militantfreudian

Since I don't have the numbers, I can't really say if open-world games will remain popular, or even if they're as popular as they were in the past. Maybe the push for unionization discourages publishers and studio upper management from overworking developers to make enormous games with laundry lists of things to do?

The problem with many open-world games is that they don't justify their scope. Not in terms of gameplay (limited interactions with the world), nor quests and objectives (linear quest lines and restrictive objectives). If a studio doesn't have the means to invest in designing mechanics and systems for an open world game, then maybe they shouldn't.

I generally agree with @barrock, give me something like FromSoftware games, Prey, and Hyper Light Drifter, or more level-based games like Dishonored and Hitman. I'm hoping God of War's success encourages more developers and publishers to consider smaller scale open worlds.

Realizing the third movie is just around the corner, I decided to see the first two over the weekend. I think the second movie is markedly better than the first. There was plenty of bad acting – really bad acting – and writing in the first, and even though it was shorter, I felt like it dragged toward the end. I thought the world-building of the second movie was more engaging than the trite revenge tale of the first. Also, the music during the action set-pieces were less offensive in Chapter 2. I'm kind of curious where Atomic Blonde ranks. I've only seen it the one time, but I remember thinking it was better than the first John Wick.

The first thing I think of at the mention of world-building is immersive-sims: games like Bioshock, Dishonored, and Prey. Compared to a computer RPG, I don't know if the lore in those games is as dense, but each game establishes a good sense of place. Supergiant Games' games do a great job of presenting an otherworldly place. Pyre, in particular, gives the impression of having rich mythology and centuries worth of lore. Oh, and the world of Hyper Light Drifter was one of my favorites to explore, even though the game doesn't have any text.

I haven't played much else, but I'm still enamored by Sekiro, 40+ hours in. Marquee releases are becoming more homogenous, and there's less of them, so it's not common for me to play something that feels genuinely new. Sekiro may be the best game I've played in a while.

I should've realized this sooner, but yeah, blocking an attack mitigates all damage, even if it breaks your Posture. At which point, you can just safely retreat, or even start deflecting again after a second or two.

Speaking of things the game doesn't explicitly explain: when an enemy interrupts your attacks with a well-timed deflect (you should hear a louder clang), they will almost always counter-attack, which means it's time for you to start deflecting or blocking. Once I realized this, combat encounters had a much more enjoyable rhythm. Also, Posture recovers faster while guarding.

I'm head over heels for this game. I've been playing it every chance I got, now I'm roughly 15 hours into it, and 3 bosses down. Sekiro turned out to be not yet "another one of those," and that's exciting.

The Souls games have always had lean but mechanically-layered combat; Sekiro is the one to add complexity. When facing enemies, tougher ones, in particular, I feel I need to figure out quite a few things like which of their attacks punish retreating and which are "Perilous," which tools work best against them, how quickly do they recover their "Posture," etc. The swordplay has a high skill ceiling, and playing well looks good, which makes me think I might be playing the game long after finishing it.

The first few locations are sprawling with a multitude of branching paths. Had this not been the case, I would've found the game more frustrating, since I'm frequently up against a new roadblock. I mean, fuck the Blazing Bull. The boss you fight at the top of Ashina Castle is dope though.

In his impressions piece, Austin was more effusive in his praise for the game than I expected. I'm very much looking forward to playing more.

I'm in the same boat, even though I like playing these games closer to release. I'm not going to pretend to know where the money goes, but knowing that paying full price for the game might line the pockets of people who are already overpaid would make me feel guilty. Especially since many of the games I bought over the past few months were discounted.

As for the platform I intend to play this on, my only option is my regular PS4.

I've been meaning to see Miller's Crossing for a long time; finally saw it today. I thought it was okay. As I've come to expect of a Coens' movies, it's not a simple genre exercise. The dialogue is ornate and often witty. I think Ken Levine mentioned the movie influenced how he wrote the dialogue for Bioshock, and it shows. I didn't find the movie very engaging mainly because none of the characters – despite the good cast – were very sympathetic. The labyrinthine plot didn't help in that regard either.

I also rewatched No Country for Old Men, this time after having read the novel. The only reason why I prefer the novel is that there's more of it. I think, while the philosophical subtext is more present and coherent in the novel, the adaptation is still near-perfect. I've seen the movie three times now, yet many of the scenes are still edge-of-your-seat thrilling.

Over the past few weeks, I watched Yorgos Lanthimos' latest movies. All of which were great, in particular The Favourite and The Lobster.

Huh, Lepers are back for the sequel. Darkest Dungeon remains one my most-played games, and needless to say, I'm pretty fucking stoked for the new one.