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Gaming and game design are my hobbies. I've spent the most time with VX Ace and 2k3 (prior to Steam release), but the only thing I've ever finished anything with is 2k.
Psychology was my first degree, but being responsible for depressed kids was too stressful. So I got a Masters in Healthcare Management and now I'm responsible for depressed adults!
Psychology was my first degree, but being responsible for depressed kids was too stressful. So I got a Masters in Healthcare Management and now I'm responsible for depressed adults!
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2023 Gaming Diary
My Friend Peppa Pig (Xbox)
This isn't a joke or for the meme. My girlfriend dared me to speedrun this game since it was on GamePass. We decided that meant 100% completion of the achievements list. Below is my honest opinion of why no child should be given this game.
This game sucks.
At first it just looks like a game for little kids, which is what I was expecting. But as a former three-year-old, I found it insulting. Every time you enter a screen, the same cut-scenes play. Walked to Peppa's grandparents' farm? Cut-scene. Accidentally took one step backwards and the scene changed? Get ready to watch that cut-scene again if you go back to the farm. Talked to a character? Might trigger a cut-scene. Accidentally talk to them again when it's finished? Well strap in buddy, 'cause here we go again.
There are segments where you were in the family car and could only move in a single direction, and could hold A to move faster. But guess what? There's a random event where there is road construction and you have to listen to a couple of slow-talking workers explain that they are fixing the road but you can drive around them slowly. There is no way to prevent this from occurring; it's entirely random and it was faster to exit the game and reload than to watch the scene.
What makes this worse? The game does not tell you where to go or what to do in order to finish it. I had to use a guide. There is a certain sequence you have to travel in to complete all of the mandatory events to get to Potato City or whatever they call it and finish the game. In between those sequences, there are so many long-ass unskippable cut-scenes you might accidentally encounter over and over again. Not only is the gameplay bad and the cut-scenes unskippable, but the lack of direction means your child will probably get bored of this quickly. I would strongly recommend the Paw Patrol games instead if you are trying to teach your child how to use a controller and play games.
This game sucks.
At first it just looks like a game for little kids, which is what I was expecting. But as a former three-year-old, I found it insulting. Every time you enter a screen, the same cut-scenes play. Walked to Peppa's grandparents' farm? Cut-scene. Accidentally took one step backwards and the scene changed? Get ready to watch that cut-scene again if you go back to the farm. Talked to a character? Might trigger a cut-scene. Accidentally talk to them again when it's finished? Well strap in buddy, 'cause here we go again.
There are segments where you were in the family car and could only move in a single direction, and could hold A to move faster. But guess what? There's a random event where there is road construction and you have to listen to a couple of slow-talking workers explain that they are fixing the road but you can drive around them slowly. There is no way to prevent this from occurring; it's entirely random and it was faster to exit the game and reload than to watch the scene.
What makes this worse? The game does not tell you where to go or what to do in order to finish it. I had to use a guide. There is a certain sequence you have to travel in to complete all of the mandatory events to get to Potato City or whatever they call it and finish the game. In between those sequences, there are so many long-ass unskippable cut-scenes you might accidentally encounter over and over again. Not only is the gameplay bad and the cut-scenes unskippable, but the lack of direction means your child will probably get bored of this quickly. I would strongly recommend the Paw Patrol games instead if you are trying to teach your child how to use a controller and play games.
How many items do you like to be able to carry in an RPG?
I find 20/30 as a cap for restoratives/battle items to be enough to require the player to think about when to use them without being so limited that a player never uses them. The Tales series was pretty good about it, and it meant early-game items like Apple Gels that only restore 30% HP were still good later on because not only did they operate on a percentage and therefore scaled with your Max HP, but you would keep collecting/buying them because it meant you wouldn't need to use your Lemon Gels for minor heals that were under the Lemon's 60% recovery rate.
