jediknight00719

One thing i really wanted to talk about is how much it draws inspiration from other games. I think the Giantbomb crew touched upon this but it really made me realize how dominant the western game development scene has been in the past 10-20 years. You can see inspiration from Elder Scrolls games (and other open world games), Portal (all the shrine puzzles) and minecraft to name a few. While they may not admit it, its clear a lot of japanese developers have played a lot of western games and are clearly inspired from it.

I know its small but its something i keep thinking about when playing BOTW. I keep thinking Nintendo is a company that doesn't listen to the outside world, just does its own thing. Reminds me how globally connected we are through games and game design.

I also want to start by saying i love the game. I really really like how big the world is and when you go up on towers or mountains and oversee the different landscapes, its really beautiful.

But as i play more i find it a bit weird how so many press outlets gave perfect scores. I feel if it didn't have the zelda theme it would be criticized far more. I haven't read many written reviews (except Dan's) but i assume most reviewers have some reverence for Zelda

Kind of want to touch upon some of my issues and explain my views on other's complaints

- Frame Rate: definitely an issue.

- Dungeons: I agree with a lot of people here. Compared to other games in the series they don't live up. My biggest gripe is how formulaic they are. Find map, find five terminals, fight boss. I don't mind doing the same thing but mask it some way to make it feel different. I feel this is where you keep the idea of learning a new mechanic in a dungeon and applying it, its a great concept and one that still works in the series.

- climbing during the rain: I get the complaint. I haven't hit it as much so far but i like that it makes sense in the world. Probably should be some way (new gear) to alleviate it

- cooking: I understand the complaint. My take is they were trying to borrow of the minecraft mechanic of forcing players to remember recipes. (please correct me if i'm wrong) I think they chose on purpose to force players to 1) remember the recipes and 2) force players to experiment and try different ingredients. Allowing players to make recipes in bulk would defeat the purpose.

- weapon storage - i agree with everyone on this aspect. Make it easier to throw away items when picking up new items. If they do patch the game, this is the one i expect them to fix.

- weapon durability: I understand the complaint and i think they should have some way to show how much durability a weapon has but i don't think durability is bad. It forces me to use different weapons far quickly. I felt this was on purpose by the devs and i like it.

- craft arrows: Someone pointed this out and omg yes! i totally agree. I want to use the bow a lot more! but i keep running out and when i buy from stores they only have a limited amount so i have to teleport to different places just to buy more arrows.

one extra fact although small is Patrick is following Glixel on twitter

Just to add about Duelyst, the lead designer is Eric Lang who has been putting out a bunch of hit board games. Recently he created Marvel Dice Masters which has had a large CCG-like following and more recently Blood Rage which has been getting a lot of rave reviews. He also got his start in Board game design doing a lot of CCGs decks like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones etc under Fantasy Flight Games. So the game does have pedigree behind it. Not sure if that will lead to it competing with Hearthstone in this digital CCG genre.

Overall it was a good episode but i don't think it was as good as the first episode. It didn't feel like much happened we were just getting a feel of all the characters. I did like all the Essos parts. Also Kit as Jon Snow didn't voice him very well at first. I thought they weren't able to Kit to do his part. Later when you talk with him one on one he started sounding more like the show. Cersei and Tyrion are definitely much better acted.

Good Luck Patrick. One thing i really enjoyed is how well you articulated why you enjoyed certain games on the podcast and bombin' in the AM. You also tried genres that you never liked before, i admired that and it made me try genres i didn't like before (and now enjoy). You will definitely be missed.

I really enjoyed the episode a lot. I came in assuming it would be some average side story but it came out way better. Its funny hearing all the voice actors doing good job and then hearing Cersei and Tyrion and just how much better they are.

Curious what the Giantbomb community decisions were. Here are mine:

You left Bowen behind

So i assumed that if i chose to save Bowen, Lord Forrester would die. Bowen was kind of a dick so i felt i needed to save Forrester first.

You swore loyalty to the King

While i didn't want to, i had to. Margary wanted me to and i don't want to be on Cersei bad side. Not yet.

You took Erik's fingers

I follow the Stark ways. He may be a good man with a good intentions, but he broke the rule and tried to steal. And i need to show that i won't tolerate that. I also wanted to show that that people needed to respect Ethan and not mess around

You picked Royland as Sentinel

Originally i was rolling with Duncun. He is smart and i usually side with peaceful ways, but funny enough after talking with everyone it was pointed out that he did order to have Gared leave without consulting me I felt him as an adviser would cause the House to be lax. Royland while i object to his gung-ho mindset i feel he can rally the soldiers better. So i chose him

Funny enough when it came to deciding how to meet Ramsay I still tried to side with Duncun and he called me out that i was still conflicted. Wonder if other people had that happen.

You met Ramsay at the gate

Cause screw meeting him inside the Hall, we know he is freaking crazy. But for some reason i let him in after, wonder if you can avoid that.

And the usual GoT ending happened. I kind of expected it, but it still shocked me.

Strong strong start, very impressed with the writing, can't wait. Hopefully they will run through all of them before the new season starts, but i assume no.

In the past week there has been a lot of content, with Giantbomb west,giantbomb east and Giantbomb midwest churning out content. I am now having a really hard time running through all this content, there is soo much! But its a great problem to have.

Awesome job staff, really appreciate having new content always ready to watch.

mustard is good, and DJ Mustard production is really good too!

@gtcknight: oh wow, yea knowing how hard it was on brave can't imagine how it is on legendary. the waves while fighting the that giant purple orb were soo annoying! I'll def try that out.