The Backlog Check-in Vol. 125: 5/23/20: Next Gen Can Wait Edition

[isthatallyougot]

Oh I didn't mean you puckish rogues, I meant generally . And now I know...it's all glitchy as all get out . My autosave got busted and now Max slowly ascends to the heavens or descends to hell as he dies either way. The car barely moves so I am forced to get out and then it starts. Dang ol shame too, I was really enjoying it! I was about 4 hours in and how no drive to restart. Oh well, I will move on to something else...

It did a good job of capturing that rusty, parched and desperate struggle for water, fuel and survival that defines the universe, but it had plenty of problems too, sadly. I played close to 10 hours, but it wasn't worth finishing for me either.

[crimson_tide]

I was really digging it for that reason izzy, it had a really solid vibe! But I don't like when I hit these kind of glitches. The game has to be really, REALLY something for me to be bothered to start again. I read up a bit and the glitches are an issue with the game.

So now I might try Dragon Age Inquisition. Maybe. I am back to being indecisive because Mad Max was supposed to be my game this week...

WAIT, I bought Dragon's Dogma, I should probably play that...yeah, I will start that up tomorrow!

[isthatallyougot]

Dragon's Dogma is a really fun game. It never reached all-time classic status for me, but I really enjoyed my time with it. Pretty unique title with some fun combat. (You can use my pawns if you like crim - although I think that probably only applies to the PS3 version - I don't think there's carryover.)

[canedaddy]

Come on, Phase, the bosses in Bloodborne aren't that bad. I got through it and I'm a half-blind old man.


Played recently: Yakuza 0, Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 35 (13 PS4, 9 Vita, 7 3DS/2DS, 5 PS2)


Yakuza 0 is a blast, unsurprisingly. Wish I had more time to play it.

So that big goon who takes your money... should I run away from him or just go take him on anytime I see him?

[jfissel]

Yakuza 0 is a blast, unsurprisingly. Wish I had more time to play it.

So that big goon who takes your money... should I run away from him or just go take him on anytime I see him?

Oh yeah, forgot about that guy. Every time you beat him he gets stronger, so consider that. One of the easiest ways to make a ton of money is to keep cycling losing to him and beating him...because he takes all of your money if you lose and accumulates more by the time you find him again. I mostly avoided him because I was trying to do other things.

[Phaseknox]

Well, you're not the only one to feel similarly. For the people who the series resonates with, there's nothing better, but it doesn't mean everyone has to love it.

I'm talking about Bloodborne, not Dark Souls. Bloodborne definitely resonates with me, I just don't think that the early bosses in the game should have screen length life bars and take little damage when hit. But I heard that the first two bosses (the ones that I've fought so far) are a couple of the more troublesome since you go up against them somewhat early in the game when you're still fairly underpowered.

You should really play Bulletstorm phase. I think you'd really enjoy it!

I plan on playing it eventually, but I'm playing Rage 2 right now and I don't know when I'll be in the mood for an FPS again.

My autosave got busted and now Max slowly ascends to the heavens or descends to hell as he dies either way. The car barely moves so I am forced to get out and then it starts. Dang ol shame too, I was really enjoying it!

That SUCKS!!!!

I bought Dragon's Dogma, I should probably play that...yeah, I will start that up tomorrow!

Dragon's Dogma ROCKS!!!!

Come on, Phase, the bosses in Bloodborne aren't that bad. I got through it and I'm a half-blind old man.

You have more patience than I do, I don't like retrying tough parts/bosses in games over and over again. I will for a while, but then I reach a point where enough is enough.

So that big goon who takes your money... should I run away from him or just go take him on anytime I see him?

I always avoided him.

[isthatallyougot]

I'm talking about Bloodborne, not Dark Souls. Bloodborne definitely resonates with me, I just don't think that the early bosses in the game should have screen length life bars and take little damage when hit. But I heard that the first two bosses (the ones that I've fought so far) are a couple of the more troublesome since you go up against them somewhat early in the game when you're still fairly underpowered.

I'm talking about the structure and difficulty resonating - not the atmosphere. Who wouldn't love FROM's work from an artistic standpoint? (Some crazy people. )

I plan on playing it eventually, but I'm playing Rage 2 right now and I don't know when I'll be in the mood for an FPS again.

I just finished it a second time. I'm still trying to get all the skillshots because it's so fun. This game is seriously a riot! Probably the best FPS I've ever played.

Come on, Phase, the bosses in Bloodborne aren't that bad. I got through it and I'm a half-blind old man.

I still think that's one of the biggest misunderstandings about the series. (including Souls of course - I still haven't played Bloodborne but I might this year.) The difficulty is already variable with leveling, weapon upgrades etc. (I always shake my head hearing people cry "unfair" that FROM doesn't include difficulty settings, smh. They already DO.) It can be really easy if you want it to be. And if you don't want to brute force it, just a little patience, observation/pattern-recognition will serve you well.

