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Random game trailer popped up, and even though the RPG-style gameplay looks pretty mediocre (lol at the damage numbers font, btw) something struck my attention, so I did a little investigating. Apparently, the developer is a French studio owned by a former Ubisoft employee. I was pretty amused that a Western studio decided to design competently attractive characters for its game. If only we could get gameplay to rival the Japanese giants of the past. However, with the recent remaster of Ninja Gaiden 2 and Platinum taking the reigns for the sequel (not to mention Stellar Blade and the upcoming Phantom Blade 0), it seems that action-based vidya in making a comeback: https://youtu.be/RWZ-xf1dslw
The female protagonist unfortunately gives me “Unknown 9: Awakening” vibes. I currently play the arcade version of Ridge Racer, which is surprisingly fun. It is a pity this genre disappeared, but it is also easy to see why as the graphics were such a big draw at that time. The gap between Super Mario Kart at home and Ridge Racer in the arcade was staggering.
“The female protagonist unfortunately gives me “Unknown 9: Awakening” vibes.” Not even close, my friend! https://files.catbox.moe/kw46n0.jpeg
Oh, I forgot all about Ridge Racer (64). I had a blast playing that as a kid. I made it through the Dark Souls trilogy and started Elden Ring. If it weren’t for the thriving multiplayer scene in ER then I would not have the patience to master the incredibly difficult boss fights.
I stand corrected! In this picture the female protagonist indeed looks very attractive. Playing longer games is a commitment I seem I can no longer make, at least at this point in my life. The Switch has a great sleep/resume feature, though, which allowed me to make it through Dragon Quest XI. Without getting a Steam Deck, or the upcoming Switch 2, I can probably forget about finishing any linear game that takes dozens of hours.
The Switch’s sleep feature is the best I have come across. Steam Deck’s is not nearly as stable. My shmup buddy who is a huge Dark Souls fan actually dropped ER quite a way through. He concluded that linear Dark Souls is the superior format. ER suffers from the same sort of open world bloat that virtually every game within the genre does. If you get a chance, however, check out the level design of Leyndell, Royal Capital. It’s truly stunning and gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it.
I found an image where you stand and kind of overlook the area. It’s doesn’t give you the full scope as when you’re standing there you can turn the camera and see the main building and everything else. It’s a really nice perspective it gives the player before you venture in and see all the little details and insides of the structures.
https://images.pushsquare.com/075ba40896850/elden-ring-how-to-complete-leyndell-royal-capital-guide-1.large.jpg
The art direction in Elden Ring is very good, as in most From Software games. If I faced this scene, my first thought would be that traversing this small part of the map will take another ten hours or so. Open world games are often criticized for empty fields, but strolling across Hyrule in BOTW is relaxing, based on the little time I spent in this game. Dense areas like the one you highlight, on the other hand, can be almost overwhelming. At least you do not get to-do lists with hundreds of entries like in The Witcher III or your typical Ubisoft slop.
The only times I can remember ER giving you instructions on what to do, in terms of the quest line, is after the tutorial section the Maiden NPC gives some vague instructions to head to a castle that is visible up on a cliffside. Afterwards, you might get a red stamp on your map every now and then. For the most part you’re just wandering around and getting distracted constantly. I usually try to summon up to two cooperators anytime I hit a new non-open section. It makes the game go by a lot faster. Good cooperators will give you an efficient tour of the area so you get to discover most items and secret areas on your first walk through. The only downside to this approach is that it leaves you vulnerable to invaders, and sometimes they’re OP and skilled enough to take you out even in a 3v1.
