritical the entire thing is and how they were given no other options even if they tried to find one. It's the main reason I can't get behind games like Spec Ops: The Line, which constantly criticize the player for something they didn't have a choice in and no, turning the game off doesn't count and in truth just means "you wasted your money". A few indie games pull similar tricks, which does make me cautious towards buying some of them. The only two cases where I didn't mind this were Thief 3 (where it was purely a gameplay thing and only mattered on the hardest difficulty) and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (because it went extremely in-depth with its deconstructions and meta commentary, and had so many themes and topics of discussion that if that aspect didn't sit well with you, chances are another part would).
Games That Revolve Around Devouring Enemies: Because being eaten alive is a huge fear of mine and something I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Thus I would probably find every excuse not to play a game that focuses upon just that.
Multiplayer Only Games: I just simply never had that much interest in multiplayer, and while my internet connection is good, I'm not certain if it is good enough for several of these games. Doesn't help that the skill level of your opponents can be all over the place, as well as what the community is like and how much the game relies on teamwork to win the day. It's pretty telling that the only multiplayer game I play consistently is the Napoleonic Wars mod for Mount & Blade, and even then that's more because of the awesome soundtrack and sheer wackiness that can ensue more than anything else (dodging cannonballs while listening to Flight of the Bumblebee is quite the experience, to say the least).
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Upon giving it some thought, I don't believe there is a universal way to objectively determine if a story is good. The moment anyone puts out a list of rules of what a good story must contain, someone will create a story that functions well while also defying some of said rules. If one states that a good story has to fit in the rules of its genre, then a product that takes elements from other genres to enhance the story shows that rule isn't true. The authors intent is important, yet this does not prevent the audience from forming their own interpretations of a stories Aesop. Some stories are impactful without a single line of dialogue, yet in another tale the conversations and commentary are the most engaging aspects. Some stories are set in unique worlds with rich histories, characters, and creatures, while others benefit from keeping the setting ambiguous. Some plots are driven by its characters, others tell the story of a place instead of a people, and some focus on the similarities and distinctions between cultures. In some stories the lesson is spelled out, while others let only actions speak. I could go on, but the point is that stories are versatile, and there is a time and place for each of them. A "good" story cannot be determined by a set list of requirements; they are judged, critiqued, and praised on several merits and perspectives that are far from universal.
And this isn't even getting into other aspects that can affect a story. There are countless examples of dialogue, scenes, and even entire plots that on their own can come off as rather silly, but the skill of an actor or of actors makes the moment impactful. The opposite can also be the case, where an excellent idea on paper can be bungled by the execution of something unrelated to the writing process. Sometimes special effects and the like come off as gimmicks and flash over substance, while other stories are enhanced by them and even some could only convincingly be pulled off with these enchantments of all kinds. In the realms of games, even the most simplistic of stories can provide context and interest in the rules and mechanics. They don't always align with each other, and these moments can be laughed off as an endearing absurdity in some cases while in others these contradictions can harm the integrity of the fictional world. Likewise, story and gameplay going hand in hand can make for an engaging experience just as easily as it can make for an annoying or frustrating one.
There are a multitude of factors that can affect the final story, not all of them in the writers control. As I stated earlier, stories are versatile, and what makes one "good" and another "bad" can't always be determined by a clean list of rules. I can only give general advice that if one wishes to tell a good story, then it is wise to know what kind of story you wish to tell, how you wish to tell it, the strengths and weakness of both and how you can use that to your advantage, and accepting that not everything will be in your control. I know not every single tale worthy of hearing, reading, or watching follows that advice, but that's the beauty of stories. There is no one way to tell a story, nor is there only one story to tell. They are limitless.
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Granted, but it is only half complete.
I wish that there was a Robin Hood styled Fire Emblem game about stealing from the rich, giving to the poor, raiding treasure trains, and recruiting more merry men.
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I am made of the colors black and white to show clearly the conflict between light and dark, good and evil, and to eradicate the "grey" that blinds people from true morality.
That, or I ran out of paint.
On 6/19/2020 at 3:40 AM, DragonFlames said:I don't know what people are complaining about. These weapons are pretty light... Wait, they're made of paper? Well, that would explain a lot...
That really would explain a lot...
Speaking of which, does that mean that the Master Sword is recyclable paper in BOTW?
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Ask if they own a trampoline and are interested in contributing to an old meme.
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What
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Banned because I attempted to get the Hawk Codename in Metal Gear Solid 3D yesterday, but got tired at the escort mission part.
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He actually fulfills the "weaken enemies so that other units can kill them" role now. Too bad Lunatic mode is now impossible.
I require all thieves to hide in cardboard boxes to avoid combat.
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It is pretty tricky to nail down the overall difficulty of Fire Emblem games. If someone knows what they are doing, they can run circles around even the hardest games, while the easier ones still have moments that can give a player a good challenge (even if said challenge can range in how intentional it was). It gets even more complicated when taking into consideration aspects such as permadeath, the leap between difficulty settings, how well the game informs the player about the mechanics and the capabilities of the opposition, and so on.
