Link (YouTube) |
That was the most laughs I’ve had on the show in a while. I’m glad we covered this game. And I think we pretty much cracked the secret of this thing. Remember, if you’re having trouble with a particular section: Be Careful!
Someone should put that advice on Gamefaqs.
Next week: Probably Fallout 4.
Perhaps I should recap the plot and gameplay before we squeak through to level two. You know; to allay any confusion.
I’m a Battlemage trainee. I know absolutely no magic, which means it’s time for my final exam–entering an extradimensional space called the Battlespire and performing entirely ambiguous trials. Or that was the plan, before the dremora senior prank ruined everything.
Turns out the Battlespire is being invaded by the daedra for some reason. In the process they’ve killed all of the staff and commandeered all the rooms full of academic lava, test-taking bottomless pits, and standarized assessment dragons. The perils of this repurposed Battlespire are real–one wrong step around a pit of magma and you’ll find yourself instantly detained without trial.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Ruts vs. Battlespire CH10: Pouting Ahead”
Link (YouTube) |
Hopefully I cleared out all the inevitable Dark Souls conversation in our last post, so this time we can actually talk about the game we’re playing.
On the other hand, it’s so hard to talk about this game without bringing up Dark Souls, because the influence is so enthusiastic. The death mechanics. The armor mechanics. The bonfire mechanic. The glowing doorways. The archers. The mood. Shortcuts, traps, stamina, potions, dodge-rolling, shields, cryptic strangers, enormous bosses, the repetition, the fight to recover lost resources after death, getting knocked off ledges, and the atmosphere of decay and ancient buildings.
I don’t really fault the game for this. It’s quite thoughtful and intentional in it’s design. This doesn’t look like someone wanted to copy Dark Souls because it was popularIn contrast to most WoW clones, it looks like someone really loved Dark Souls and wanted to make their own riff on it. The difference here is the the former copies mechanics without understanding them, which the latter copies mechanics precisely because they understand them.
Is that a blurry line? Yeah. But I think often its clear enough you can tell which side a game is on.
Shepard rides an elevator up to the Crucible. I have no idea why a control panel has an elevator that lifts you up to the exterior of the Citadel. I don’t know how you survive there with no helmet. I suspect that the answer both questions is that the writer simply wanted you to be someplace fantastical when you meet…
So the personification of the Reapers is a ghost hologram of a ten year old boy. This is the best idea in this entire scene. Which is a shame, because it’s still a terrible idea.
Star Child introduces himself and explains that he controls the Reapers. He explains that his job is to command this fleet of machine gods to kill all spacefaring organics every 50,000 years. He does this because advanced organic species inevitably build robots, and those robots will inevitably wipe out the organics. So that’s why this kid has his robots kill everyone. To prevent this.
This is the explanation behind the Reapers. For real.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Mass Effect Retrospective 49: Star Child”
Link (YouTube) |
I spend some time in this episode making fun of “git gud” culture. Chris talks about it more in-depth in his most recent video on the game.
To be clear, I’m aware that not everyone who loves Dark Souls is an insufferable, condescending braggart. There are lots of articulate people who love the game and can have an enjoyable conversation about it with non-Dark Souls fans. But Dark Souls fans are the vegans of gaming, earning a bad reputation on account of their most zealous members. The Git Gud brigade make the game a chore to talk about. I find I often avoid mentioning the game as an example because I know it will turn into a massive thread-jack.
Me: This game is hard in the same way the Dark Souls is hard.
GG: ACTUALLY, Dark Souls isn’t hard…
(100 comments of people talking past each other because they all have different definitions of “hard”.)
I actually admire Dark Souls for having such an intentional approach to its mechanics, and the way the mechanics blend so well with the atmosphere of the game. But the game is not for me, and I know there will inevitably be a conversation attempting to get me to play the game. And that conversation will be difficult, punishing, and dreary.
Just like Dark Souls!
Despite the big “Whose Side Are You On?” marketing campaign, the Captain America: Civil War didn’t really do much to sell us on the merits of either side. Choosing a side was about as nuanced as “Which Hero Is Your Favorite?” And that’s fine. These movies aren’t trying to be ponderous explorations on what it means to be a hero. They’re rollercoaster rides of one-liners, fanservice, and face-punching. They keep the story breezy, the action flashy, and they dial everyone’s personalty up to 11 until the different character archetypes bounce off of each other.
But the debate of what should be done with super-powered heroes in a world of super-powered villains is a good one. So let’s go over it. This will just cover act one spoilers for the movie and isn’t going to get into the twists of the story or how it all turns out. I don’t think I’m going to spoil anything that hasn’t been shown in the trailers.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Captain America: Civil War”
There’s no Diecast this week. Sorry. We just didn’t have time. But! What is this Diecast you see below? That’s part two of the Diecast from last week. So it’s like you get a Diecast this week, except it’s… older.
Hosts: Josh, Rutskarn, Shamus, Campster, Mumbles.
Episode edited by Issac.
Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast# 152 Pt 2: Overwatch, Final Fantasy X, Stellaris”
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I called 2019 "The Year of corporate Dystopia". Here is a list of the games I thought were interesting or worth talking about that year.
T w e n t y S i d e d