I was looking at some arcade footage of Ridge Racer and came across a modern arcade racing game made by the Spanish division of developer Gameloft. The game is called Asphalt Legends. This is like a mobile port in 4K of Asphalt Legends 9: https://youtu.be/ByaGBmU39Ek
Indie-developer takes on arcade genres do not appeal to me as they produce mere simulacra. The level of thought and polish in great arcade games is impossible to replicate by a small team that lacks the experience and ability. The video above shows a very simple game. In contrast, Ridge Racer is deceptively simple yet it is a masterfully executed game. First, you cannot dilly-dally as there is a strict timer. Namco had the great idea that when the timer runs out, the speed of the car is set to zero, yet there is still some inertial movement. If you make it past a check-point this way, you still get a time extension. The main course also ends on a long straight, so you see the goal/checkpoint from a distance, which is strangely motivating. You will have many of your runs end just a few seconds before that checkpoint, and you want to keep going as a consequence.
Drifting is also really well implemented. In the most difficult course in particular, there is a very challenging segment where you need to make several quick turns at top speed if you want to win. The first goal is to not crash into the barriers of the track as this will reduce your speed. Once you have learned this part, you probably want to optimize your execution. The sharper your turn, the shorter the distance traveled, and thus the faster your time will be. However, there is a significant risk/reward component because if you make a mistake, you crash into the barrier, lose a few precious seconds, and this can cost you the next checkpoint. A race takes only a few minutes but it is an absolutely exhilarating experience
Today, I managed to complete the advanced course in Ridge Racer 2 for the first time, running out of time right before the finish line, but making it past it thanks to inertial movement. It felt great! Look at how consistent my lap times are. There is still plenty of room for improvement, of course.
As it turns out, I quite like racing games. I will check out a few more titles in this genre, in particular Namco’s output. This studio is about to become my favorite 1990s arcade developer. Their top games are absolutely fantastic and in my top three genres — puzzle, fighting and now apparently also racing — they made great contributions. About a year ago, I got into Mr. Driller but dropped it. I have come to appreciate this game a lot more in the meantime. I came to the realization that it addresses arguably the biggest problem with Tetris, i.e. the (slow) build-up/(fast) release cycle, meaning that you slowly and mechanically stack up and then you quickly clear lines. In particular at a lower speed this is not overly exciting. In contrast, in Mr. Driller you need to always move and advance and you need to be fully engaged as a consequence. In Tetris The Grand Master, for instance, the first half of the main mode you normally only want to get out of the way before the game really starts. In T.A. Death, this is partly addressed because the much higher speed of the game implies that you need to clear lines whenever you can. However, this changes the game fundamentally as clean stacking is no longer the priority.
I also got 1CCs with a few characters in the arcade version of Soul Calibur (1998) recently. The gap between this game and Capcom’s 3D output of that time, e.g. Star Gladiator 2, is remarkable, even though both studios were working with similar hardware specs. Sega’s Virtua Figher 3 from 1996 is something else, though. The visual gap between this game and its contemporaries is unbelievable. It took about half a decade for the industry to catch up with it.
“Indie-developer takes on arcade genres do not appeal to me as they produce mere simulacra.”
For sure. Even the Mario Wonder took away the timer. I feel like modern character-action games suffer from this as well. Games like Stellar Blade and Black Myth, instead of a style or combo system like DMC or Bayonetta, default to an RPG-style progression system. Once you’ve maxxed out your character there isn’t much incentive for mastery to keep players coming back. I would hope that Platinum will implement a scoring system similar to MGR:R for the upcoming NG 4.
Your lap times are incredibly consistent!! That’s super impressive. Great job. I must say I’ve not gotten super deep into to any racing or fighting games, but it is nice seeing your progress. You are a much better gamer than me!
Sort of a side tangent, but I visited the dentist recently and had a cleaning done. When they tilted my chair back I think a full 5 or so seconds went by before I realized there was a TV mounted on the ceiling, and that I was just staring at it. I suddenly thought, “oh, I can watch this nature program while getting my teeth cleaned.” I think with shmups I get super close to clearing them on intended difficulty, but lose interest right before I’m able to. I can be playing very intensely, but then lose focus for a few seconds because I get distracted by a thought. That’s more than enough time to get wrecked in such a game.