Allowing too many of an item means still having dozens of potions when you find super potions, and still having dozens of those when you find hyper potions in Pokemon. The gap between finding super potions and finding hyper potions was so small that I believe that was part of why they nerfed them in more recent games.
Then there are games like Etrian Odyssey and other dungeon crawlers where you have a bag with 30/50/100 slots and every item, no matter what it does even if it's just a monster drop, takes up one slot.
For games with crafting, the limit on materials should be 99/999/9999.
Allowing too many of an item means still having dozens of potions when you find super potions, and still having dozens of those when you find hyper potions in Pokemon. The gap between finding super potions and finding hyper potions was so small that I believe that was part of why they nerfed them in more recent games.
Then there are games like Etrian Odyssey and other dungeon crawlers where you have a bag with 30/50/100 slots and every item, no matter what it does even if it's just a monster drop, takes up one slot.
For games with crafting, the limit on materials should be 99/999/9999.
Lying to Players
author=Red_Nova
I think RNG-based accuracy is itself a great thing.
I have a huge issue with this in modern turn-based games. It was different back in the 80's and 90's when you were limited in how you could design a battle system due to things like memory and the small amount of RAM old consoles had (even the PS2 in the 00's had some games like Ar Tonelico II that would cause it to seize up due to exceeding system memory). A modern example is Octopath Traveler - weapon accuracy is influenced by your accuracy stat and the enemy's evasion, plus status effects like Blind and evasion/accuracy buffs. Magic, however, is almost always 100% accuracy even when a character is blinded. Once your characters have enough MP to cast more than three spells in a battle and most spells hit all enemies, you quickly realize that magic is vastly superior to weapons and weapon-based skills. It turns into every character either running a magic class as their secondary, or running two magic classes like Scholar and Cleric to wipe out hordes of enemies in just a couple turns.
I don't mind accuracy being affected by status conditions and buffs/debuffs, as long as the base rate is 100%, since players can understand that and work around it when it happens, compared to a random chance to miss your 99% accurate attack when you need it most. Developers can find other ways to make their battles more interesting and dynamic than "haha you randomly missed the killing blow and now you're dead so you have to start the whole fight over". It's why Pokemon players have recommended Flamethrower/Thunderbolt/Ice Beam over Fire Blast/Thunder/Blizzard for years; the 100% accuracy moves that do a little less damage than the 70%/85% accuracy moves are more consistent and reliable. The more powerful moves are too risky or rely on gimmicks that were added in later games to reduce risk. It's not even about risk vs. reward at that point, since the risk so far outweighs the potential reward that there isn't even really any consideration outside of weather-based teams which don't really see any use in-game barring challenge runs or the post-game competitive scene.
RPG Maker Steam Sale and MZ vs MV talk
MZ changed the way battle animations are done after decades of them being handled effectively the same way with each iteration of RPG Maker.
I remember trying out a timed trial for MZ and not being impressed outside of a few enhancements, as I already had MV, which I'm not super fond of either. RPG Maker MZ felt like when developers make a next-gen version of a game that isn't even that old and add a few features to entice people to buy it, but if you already owned the first release there's no reason you need to buy the new one.
That being said, they seem to be pushing people to buy both MZ and Unite:
I remember trying out a timed trial for MZ and not being impressed outside of a few enhancements, as I already had MV, which I'm not super fond of either. RPG Maker MZ felt like when developers make a next-gen version of a game that isn't even that old and add a few features to entice people to buy it, but if you already owned the first release there's no reason you need to buy the new one.
That being said, they seem to be pushing people to buy both MZ and Unite:
RPG Maker Unite Official Website
RPG Maker Unite is not a direct successor to RPG Maker MZ. RPG Maker Unite is designed to work on top of Unity and have no direct compatibility with past project files and plugins.
RPG Maker MZ is still a very viable product and it is recommended that those with projects in progress or liked the traditional UI could consider continuing to use RPG Maker MZ!