Personally speaking, I tend to play on Hard Classic, and I prefer to do ironman runs, though not for every game. While having to deal with permadeath can be nerve-wracking, it does also get me to pay attention and think out my options far more often, not having to reset all the time significantly speeds up the pace, and it is encouragement to try out new characters, classes, and combinations that I may have previously overlooked. Hard tends to find a good sweet spot as the "middle-of-the-road" difficulty, though obviously it ranges between games how well it serves this purpose. So far Awakening is the only game in the series I do challenge runs for, as while I will criticize the wonky difficulty balancing, I will praise the amount of freedom the player is given to do what they want and either exploit or ignore the overpowered mechanics, or heck just ignore certain mechanics in general.
I wouldn't say that Awakening's Lunatic and Three Houses Maddening modes are inherently bad difficulty modes, as there is a certain appeal to testing ones knowledge of the games mechanics and exploiting the broken aspects in order to simple survive. The problem being that that this appeal isn't universal. Having this kind of mode alongside a difficulty harder than hard without requiring the use of overpowered mechanics would be a nice compromise, but I understand that it is not always practical from a development perspective.
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Congratulations on completing your first Ironman run! I remember doing mine a little under two years ago, and since then I've loved to do ironman runs of several games in the series. It definitely changes how you approach certain aspects of each game.
19 hours ago, AsexualPotato said:I plan on running Conquest on Lunatic soonish and I figure it will get me familiar with the systems in general.
I recommend doing a run-through of Hard first on Casual mode. Conquest may be fair, but it does not pull any punches in the difficulty department and isn't afraid to make you pay for even minor mistakes. You'll be in for a challenge, but if that's what you are looking for, you'll be in for a treat. I'd say that in terms of pure gameplay, Conquest is the best in the series.
4 hours ago, starburst said:That being said, congratulations on your iron man campaign, mate!
I have never been able to complete one; I always end losing someone "irreplaceable" here or there. Then I just restart and continue playing as usual. 😬
Since I replay Conquest often, I have my own "no-restart records" and I try to improve them. Still it does not compare to the planning and mentality of an iron man, for replacing fallen units was never an option.Huh, I might actually try that sometime. My impression was that Conquest is really good at giving the player a balanced set of characters in terms of gameplay and making sure that the majority of the time if something goes wrong, it was the players fault, with the rest of the time being typical Fire Emblem bullcrap (high hit rates missing, low ones hitting, and crits activating when you least want them to, and so on). On the flip side, there are also a crap ton of things to keep track of, which in turn increases the number of areas in which someone can make a mistake and the game can get pretty cutthroat about unit availability. That's a good system for seeing how far one can get in a ironman run without having to worry about the game becoming unwinnable if it reaches that point. And setting a new record is encouragement to keep improving. Again, I might try that the next time I get a chance to play Conquest.
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They sneeze immediately. You are either barbecued or covered in dragon snot. Or both.
In spite of any threat thrown my way, I constantly pester Panne to tell me everything she knows about Taguel lore.
The Race Issue: Is it going too far? Has Disney hopped on the train now too?
in Serious Discussion
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Disney has always seemed to be embarrassed about Song of the South, considering it never got a VHS or DVD release in North America, and they won't put it on Disney +. I won't lie that I do wonder why they still haven't available when a "This movie is a product of its time. It contains outdated depictions of race that were wrong then and are wrong now. We won't censor anything, because that would be pretending that these prejudices didn't exist." disclaimer would go a long way (Disney + already has a small one, though Warner Bros has them beat there. Seriously, looks theirs up, it is extremely well done), though I still respect Disney's decision. Sometimes it is best to leave sleeping dogs lie.
I don't take issue with changing the ride itself, as rollercoaster remodeling is nothing new. I will, however, critise the timing. This comes off less as an announcement that they have plans to give one of their classic rides a new coat of paint, and more like they're trying to appease certain crowds. I wouldn't put it past them, considering their clumsy attempts at implementing and promoting LGBT content (though to be fair, they aren't the only company that struggles with this. Nor is this a new situation; consider how varied the handling of things such as race, gender, nationality, and so on has been across a mediums history. An interesting topic of discussion, but that's not what this current thread is about).
As for the current topic, I have long since been disillusioned with the news. It's an establishment that has existed for centuries, and they know every trick in the book to rile people up, promote agendas, carefully provide the truth, and tell people what they want to hear. Unfortunately, I don't see this situation as any different.
Different sources focus on different aspects of this situation, whether it's the actions of the police, the protesters, the politicians, the victims of rioting, or any other group they can think of. And each one paints each group in the light they want people to see them in. Heck, within this very topic, both the actions of the police and the protestors have been emphasized or downplayed. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle, but good luck finding the big picture without listening to the yelling on all sides and trudging through the anger and fear that seems to fuel most of these groups.
The end result seems to be that you either have to pick a side or denounce them all as handling the situation without the care it deserves. Or just wait until history repeats and the conflict dies down for some time, before something stirs it up again later. Cynical note to end on, but while the specifics are different, this situation is nothing new.