development

This. Ya'll should spend less time ASLEEP and more time AWAKE!

Yes! If I dislike the look of a game I cannot enjoy it. I’ve tried.

1.) Dark Souls III. Played 200 hours trying to like it and realizing I just hated how everything was hyper specular/shiny or washed out, with tiny details that get muddy in even 4k. I respect the details. I don’t respect the art direction that makes those details ugly. Kinda worried cause Elden Ring’s seemingly looking to have the exact sort of shaders with even more fine detail.

2.) Into the Breach. I’m sorry. I know. I’m sorry. The art style isn’t even bad! It’s good! It just does *nothing* for me, and the game feels bad for me because of it.

3.) RE4/Fallout 3. Great games with art direction summarized as: “Hmm. But what if it was brown?” Feel sick playing them.

4.) Rogue Legacy. The gameplay is good, but I can't enjoy it because the art style does nothing for me. I have nothing against pixel art. I like a lot of pixel art. Rogue Legacy 1 just feels overly simplified... or something.

There’s more but you get the idea.

Oh found one more:

Any chibi game/game that sexualizes minors, or any anime-styled game that makes their women characters look absurd with insane lingerie accompanied by very fucked up gender roles. I get it hahaha she’s actually 4,000 y/o. Right. But what’s the real reason these games keep getting made? I don’t get. Never got it. Why do people like these things? Is it genuine creepiness or nostalgia for creepiness? Either way it’s bad.

They're officially settled into the office.

Damn I could hardly disagree more! Didn't realize anyone liked the RE trope of everyone turning into a big squishy thing, but I guess they must keep doing it for a reason. I'm all for schlock, but schlock can be interesting. I never find RE's giant monsters interesting at all. There's zero nuance to them. Big red things; arm here; arm there; boring. Compare them with any Silent Hill's enemy design and it's clear which ones look like 1st graders drawing "cool monsters" and which ones look like well-concepted disturbing abominations.

The Heisenberg part where you float up and grab the tank again is cool but it's lame that it's a cutscene and you can't actually hit the 'fire' button yourself.

I agree Lady D's section is kinda hand-holdy, but she's still the best and most interesting character in the game... until they turn her into a big red thing.

Only part I strongly agree with is the big crying/laughing baby being a great sequence. It's my favorite part. Short and sweet, and, similar to what you said, seems like an homage to P.T. in tone and feels great. The doll part afterward didn't do much for me at all. Maybe I just don't like RE and wanted it to be more like RE7's first half...

I thankfully never played RE5 or RE6 so I can only compare it to the better entries in the series. Up against 5 and 6, though... sure, it's all amazing.

There really isn't any other podcast I know of that can replace it. I listen to Comedy Bang Bang more since the Beastcast ended, but mostly I'm binging TV to replace that "gaming-and-listening-to-Beastcast" block of my week. Currently on season 6 of True Blood and I don't recommend it but also I can't stop watching.

I watched Dan's stream and it just looks boring. It has no real soul. The comic-book "klick!" pop-ups are completely out of place; nothing else looks like a comic or has that vibe. The character's feet slide on the ground as they run, making moving around feel awful; for a character-action game this is a big deal. Every movement and attack have no weight to them. I could go on and on getting into the story and voice acting and the decisions around that, but you get the idea.

I'm impressed they managed to show footage of the game that looked so good for all these years leading up to release. They fooled me.

agree. it has some of the best DLC of any game, ever.

@gundato: sorry I actually agree. I use hyperbole too much. Used to be my favorite Souls game. There's just a lot of weirdness, different design ideas, and unfinished areas/ideas.

The Giants/Giants Memories in particular are really standout ideas to me. I love going back in time to places I've spent hours of time inside of in video games. Gives a real Zelda vibe.

@chaser324: Definitely. She had to yell at some fools for spoiling stuff / telling her what to do on several occasions during her DS1 playthrough. Seems some days are worse with that than others, too.

2pm-5pm EDT on Tuesdays + Wednesdays https://www.twitch.tv/ybbaaabby

Dark Souls 1 was a fun watch. DS2 is a disaster and it's so weird. I'm excited to see her reaction to it.

edit: Apology tour: I love DS2. I call it a disaster out of love. Most of the disaster is a result of time and budget cuts and not a real fault of the dev team. However the characters, game mechanics, and whole vibe are very goofy and weird and I stand by that. It's why it's so fun to see people experience it.

No backseating in Abby's chat!