2023 Gaming Diary
I got off to a really great start this year, finishing a couple games already. I have a bad habit of starting and never finishing a lot of games so I'm feeling pretty good about myself.
Currently Playing:
Scarlet Nexus (Xbox)
Cyberpunk 2077 (Xbox)
Witcher III (Xbox)
SMT III: Nocturne Remaster (PS4)
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet (PS4)
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV (PS4)
Hi Fi Rush (Xbox)
Planning on Playing:
Tales of Arise (Xbox)
Borderlands 3 (Xbox)
Atelier Sophie 2 (PC)
Atelier Ryza 2 (PS4)
Finished:
Fire Emblem: Engage (Switch)
Yakuza: Like A Dragon (Xbox)
My Friend Peppa Pig (Xbox)
Octopath Traveler
Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster (iOS)
Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster (iOS)
SMT: Soul Hackers 2
Currently Playing:
Scarlet Nexus (Xbox)
Cyberpunk 2077 (Xbox)
Witcher III (Xbox)
SMT III: Nocturne Remaster (PS4)
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet (PS4)
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV (PS4)
Hi Fi Rush (Xbox)
Planning on Playing:
Tales of Arise (Xbox)
Borderlands 3 (Xbox)
Atelier Sophie 2 (PC)
Finished:
Fire Emblem: Engage (Switch)
This was the most fun I've had with Fire Emblem since Radiant Dawn on the Wii. No Waifu breeding shenanigans, some characters were wacky but they weren't all mockeries of an archetype like in Fates, no time-restricted grinding like in Three Houses, it very much reminded me of Sacred Stones. There was also just enough of a plot twist at the very end that I wasn't anticipating.
Yakuza: Like A Dragon (Xbox)
I enjoyed this game so much. If you want a JRPG that isn't anime-inspired with its visuals, this is it. So many mini-games and diversions, too. I would go hours without progressing the story or getting into a single battle since I was too busy playing a full management sim or a full Mario Kart clone. I felt empathy and sympathy for the characters, a ragtag group of people in their late 20's through their mid-50's who could all feasibly exist in real life. If you've played Persona but are getting tired of being in high school every time, Yakuza: Like A Dragon is the answer. Or, as my brother calls it, "Persona but for dads".
My Friend Peppa Pig (Xbox)
This isn't a joke or for the meme. My girlfriend dared me to speedrun this game since it was on GamePass. We decided that meant 100% completion of the achievements list. Below is my honest opinion of why no child should be given this game.
This game sucks.
At first it just looks like a game for little kids, which is what I was expecting. But as a former three-year-old, I found it insulting. Every time you enter a screen, the same cut-scenes play. Walked to Peppa's grandparents' farm? Cut-scene. Accidentally took one step backwards and the scene changed? Get ready to watch that cut-scene again if you go back to the farm. Talked to a character? Might trigger a cut-scene. Accidentally talk to them again when it's finished? Well strap in buddy, 'cause here we go again.
There even segments where you were in the family car and could only move in a single direction, and could hold A to move faster. But guess what? There's a random event where there is road construction and you have to listen to a couple of slow-talking workers explain that they are fixing the road but you can drive around them slowly. There is no way to prevent this from occurring; it's entirely random and it was faster to exit the game and reload than to watch the scene.
What makes this worse? The game does not tell you where to go or what to do in order to finish it. I had to use a guide. There is a certain sequence you have to travel in to complete all of the mandatory events to get to Potato City or whatever they call it and finish the game. In between those sequences, there are so many long-ass unskippable cut-scenes you might accidentally encounter over and over again. Not only is the gameplay bad and the cut-scenes unskippable, but the lack of direction means your child will probably get bored of this quickly. I would strongly recommend the Paw Patrol games instead if you are trying to teach your child how to use a controller and play games.
This game sucks.