I recently saw Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O dropped on Steam. The reviews are mixed for some reason. Are you anticipating that VF6 will be a solid entry into the series? I know Mark_MSX is pretty excited about it.
I was quite surprised by the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4 and the release of Ninja Gaiden II Black, which came completely out of left field. The latter looks like a really solid release. I particularly like that the sluts in this game are as superhumanly hot as ever, with zero pandering for an imaginary “modern audience”. Whether NG 4 will be good has to be seen. Platinum has a very spotty track record, after all. Tomonobu Itagaki, the mastermind behind the first two Ninja Gaiden games and Dead or Alive 1 to 4, was an absolutely uncompromising director. I do not think that you can find this quality in anybody active in the industry today. This reminds me of interviews I have read of old-school arcade-game directors. I think it was someone at Namco who said that they had calibrated the most challenging mode of some game so that only 0.4% of players could clear it. If I recall correctly, they had 250 people playtest the game and they tweaked some values so that only the best of the bunch was able to succeed. Of course, with more practice and dedication the number of skilled players would go up, but probably not by a lot; if their 1-in-250 player was actually 1-in-10,000 in terms of skills, the outcomes would be the opposite. This is probably more likely as there has to be some degree of self-selection when recruiting test players. Then you have T.A. Death in TGM2 Plus, which nobody had cleared by the time of release but the director had assessed that it was theoretically possible to do so, or Cave putting a true final boss in their last-ever arcade game they thought would take years to beat, acknowledging that perhaps nobody would ever be able to do so. It took 12 years in the end, thanks to the practice mode of the Xbox 360 release. On the PCB or without emulation, it would not be possible to effectively practice this boss fight.
I find shmups very difficult to play continunally, for the precise reason you mention. You can do well for three or four stages, slip up, and will not be able to recover. This is a level of punishment you do not get in any other genre. If these games were a bit shorter, it would be less of an issue. I still want to get a 1CC in a serious shmup but I seem to be procrastinating on that front, rather exploring an entirely new genre to me, like racing games, than embarking on a shmup grind.
People are complaining about VF 5 R.E.V.O. because the cosmetics are locked behind a one-off DLC package that is not even that expensive. The game seems to be as good as ever, though. It incredible that twenty years after its original release, this game is still relevant as well as commercially viable. The only other game with such a longevity I can think of is Puyo Puyo 2, but that one has gotten a complete visual overhaul over the years. Puyo Puyo Champions looks a lot different from Puyo Puyo 2, even though it implements its mechanics 1:1. In contrast, VF5 is visually almost unchanged, if you ignore improved textures and higher resolutions. The tech demo of VF6 looks promising, but I do not have enough experience with this particular series to have an educated opinion on it.
I suppose a really big pros to racing/fighting games is that you can hop on, do a few tracks/rounds, and then switch off all within the span of about 15-20 mins or less.
Vitrua Fighter seems to be pretty hardcore. If one were to want to get into the competitive scene then VF seems like a solid choice, as the player base will continue to stick around for decades in some form or another.
I have not played Virtua Fighter online, but with a community this stable, the median level of ability is probably very high. The question is whether there is a big enough influx of new players to offset this. I recall Mark_MSX showing footage of Japanese players with tens of thousands of matches in VF under their belt, based on in-game statistics. Imagine facing such opponents online! Puyo Puyo has similar problems with its community. It is very stable in terms of size, and many players are very good, with some probably having played the game since the 1990s. In fact, I know that a few of the top players today were known as top players thirty years ago already. In the Japanese shmup scene there are also people around who have been top scorers for decades. Sure, you can play these games but you will feel like a noob for a very long time, if not permanently.
I certainly have no illusions of ever being able to go toe-to-toe with elite, decades long players! Haha. A good bit of value can still be had from playing the AI, at least. Also, I really have no interest in being a top scorer of any shmup. Simply completing some of the ones I have collected would be enough. I feel as though I am merely a casual gamer, though not in the derogatory sense of some “filthy casual” game journalist tier normie.
https://youtu.be/7OHs_v8IbBY?si=DAjPnevPnPoPCVZ1
Jordan Peterson vs Matt Dillahunty
I cannot stand listening to this guy anymore, not just because of his jarring voice but also because of this inability to form clear sentences. Nonetheless, within a few seconds it was clear that this guy did not have a good retort and was trying to wing it, presumably in an attempt to confuse his interlocutor.
