I found this post really interesting, thanks. Though, I think the crucial point is the third one. It should not be reasonable to consider calling the cops on someone as putting that person in danger if that person is innocent. The fact that that expectation is realistic is the far greater tragedy than any individual death or horrible prank, to me. If there isn't strong evidence of wrongdoing, maybe the situation should be handled without physical harm.
For calling in a domestic threat to be considered in a court of law as something one would reasonably expect to lead to bodily harm is honestly more or less recognition through precedent that there exist squads of highly trained paramilitary on call to harm and murder at the behest of anyone with a cell phone. The idiot who made the call may be charged with involuntary manslaughter, but the SWAT team are still the ones who pulled the trigger in the end.
I'm not trying to start a big discussion about police violence or anything, but I don't think people should overlook the role of the SWAT team itself in the whole SWATting phenomenon.
Very cool write up! I recently visited Helsinki for the first time a few months ago and had the opportunity to visit the Verkkokauppa classic video game museum, so it's good to learn a bit more about Finnish game culture.
To be honest, it's a little saddening that making a statement like this should be particularly praiseworthy, but with the level of integrity in media in general these days, I suppose it truly is.
Though, I'd be more worried about game publishers hiring Bianca under some impression that she might give them special insight into the mind of a game reviewer (like Dan) to help their games review better, than Dan giving them a good review out of some sort of marital obligation.
This more or less echoes my feelings on this game, in terms of feeling like a very "acoustic" or sort of "proof-of-concept" take on classic RPGs, but with a very satisfying overall aesthetic and mood, the sparse amount of content being somewhat backed up by the rather minimalist and desolate setting and narrative.
But I think my biggest specific complaint is probably Spritnite/mat collection system being just not that well-suited to a linear, story-based RPG rather than a more "arcadey" dungeon-crawler, like say Etrian Odyssey, which uses the same system. What spells you can equip being tied to random damage calculations (which may significantly change the balance of the game based on what items you get in what areas) ultimately doesn't really add much compared to learning them by level, skill points, story objectives, a job system or really anything "RPG-like" that doesn't amount to just killing the same enemies in slightly different ways.
More generally, I think this game is probably most hurt by the near-universal linearity of it. What is even the point of an overworld if there's no enemies or meaningful choices as to where to go next? The moment-to-moment bumps along the road would feel less significant if they were the result of player choice, or if you could just leave and go somewhere else if your party isn't set up the way you want for a certain area, and of course more player choice is probably better for role-playing in general anyway.
Overall though, as Tokyo RPG Factory's first game, I would say this game is definitely a decent first effort, and I'm quite curious as to what exactly they're going to do with Lost Sphear.
Considering Battletech has some of the best mecha in the biz, and everything I've heard about Shadowrun has been positive, this seems like it could turn out really excellent.
Quick minor clarification on how the meters in this game work:
The gauge Ben was talking about that you can use as a combo breaker when it fills up is the burst gauge in the upper right and left, and fills up gradually over time as well as a little from dealing damage and a bit more from taking damage.
What Jeff was asking about was the unlabeled meter near the upper center of the screen, which is a block meter as seen in KOF and various other fighting games. It goes up when you block a move, and goes down over time or when you attack, and exists so you don't just turtle up and play defensively for the entire round, because when you fill it up your guard fails and you get combo'd.
It came across as kinda confusing in the video so I figured some explanation would be helpful.
My schedule hasn't been lining up with seeing the last few of these live, so I'd just like to say here that this is probably my all-time favorite GB Premium series, and when you look at the full breadth of the series since it started and how much has happened as the backdrop to all the vampire slaying it's really pretty incredible. In the time this feature's been going, it's moved from being played in the background of TG16 Bomberman, to the creation of GBeast, Dan being hired, Austin plus all kinds of short-run video series coming and going, and through all that there's still always some good old-fashioned Caravella-vs-Dracula gameplay to come back to. That can mean a lot sometimes.
In terms of the shield thing, as well as I suppose SotN design being perhaps a bit less conducive to streaming relative to previous games (in that there's a lot more backtracking, and the viewer can see things the player can't as easily), this episode did feel a little bit anticlimactic, even though it's not really in the control of the player. That said, I've never really understood why people use "cheese" tactics to the expense of their own enjoyment. Vinny specifically says he found the inverted castle less enjoyable after finding the shield, so then, is the only reason he continues to use it after that to speed through the game as fast as possible, at the expense of a more enjoyable experience? I'm not saying it's "wrong" or some terrible tragedy or whatever (it's always fun to see games you've 100%ed and watched speedrun over and over played in an interesting and unique way), it's just that in general I don't understand when people say what seems to amount to "I do not enjoy this item/playstyle as much as another" and then they continue to use that item/playstyle just do to it being more powerful or for some other reason, but then not actually having any more fun because of it. Again, not trying to be a whiner or overly-critical, but it did seem like a little bit of a bummer.
Anyway, I hope this series continues in some form, and if they're committed to playing every 2D consolevania they should play The Adventure ReBirth, since it is technically, in chronological order, the next console game with all-unique 2D levels. I've only played the GB version of The Adventure, but apparently the WiiWare "ReBirth" version changes the level design and mechanics a lot so it certainly seems like it would be interesting to see.
P.S. As regards above criticisms, I wouldn't say taking a meandering route or shooting the shit about random garbage is inherently bad or anything, it's more that spending a lot of time reading the chat makes it harder to pay attention to what's happening on stream. If you're in your own bubble staring at a laptop and talking to chat, you could be the most enthusiastic person ever and it wouldn't shine through. Personally, I follow the philosophy of zero spoilers or 100% spoilers; either look up a guide or just play blind, but maybe don't make chat do all the work for you unless it's absolutely necessary.
Glad that companies like Limited Run and the rest are translating and physically releasing this sort of of lower-budget game/novel and keeping the Vita alive. Too bad this trailer doesn't really tell you what it's about at all if you don't read kanji.
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