At first it just looks like a game for little kids, which is what I was expecting. But as a former three-year-old, I found it insulting. Every time you enter a screen, the same cut-scenes play. Walked to Peppa's grandparents' farm? Cut-scene. Accidentally took one step backwards and the scene changed? Get ready to watch that cut-scene again if you go back to the farm. Talked to a character? Might trigger a cut-scene. Accidentally talk to them again when it's finished? Well strap in buddy, 'cause here we go again.
There even segments where you were in the family car and could only move in a single direction, and could hold A to move faster. But guess what? There's a random event where there is road construction and you have to listen to a couple of slow-talking workers explain that they are fixing the road but you can drive around them slowly. There is no way to prevent this from occurring; it's entirely random and it was faster to exit the game and reload than to watch the scene.
What makes this worse? The game does not tell you where to go or what to do in order to finish it. I had to use a guide. There is a certain sequence you have to travel in to complete all of the mandatory events to get to Potato City or whatever they call it and finish the game. In between those sequences, there are so many long-ass unskippable cut-scenes you might accidentally encounter over and over again. Not only is the gameplay bad and the cut-scenes unskippable, but the lack of direction means your child will probably get bored of this quickly. I would strongly recommend the Paw Patrol games instead if you are trying to teach your child how to use a controller and play games.
Octopath Traveler
This was arguably the best Final Fantasy game to come out in years despite not being a Final Fantasy game. The developers say they got inspiration from Final Fantasy VI, and I can see that with the multiple characters and party swapping, but gameplay-wise it feels more like Final Fantasy V with the multiple-job system. That being said, the game starts off tough, but if you happen to kill a Carbuncle or whatever they are calling the weird cat-creatures this time around, you jump several levels and steamroll the next few character chapters.
I unintentionally started with Tressa, a mixed-attacker with multiple weapon types, magic, and multiple abilities to grind gold faster and buy items from NPCs; she also happens to be the easiest way to obtain the speed-run and solo-run achievements, and can do it simultaneously. Combined with above-mentioned high-exp random cat creature encounter, I was around level 21 before I even met a second character. I was able to obtain all 8 characters fairly quickly and completely steamroll the first boss of each first chapter. The game didn't get tough again until the third chapter for each character, and that difficulty only lasted until I finished a few of them and could again brute force the remaining ones. Rinse and repeat for the fourth and final chapters of each character; the first one or two are tough, then you're cruising through the rest or taking advantage of Reflect + Boost from one or two clerics to block every magic-based final boss.
There is a true final boss if certain conditions are met following the completion of all 8 character stories. However, outside of the two challenge achievements, the game doesn't really warrant a second play-through. There are no alternate endings to the character stories, every boss has a best way to defeat them, and you get all characters no matter who you start with.
I unintentionally started with Tressa, a mixed-attacker with multiple weapon types, magic, and multiple abilities to grind gold faster and buy items from NPCs; she also happens to be the easiest way to obtain the speed-run and solo-run achievements, and can do it simultaneously. Combined with above-mentioned high-exp random cat creature encounter, I was around level 21 before I even met a second character. I was able to obtain all 8 characters fairly quickly and completely steamroll the first boss of each first chapter. The game didn't get tough again until the third chapter for each character, and that difficulty only lasted until I finished a few of them and could again brute force the remaining ones. Rinse and repeat for the fourth and final chapters of each character; the first one or two are tough, then you're cruising through the rest or taking advantage of Reflect + Boost from one or two clerics to block every magic-based final boss.
There is a true final boss if certain conditions are met following the completion of all 8 character stories. However, outside of the two challenge achievements, the game doesn't really warrant a second play-through. There are no alternate endings to the character stories, every boss has a best way to defeat them, and you get all characters no matter who you start with.
Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster (iOS)
Bought and finished Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster last week. Less than 10 hours from start to finish; the game felt so much longer on the NES and DS versions. Bosses were much weaker than in the old 3D remake, and the faster game speed over all of the older versions (excluding I think the PSP port of the DS game which had a fast-forward option or something?). I liked FFIII with the older ports but the pixel remaster was disappointing with the removal of defined characters, reduction of difficulty, and astonishingly short playtime for the price. I never felt the need to play around with the classes and all bosses were a first-attempt victory with some going down in two turns compared to the older versions where it would take at least a few. I want to grab FFV since I liked that one as well when I beat it on GBA but I'm worried they nerfed that one too. The iOS versions lack the QoL improvements that they added for the Switch/PS4 releases, so I can only imagine how easy the games become when you can mess with the encounter rate.
Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster (iOS)
Much better than the FFIII remaster which felt nerfed so far beyond the original game that it wasn't really fun. FFV remaster removes some of the ways you could cheese the boss battles, so it's slightly more challenging than previous remasters and remakes in that regard. It lacks the bonus content from the GBA version though.
SMT: Soul Hackers 2
This game was better than the lackluster and middling reviews made it out to be, but you can definitely feel how much Persona 5 is creeping into the other SMT spin-off games with the social ranks and the way they have you feel like you're building relationships with certain shopkeepers and NPCs. The visuals within the main hub were good, but the dungeons are some of the ugliest uninspired hallways I've ever seen in a modern JRPG; even Yakuza: Like A Dragon had better dungeons and that game was also a series of hallways outside of the main hubs (and the main hubs were just a series of alleyways, but at least they were attractive alleyways). The music was one of the game's stronger points, and the character designs were decent if at times over-designed. The design for the final boss was also pretty good, with the rest of the game being mostly your standard SMT demons that you know by heart. My biggest issues with the game was that it's pretty short for an SMT game, with my final playtime being under 30 hours after defeating the final boss. The game tries to pad this by locking some of the achievements/trophies behind a New Game +, as you need 200 social points to reach the deepest levels of each character's personal dungeon (and the associated side quests), and each playthrough serves as a multiplier for the amount you gain. You can't gain enough in the first run to get through the final checkpoints of those dungeons.
Recently Watched Movies
I watched The Suicide Squad and Space Jam: A New Legacy this past weekend.
The Suicide Squad is a huge redemption for DC Comics and the Suicide Squad franchise. Much brighter visually than the washed out shit show that the first movie was.
Space Jam 2 - take a drink every time somebody says "King James". This movie is one long stroke for Lebron's ego with a splash of corporate advertising for the new "Jellystone" animated series.
The Suicide Squad is a huge redemption for DC Comics and the Suicide Squad franchise. Much brighter visually than the washed out shit show that the first movie was.
Space Jam 2 - take a drink every time somebody says "King James". This movie is one long stroke for Lebron's ego with a splash of corporate advertising for the new "Jellystone" animated series.
[Poll] When Do High School/College Finals Happen for you? For Use in Future Events and Jams
I honestly thought those of us who still use RPG Maker skewed older than this.
EDIT: Somehow this appeared as a current active topic for me, but it looks like that was from spam. Shame on me.
EDIT: Somehow this appeared as a current active topic for me, but it looks like that was from spam. Shame on me.
Saturday Sucked
Sorry for your loss and impending struggle. I know how you feel; in the time I've worked at my current job, we lost two therapists (one was old and died in the office between sessions, the other was middle-aged, called out sick and never woke back up) and a former receptionist who passed away less than a year after leaving us.
OBSCURE HALF FOUR THING RESPONSE COLLECTIVE
The Word Filter on Neopets is Crazy
author=thesacredlobo
The weirder part for me is that I'm guessing most of the people that still hang out on Neopets are probably 30+. Since were the only kind of people that would have strong enough nostalgia for the site to put up with all the staffs failings.
There are multiple features that have been broken or in beta for over five years now.
I don't think I've touched the game since shortly after they were bought out by Viacom in 2005. Right around the time free MMORPGS became accessible to the average person, and shortly before I discovered emulation.
Games - Tester
Games - Other