This shirt of JP popped up of him discussing that individuals who seek ONS harbor psychopathic/narcissistic/machiavellian traits: https://youtube.com/shorts/vQsI9sTS1sc?si=GBl18nULukeiDjea
I’m not going to say that there isn’t any correlation here, but what does this say about his trad thot of a daughter? Also, is it possible JP is mad he didn’t get more poon throughout his youth, settled for an ugo and is now justifying it?
Jordan Peterson comes across as pretty aggressive in this video, probably due to decades of pent-up aggression due to not even his ugly wife spreading his legs for him. I do not buy his argument at all. You bang a lot of women because you can, and want to do it, but once you want to settle down, you settle down. In contrast, Joe Average has to forego sowing his wild oats and can at best hope to get Chad’s leftovers once they are past their due date.
“settled for an ugo and is now justifying it?”
Yup. I have yet to hear from anyone who was genuinely successful with hot girls in their prime make such sweeping generalizations about people who were.
Hoe_Math discourages casual sex and degeneracy just like Aaron, but he’s not going around calling people who have engaged in these activities “psychopaths”, because he’s actually been in the position, and actually witnessed how women are at the basic instinctual level. Its not Disney, that’s for sure. You’d be a fool to just offer your commitment on a silver platter to just any woman.
Its kinda like when normies have called me a psycho when I’ve told the story of some of the fights I’ve been in the past, and what I’ve had to do. I think the fact that I haven’t been in a fight in 14 years after high school proves I’m not actually the problem (This isn’t to say that I’m somehow a saint and that all my actions were 100% justified and good, but I definitely wasn’t the one creating the problem. I don’t regret even a single one of my fights.), but the toxic environment I was forced to persist in. People who have never been in that position, and have had to make certain extreme decisions to survive in that environment, make very sweeping and completely uninformed generalizations about those who have.
@Pickernanny
Thanks for the link!
Jordan Peterson’s definition of a psychopath is completely wrong, and you don’t suddenly become a psychopath as an adult, especially not from having one-night stands for a few years.
Pretty embarrassing mistakes for a psychologist!
Good point. You could argue that maybe he meant that those with psychopathic etc. tendencies tend to gravitate towards sleeping around and what not, but when specifically probed he more or less does say that one could become more like a psycho simply by fucking chicks. His statements oddly seem geared towards men, too. You could easily make some blanket statement regarding his lack of impulse control with regards to his benzo addiction, and state that by doing so that he is exhibiting psychopathic tendencies.
I suppose “Psychopath” is just one of those words that people throw around carelessly.
If I’m not mistaken, even among the criminal world, legitimate psychopaths are still a tiny minority (maybe around 1% of the general prisoner population). Most violent criminals just use extreme amounts of mental gymnastics and mental dehumanization of their victims to justify their scummy behavior (and even then, many still eventually burn out of it), rather than outright not caring or reveling in the blood.
Does Jordan Peterson think having casual sex (even if we assume the worst kind of casual sex where the dude is using his commitment as a carrot to keep milking sex out of her) is anywhere akin to gutting open another human being with a sharp tool without a care in the world? (because that’s what legitimate psychopaths can do)
Does Jordan Peterson have any experience with violence whatsoever? I would be surprised if he does.
Hey Maou, in this short clip JP actually addresses your critiques: https://tryparrotai.com/video?id=w_0shpikfi
ngl Pickernanny, you actually made my heart jump there for a second. When I heard “Listen bucko”, I thought it was the real Peterson and he was gonna challenge me inside the ring! 😱
Yes, I would have accepted if he had really done that, provided he was willing to pay for my travel expenses. I think that would have been my easy ticket to US soil. Alas…😿
Has Jake Paul spoken about wanting to fight against Jordan Peterson? Someone should feed him that idea. He will probably not be much worse than the other elderly men he enters the ring with.
