Played this all weekend. It's a great game! I'm about 2 weeks into summer at this point and I have a more carefully planned out growing area than I did when I first started and a chicken coop. Also getting further down in the mine, engaged in quite a bit of fishing, and so on. Feel like I've done so much already but also can see there's a LOT still to come. I've also come to appreciate that there's a lot you can do even if your energy is low like laying out paths and socializing. I should probably do more of the social stuff because the people in town have interesting personalities.
Also just in case there was any confusion, aspartame and sucralose (Splenda) are not the same. My former organic chemistry student brain nearly exploded during this segment. Last time I did any reading on the subject I got the impression that some of the confusion arose because of how the "same" product could actually have different sweeteners depending on market and function. Certain countries will allow different sweeteners for various reasons (some scientifically sound, some not so much). Most of the concerns about artificial sweeteners are unsubstantiated or the research is misconstrued.
Really love the look of Devil Daggers. I doubt I'll pick it up but it's fun to watch other people's runs.
I think part of the reason for the angry response to the PC/console comments is that the last year or two has basically been weekly comments on most outlets about how much the consoles suck compared to PCs. And that commentary tends to ignore the actual reasons people bought the consoles in droves and continue to play them in very large numbers (price, convenience, a lack of concern for top notch performance/fidelity) and creates the strange disconnect between the press and the fans given that press are often have very different priorities or views when it comes to those issues. Yes, people should just enjoy how they can or want to play, but it has gotten pretty tiresome to hear at this point.
You all haven't really dove into that as much and the comments were a lot more mild and less "the consoles suck and are dying / I can't stand to play X game on a console / I wish I could play this on PC with my 980," but that's the backdrop of your discussion.
That's where my frustration comes from. It's a side effect of the industry being so insular, a lot of critics are surrounded by people who are so deeply invested in games that they have a hard time seeing the big picture (Gerstmann is better than a lot of people I follow). So when critics hyperbolize about how amazing it is consoles are doing so well it ends up sounding like a "let them eat cake" situation.
Yeah I think that's always tricky. Like on the one hand I think most people would like their comments to be reflective of just their own views when it comes to positive negative connotations but all of this stuff happens against a bigger backdrop. It's also tricky when you reach an audience that has a spectrum that ranges from laid back to serious enthusiast. A lot of different life situations in that range.
I'll have to relisten to last week's podcast. I remember the discussion making me raise an eyebrow but otherwise not being alarming so I was somewhat surprised to hear them address it this week.
I guess that's okay. Important thing to remember is that 3 stars isn't necessarily bad so much as not great or particularly interesting. I burned out on Far Cry 4 about halfway through it even though by most standards it was a solid game. Feel like it's a good formula that needs some time to rest or a real change up that goes beyond just changing the setting.
This QL made me so god damn happy last night. I'm not going to lie - I took a look at racing wheel prices after this. I'm not going to get one but there was a white hot minute where it almost happened.
This is a really interesting development. I never played Epic Mickey and haven't followed Spector's recent career but I share some of @homelessbird's concerns about things being very different from Spector's glory days as a developer. He certainly brings a lot of good things to the table but there are also a huge set of expectations that go with developing a new System Shock and meeting those expectations is a tall order.
Hoping for the best though because System Shock is still one of my favorite series ever.
I absolutely adore this game. It's my favorite game of the year so far but I have to completely agree with Dan in giving it a 3 out of 5. The technical performance issues get in the way of concentrating on the actual game.
Really appreciate Dan saying this is one to return to when hopefully things have smoothed out technically. I will say there are some good tweak guides starting to pop up but developers shouldn't count on the players fixing these many issues from the start.
The card game in Thea is good. The auto-resolve should be used in easy encounters, but in even fights there's a lot of tactical moves and counters going on. The more progress you make the more there is to it.
However, inventory management is crushing in the late game. Most of my time was spent in the equipment screen.
I would also argue there's just too many damn attributes/challenges to keep track of for the card games. I only made it about 2/3rds through a game, but the equipment was also getting cumbersome; I was still experimenting, but I felt like there were clearly Better & Worse items, even within the same tier of materials. It's the type of game I want a remake of more than a sequel; it could become something excellent with a bit of systems-cleaning and polish.
Yes, completely agree about too many attributes. It would be one thing if they felt distinctive but it just doesn't quite get there as far as I can tell.
Thea is a really interesting and neat game but it's incredibly odd in ways that aren't necessarily great at times. It has a side to it that is full of memorable moments and story beats that you just don't see coming but it's also rife with stats and elements that aren't necessarily explained in a useful way (if they're explained at all) or are redundant.
I was one of my favorite games I played in December and I do think people should check it out (especially Austin because it seems to be one of those flawed but interesting games that will get thoughts churning) but be ready for a fairly unconventional feeling game that doesn't hold your hand.
Also the art and writing is distinct in a really great way.
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