So that big goon who takes your money... should I run away from him or just go take him on anytime I see him?

I was scared of him for a long time (and distracted - like j), so I kept running away. After I decked out my character, I showed him what's what though.

[Phaseknox]

I'm talking about the structure and difficulty resonating - not the atmosphere. Who wouldn't love FROM's work from an artistic standpoint? (Some crazy people. )

Everything about Bloodborne resonates with me (including its difficulty) except for the bosses being hit sponges with ridiculously long health bars. That doesn't make them more challenging, it just makes the fights against them drag on for a lot longer than is really necessary which messes with the pacing and is physically draining. I have the same complaint with every game (I'm looking at you Borderlands 3) that has hit sponge bosses with ridiculously long life bars. It sucks the fun out of fighting them, and just makes them a chore to beat IMO.

I just finished it a second time. I'm still trying to get all the skillshots because it's so fun. This game is seriously a riot! Probably the best FPS I've ever played.

[isthatallyougot]

Everything about Bloodborne resonates with me (including its difficulty) except for the bosses being hit sponges with ridiculously long health bars. That doesn't make them more challenging, it just makes the fights against them drag on for a lot longer than is really necessary which messes with the pacing and is physically draining. I have the same complaint with every game (I'm looking at you Borderlands 3) that has hit sponge bosses with ridiculously long life bars. It sucks the fun out of fighting them, and just makes them a chore to beat IMO.

Well, the essence of Soulsborne from what I've read from Miyazaki and others, and from what is obvious from a game design standpoint, is that they want to offer resistance to accomplishment. They want to engender that feeling of "victory" in the player. Hidetaka Miyazaki had the following to say in an interview.

‘”We don’t want to include a difficulty selection because we want to bring everyone to the same level of discussion and the same level of enjoyment,” Miyazaki said. “So we want everyone … to first face that challenge and to overcome it in some way that suits them as a player.”

“We want everyone to feel that sense of accomplishment. We want everyone to feel elated and to join that discussion on the same level. We feel if there’s different difficulties, that’s going to segment and fragment the user base. People will have different experiences based on that [differing difficulty level]. This is something we take to heart when we design games. It’s been the same way for previous titles and it’s very much the same with Sekiro.”

Granted, not everyone feels the same, but they've been consistent with their work long before "Souls" was the phenomenon that it became. And if you read between the lines in his comments (here and elsewhere) it is obvious that variable difficulty exists, it's just that it's not a setting in a menu. Your approach to the game can change the challenge immensely, and I really love that design philosophy. Your victory is up to you. Tackle the challenge however you like. That's utterly brilliant imo. It's what makes replaying the game so enjoyable too because you can tackle things so differently as you gain experience (as a player - not just your character). It's why soul level 1 runs are possible.

I know this debate is contentious in the gaming community, but I adore FROM for sticking to their design principles. (Not to mention their incredible world building) Even if I couldn't beat the games myself, I'd admire their artistic integrity in an industry that has very little imho.

To be fair it's not my go-to genre, but I've surely played many in my days. Bulletstorm is just incredibly fun. I mean holy crap is it fun!

[Phaseknox]

‘”We don’t want to include a difficulty selection because we want to bring everyone to the same level of discussion and the same level of enjoyment,” Miyazaki said. “So we want everyone … to first face that challenge and to overcome it in some way that suits them as a player.”

“We want everyone to feel that sense of accomplishment. We want everyone to feel elated and to join that discussion on the same level. We feel if there’s different difficulties, that’s going to segment and fragment the user base. People will have different experiences based on that [differing difficulty level]. This is something we take to heart when we design games. It’s been the same way for previous titles and it’s very much the same with Sekiro.”

Granted, not everyone feels the same, but they've been consistent with their work long before "Souls" was the phenomenon that it became. And if you read between the lines in his comments (here and elsewhere) it is obvious that variable difficulty exists, it's just that it's not a setting in a menu. Your approach to the game can change the challenge immensely, and I really love that design philosophy. Your victory is up to you. Tackle the challenge however you like. That's utterly brilliant imo.

He says everyone, but everyone is different which is why most games offer different difficulty settings to suit everyone's differences. But From Software games aren't for everyone, and I can respect that.

By the way, I get what you're saying about how a person approaches and plays From Software games can determine the type of overall challenge that they present, but they usually require more patience, time commitment and trial-and-error than a lot of people are willing to put into them.

At the end of the day video games are entertainment, and a lot of people just want to get instant fun and gratification from them instead of having to put a lot of work into them to get it. That doesn't necessarily mean that they want a free lunch, but they also don't want to have pay a lot for it either if that makes sense.

To be fair it's not my go-to genre, but I've surely played many in my days. Bulletstorm is just incredibly fun. I mean holy crap is it fun!

FPSs aren't my go-to genre either, but I still like to play a good one every now and then and what you're saying about Bulletstorm is really high praise and makes me want to play it sooner rather than later.