SAILERIUS'S PROFILE

I started playing Comrades, the multiplayer DLC for FFXV. It's pretty cool so far, and they've made some much-needed changes to combat. For instance, there are no more items, so there's no more pausing and navigating menus in battle.

I think a big part of the cultural divide here is that RMN can't/won't firmly to commit to whether it's intended for developers or for players. If it's for developers, then features like reviews and scores serve no purpose but creating drama and cliques. If it's for players, then reviews should be written for outsiders and not rank games by metrics that are only informative to other RM devs (like giving a minimum 3/5 for any game that is complete and doesn't crash).

As a result, I think there has been a long-standing gulf between people who approach the community differently depending on which audience they think it's supposed to serve. Reviews are a good example of that, where the nature of the review you write is going to be completely different depending on who you think the intended audience of the site is supposed to be.

If RMN was really supposed to be primarily geared toward developers, then I'd expect reviews to be replaced by something like "critiques," which are posted addressed to the developer(s) with a list of feedback items. Feedback that would be action items, like "I think the sewer dungeon would be better if it was shorter," or "I think cutscene XYZ should be broken up with some gameplay in the middle." Think like Github issues. It would be about constructive feedback.

The problem with reviews is that they're intended to be informative to would-be players, which isn't necessarily useful to the developer. But when people write reviews that solely address the merits of the game in the context of whether or not it's worth playing (to end users), it can come across as hostile or negative because clearly the creator is going to read it. So as long as that identity crisis is there, I don't see this kind of drama going away.

Nearly done with Yakuza 0's main story now. It might be the first game I've ever played where the sidequests are the best part. That's not to knock the main story, either: as goofy as the sidequests are, I was surprised that the main story manages to weave a compelling serious story with engaging emotional stakes. It also has excellent pacing, which is something I'm not used to seeing in game stories.

Playing games is about learning how to live. Making games is about learning how to die.

I'm playing Yakuza 0. I was expecting a gritty, grounded story about a crime syndicate.



There's a disco dancing minigame, and as you rack up points, you charge your "Dance Fever" meter.

This game is pure and beautiful.