nonused

@tobbrobb: Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I could t definitely agree with that. I guess I was more or less expecting a bit of a slog through the first couple of branches, but, yeah, your interactions with the disciples come out to be immensely underwhelming. I was really hoping they'd go somewhere with what essentially became their gimmicks. I really did like the Intoners, though, but it takes a very long time before they get interesting AND a lot of that interesting stuff is locked behind DLC/external reading.

Still, I guess it was one of those "greater than the sum of its parts" things for me. The actual game part of it is ass, but there're aspects of its story that keep picking at the back of my brain.

Yeah, Yoko Taro games have kinda all been like that, though I wouldn't say they're as fourth wall breaking as MGS (except, probably, Drakengard 3). I do also wonder if this one's going to go as crazy, or if it's going to be a bit more of a push into the mainstream. I'd really like it to be a bit of both, retaining the aspects of the original Nier's story structure while remodeling its gameplay. Which, to be fair, seems to be the idea on the dev's part. I just can't shake the feeling that with so much assumed polish on the latter, there are going to be concessions made on the former, and that would be upsetting.

@tobbrobb: Out of curiosity, what is it that you felt wasn't cool/interesting about Drakengard 3 relative to the other two in the series (Yoko games, I mean)? I just beat it recently, and I thought it did a great job of expanding on the universe of Drakengard while still being very much its own thing. I don't think I liked it as much as Nier, overall, but there's some very cool stuff that happens around the resolution of that game. I'd also be very interested in seeing if certain aspects of D3's narrative will make their way into Automata. It might be a long shot, but I think they will.

@invo1221: Based off just the demo, they're pretty aesthetically similar. A lot of browns and greys, some dull greens. I'm kinda hoping, with the sequel, they saturate the series a bit. But, in some ways, that doesn't feel very "Nier". The music in the original is a good deal more bombastic/in-your-face (although, it's kind of hard to compare Nier: Automata's scorefrom just the demo; tracks were definitely evocative here, but blending more into the background than in the original). The original also flirted with a ton of different (game) genres, just like the demo hints at, with the focus being third person hack and slash and bullet hell.

However, the demo feels way better than the original Nier. I love that game, but its gameplay definitely isn't for everyone. Whereas the demo felt like a fully-featured Platinum game, the original feels more akin to something like a Platinum prototype. But design/ability wise, the core is pretty similar. Both share a penchant for awesome boss fights, it seems.

If you are interested in checking out the original, just know that it's an original, but bumpy ride. There are aspects to that game that are truly outstanding, but you have to deal with some fairly rough pacing to appreciate those aspects. I'd ultimately say that you'd want to play Nier for the story/experience; if you're going to it for absorbing gameplay, I don't think you're going to be completely happy with the game.

P.S.: If you ever get stuck fishing, just look up where to go online (you'll know).

Pretty sure they were referring to the Smart Pistol section, as well. Hell, they could've been referring to array level or the jumping ships level, but I feel like those aren't really described by a singular mechanic like the time prompt. Maybe the Arc Tool (really wish they did more with that thing, though)?

I am also surprised at the lack of Northstar love. Was the first titan I tried after beta and the campaign, and I think she's awesome. Not great versus the little ones, but is deadly towards other titans. She also, unfortunately, looks the dumbest (in my opinion).

@blackout62: Yeah, just play whoever you feel like. I also think Ion is pretty cool, but I just can't get good damage output with her. And, despite the game telling you she's beginner-friendly, it seems like Tone and Legion fit that bill much better. Hell, Ion has an energy-managing mechanic unique to her.

Also, keep in mind that the devs feel Ronin is a one-star-difficulty titan, whereas Tone is three.

Oh, shoot. I didn't realize titan classes were going to be a thing; I thought that was just for the sake of the test. I really wanted to be able to customize my mech, but classes make sense for balance. Still a bummer, though. Anyone know if pilot customization is gonna be a similar schtick (like, tactical determines your aesthetic, as in the test) or no?

Honestly, I don't buy it. These changes sound too dramatic for six weeks (implied; at most) of development. At least, I feel that whatever capacity these changes exist in won't be enough to significantly change the way the game feels. Design-wise, it seems like that timeframe wouldn't be enough for proper QA; asset-wise, well, for it to matter, I don't think they'd be able to implement enough in six weeks.

I could be absolutely wrong. It's also possible they sent out a gimped build when they went gold (I'd have no idea why they'd do that, though), or that they've been working crazy hours. Either way, I think it's safer to remain skeptical (of course, you could say that about any game pre-release). These guys weren't afraid of making Molyneux-esque promises before this build of the game went out, without the audacity to redact or extrapolate upon them (which, honestly, is great for marketing a game; not so great for actually tempering your audience). They are also, by self-admission, a tiny indie studio, which ties back in to my first point. Again, this isn't the end-all-be-all of my doubts, but it definitely feeds them.

Also, this sucks:

• Exploits – infinite warp cell exploit and rare goods trading exploit among other removed. People using these cheats were ruining the game for themselves, but people are weird and can’t stop themselves ¯\_(シ)_/¯

No. If there's an imbalance in your game, it's not up to you to decide if I'm "ruining" it for myself. And if I do find the game to be ruined utilizing a method laced within the design of your game, the onus is on you, not me.

Really glad these guys are getting more attention for their work on this game. Actually, I'm not sure of how popular they were before this, but I had just assumed they weren't (like many post rock bands). Listened to a lot of The Fall of Math and One Time for All Time in high school; really liking this album, as well.

I mean, you could probably emulate it on your iPhone or Android or whatever, if you have one. I have LeafGreen on mine, but that was more just to see if I could do it; I haven't really played it.

I'm not sure there's a better way to do it. I know Dota 2 uses (possibly used) a similar system, but gave those who offended multiple times a stacking penalty. When the stack hit five or so, they were in "Leavers Jail", and were only matched with other people who RQ'd. Maybe Overwatch should enact a similar policy? I dunno. It's a tricky problem to solve, given that they need to account for legitimate disconnects, as well.