Well, unfortunately he is Canadian, so you would have been at the mercy of Castro jr.
Aaron,
Have you been to the Green Vaults, historic and new in Dresden?
No, I have not visited the Green Vault in Dresden. On a related note, this museum was in the news a few years ago as some doctors and engineers stole some of its most valued possessions. A fraction of them was retrieved later as part of a plea bargain.
David Jaffe had a funny take on Kratos’ character development: https://youtube.com/shorts/1VLBODeIHwo?si=BZ3jbSmxxcCU5Ae1
David Jaffe is surprisingly based. Perhaps he dares to speak up now due to the cultural change in US politics. I fully agree with him. The soyed-up Kratos of the two reboot games has nothing to do with the character this guy has created and the games have little to do with the original series either.
Do you get the sense that the pendulum for gaming is starting to swing back in the direction of being more gameplay and action oriented vs. a cinematic experience? It sure seems that way to me. I wonder how much guys like Mark_MSX have influenced the Overton window?
Elden Ring update: I’m on the last couple of bosses at the end of the game and I just recently watched Synthetic Man’s review for the game’s DLC. I will definitely be skipping that. For one, I’m not a fan of DLC in general as it is almost always a subpar product. I have a faint recollection that the expansion packs for War Craft 3 seemed pretty high quality, but it’s been so long I really don’t remember. Ada’s REmake 4 DLC was decent.
Anyways, ER’s DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, goes so far as to break the game’s balance even further to the player’s detriment. I completely agree with SM’s sentiments about the difficulty becoming ridiculous in these games. Of course, you can offset this is numerous ways, not just with mulitplayer (which, btw, either nerfs your damage output for every player you summon [up to 2], or increases the boss’ HP which really puts you at the mercy of your teammate’s abilities). However, if you are a true “git gooder”, then the game is no longer an enjoyable experience. I mean, have fun pressing the roll or jump buttons at the precise timing whilst the boss is pulling off these ridiculous 12 hit combos, only for you to get a window every 20 seconds or so to poke them with your sword. Fuck up once during what feels like a half hour battle, and some enemies are so relentless you’ll have a hard time recovering and using a heal. This would be fine if you were say, Dante from DMC, but you are for all intents and purposes the opposite of that. It is possible to memorize the various move-sets of all the different bosses/enemies, but honestly that sounds more like a chore to me.
The second and third really off putting aspect of the DLC is that there is a literal gay incestual storyline, as well as an even emptier open world than the main game. ER is by no means a bad game, btw , it’s just really pushed the Dark Souls formula to its logical conclusion and I don’t believe it can be milked much further. I personally doubt they would be able to replicate the success of ER with another similar type of entry. It will certainly be interesting to see what FromSoft decides to do moving forward (besides the upcoming ER multiplayer DLC).
Yes, the pendulum is swinging back, but partly this has to do with cinematic AAA games no longer selling that well, which is obviously partly due to wokeism. However, I do not think we will ever go back to highly polished arcade experiences. Even the next Virtua Fighter game is more cinematic. The underlying problem is that “gaming autism” is dead. In the past, you could sell games with a high skill ceiling, and people were practicing them over and over. Racing games are a good example: sim racers have crowded out tight arcade racers like Ridge Racer and Daytona USA because they have a much lower barrier of entry and you do not get punched in the face nearly as much.
Elden Ring does not sound like a well-designed game, at least not for solo players. Difficulty and endurance do not necessarily go well together, and waiting around for an opening is not necessarily fun. For some reason, though, From Software was able to appeal to the mainstream and I cannot quite figure out how this happened. A lot of people probably buy these games because of advertising and word of mouth, play them for a few hour and shelve them. On PC, a lot of people surely use mods to increase their characters stats.