ConstableJelly

joined 1 year ago
[–] ConstableJelly@midwest.social 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No judgement on his skill as a producer but Kinberg sucks as a writer from what I've seen of his. He strikes me as a studio-friendly hack, and this is a dumb move to keep the franchise "safe" rather than trying better to make it interesting.

I suspect he didn't remember what it was and took a gamble on the reporter's qualification that Johnson had voted against it and Trump opposed it, rather than sounding uninformed. Otherwise it's just an extraordinarily stupid thing to admit in this situation.

[–] ConstableJelly@midwest.social 130 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Many noted a striking similarity to the case of Savita Halappavanar, a 31-year-old woman who died of septic shock in 2012 after providers in Ireland refused to empty her uterus while she was miscarrying at 17 weeks. When she begged for care, a midwife told her, “This is a Catholic country.” The resulting investigation and public outcry galvanized the country to change its strict ban on abortion.

But in the wake of deaths related to abortion access in the United States, leaders who support restricting the right have not called for any reforms.

My country's aptitude for remaining entirely unmoved by preventable tragedies that utterly upend political trajectories in other nations has become one of our most globally defining traits.

[–] ConstableJelly@midwest.social 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Video clip of the comment and aftermath during discussion (via twitter): https://x.com/Acyn/status/1851085909435039789

"Are you a supporter of Hamas?"

"Are you a racist, violent person inciting violence against me?"

 

Sad but fairly deserved ending for one of the greatest media failures in recent years.

Yeah, what happened. They take it down?

So close to great. I wish more developers were making environmentally detailed, high production value, single player linear games like Callisto Protocol. Just that little bit better executed to round out the total package.

[–] ConstableJelly@midwest.social 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Oh, I meant to mention the map, I know a lot of people take issue with it. It's certainly unusual and makes hundred-percenting item collection challenging. There are some maze-like areas with different levers you have to pull in certain orders that I'm undecided if they were improved by having less information.

Definitely a point of contention though, to say the least.

I played the demo up to the first couple battles just to get a taste of how that works. No question, I am very excited to get my hands on it. I'm generally a sub-$20 patient gamer, but this is one I'll be getting sooner. I'll still probably wait for the holiday season to see if it drops down at all because I've got plenty to keep me busy in the meantime.

I loved it. I've since also played 100+ hours of Elden Ring and some other challenge-heavy games like Hollow Knight - I've thought about going back to Bloodborne with some experience under my belt because it really is a great game. But for me it feels like a lot to start over (and as much as I hate to be an fps snob, they never released a next-gen update and playing a game like this in 30 fps is a turn-off).

I'm not sure if it's makes any difference to you, but Gris is very abstract in its "storytelling," such as it is. There's no backstory to expose, no reality vs. virtual simulation or dream world. It's about a player figure in a colorless world who begins the game in an implied state of incompleteness and melancholy. You guide her through a journey punctuated by moments of adversity, wonder, and triumph, communicated by an affecting marriage of gameplay, score, and cinema. But that's it, there's no dialogue, exposition, or narration, no backstory or plot twists.

The gameplay itself is fine-tuned and accessible. You learn a few new abilities during the course of the game that serve as tools for navigation and puzzle solving. And there are no fail states. It is meticulously lightweight in presentation and play, but equally powerful in emotional immersion and effect. At least, that was my experience.

[–] ConstableJelly@midwest.social 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

If I may, I'd recommend starting with the Demon's Souls remake if you're interested. Bloodborne was the first Souls game I ever played, and it was quite punishing. I got quite far and greatly enjoyed parts of it, but it was my experience that it was extraordinarily challenging for a newcomer. Among all the Souls and Soulslike games, BloodBorne is intended to be played aggressively, which is not a good starting point in my opinion.

It was actually Returnal that taught me how to approach challenging games, i.e., almost like a puzzle game in how you try new things to break through impasses. That being said, I also found the Demon's Souls remake to be a much more forgiving entry point, especially if you play as a magic caster. MP is limited so you still need to engage in melee, but magic is a powerful tool to play things safe if you play smartly.

It's also just a fantastic game with great level design. I actually kind of like the segmented levels with a central hub.

[–] ConstableJelly@midwest.social 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Gris is a no-brainer if you haven't played it. Fundamentally simple puzzle-platformer, but one of the most beautiful and emotionally evocative games I've ever played. Nearly every frame of this game is a work of art, and the wonderful score by Berlinist complements the gameplay perfectly, directly and indirectly.

Aside from Return to Monkey Island - never played any of them - the rest is pretty meh for me.

14
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by ConstableJelly@midwest.social to c/gaming@beehaw.org
 

Really disappointed in this response. I've got a soft spot for the first Greedfall, and Steelrising holds a prominent spot in my backlog. As they're a "AA" studio, I've had this idea of them as a scrappy, passionate team, but this response is tone-deaf and contentious, lacking any compassion for the concerns of the workers, favoring lukewarm platitudes ("we are determined to maintain an inclusive and stimulating working environment in which every talent can flourish and of which we can all be proud”) and even a clumsy advertisement for Greedfall 2.

 

Has anyone played the Enotria demo? I played about 15 minutes, getting just outside the tutorial area. I've been playing Elden Ring a lot lately and...Enotria just feels bad to play. Credit to the developers for the interesting setting and concept (masks and loudouts), but it's frustrating that it's such a direct copy of the FromSoftware formula. The combat mechanics, UI, enemy behavior, sound design, and level design are so egregiously imitative that its comparative shortcomings in all those areas are hyper-noticeable.

I haven't played many non-FromSoftware soulslikes like Lies of P or Steelrising (or even, candidly, most of the actual Souls games - just BloodBorne, Demon's Souls Remake, and Elden Ring), but I'd hope they were more taking inspiration and doing something meaningfully different that you can't get from a brand-name Souls game, rather than settling for what feels like a Kidz Bop version of the real deal.

 

This is my first Nintendo system since the NES. I've never been a big fan of their first-party properties when I've played on others' consoles, although I am interested in the Switch Zelda games.

We got Mario Kart 8 and Let's Go Pikachu for my son (the Switch is for his birthday). I might try Let's Go Pikachu but don't really care for Mario Kart. I'm keeping an eye on the Ori games too.

What I'm mainly interested in is Switch games that you can't play on the PS5 (which is my main platform). I don't really do mobile gaming so the Switch will pretty much be a home console for all intents and purposes, so I'm also not really affected by games that are "good for Switch mobility" like Hades (as an example--I already own that on PS5).

Thanks!

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