SleepingSilence

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Blasphemous 2 answers a lot of the niggling complaints that the first one received.

Pros: Your character moves faster, you're given a fast travel method much faster, having three weapons instead of one improves the combat variety a bit (Ignoring that the mace is so much better than the other two weapons), you're given a more concrete direction on where to go, (via immediate waypoint markers to your first few bosses), you don't die instantly in pitfalls & spikes anymore, and magic is usefully overpowered. (Among other things that I'm sure I'll find worthy of praise.)

Cons: This is starting to feel like the Dark Souls 2 of Blasphemous. (In that, the design of Darks Souls 1 is unforgiving. Being challenging in unexpected and cruel ways. Versus DS2's design philosophy of "this was made by assholes".) And so far, these bosses are fucking obnoxious. The tutorial one pushes you to pick one of the faster starting weapons (to match its own speed) only to give you the much more useful mace later on. The next two each have a 2nd phase that have an unavoidable attack that will kill you, that made me resort to 'Unga bunga'ing' my way through them/abusing the magic fire attack. (So the less strategy/thought I used, the better off I was.)

Both having their own obnoxious gimmick on top of them. (One giving you a side companion that offers help. Whose only there to trip up players of the 1st one, who knows the side companion dies if you allow them to help. And this one apparently *needs* to help & is completely useless in the actual fight.) The next one CAN instantly kill you and push you off her tiny boss arena. Genuinely, fuck this boss.

Now I'm on my way to the three-phase/duo boss, after finding every other available route closed off. Only to get halfway through the level and receive a fucking tutorial tip on how to open certain doors with the sword that I fucking started the game with (that were spread throughout all the other previous areas.) So this fucking game is forcing me to back travel (once again) through all the areas I've basically finished.

Eh: I'm sure the cartoon/anime cutscenes ate up a decent chunk of their budget. But I don't know if some of them fit tonally to the game I'm playing. (Don't think they're an improvement over the pixel art of the 1st one.) Also, I don't think the music is as good as the first one either.

So, it's been a mixed reaction thus far. (But if it's both *supposedly* easier and shorter than the first one. I'll likely still finish it.)

Edit: The duo boss did indeed suck too. The third phase is just a clusterfuck. Had a glitch where the boss health bar remained on my screen until I restarted the game. Saw something on Steam say the same in February and the Devs responded with a "we're definitely fixing this issue" lul. Yeah, sure you are. And I randomly started to drop frames in the next level which was completely empty. So yeah. Nowhere near on par with the first one, which didn't have these problems.

Motherhood: The Destiny Of Twin Dragons (On Hiatus)

This is on hiatus.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Tales Of Arise tries its hardest to start its story in an interesting in-media-res. But it was so boring that I didn't want to continue. (Where it supposedly "falls off in its later half".)

Dinoblits is very cute. But it feels like I bought a phone game by mistake, and I have fuck-all idea what I'm supposed to do.

So maybe I'll get around to Blasphemous 2 at some point.

Helldivers 2 (a game everyone bought, everyone likes, and no one fucking plays for some reason.)

The new end screen being faster is appreciated. Crashing almost every mid-game and taking twice as long to load into a mission is not as great. The patch also apparently nerfed the railgun into oblivion on the very next day from when I purchased it. ;-;

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Considering short stories

Ban the User Above You

Banned twice because I'm currently too sick to fall asleep. So I must take my frustrations out on something.

Ban the User Above You

Banned for killing me in Helldivers that one time.

What shows/movies are you watching?

twitter.com/i/status/1764114722725511527

Yeah...

Anyway, haven't had time to watch much of anything. But I am at the stage where I'm so disinterested in everything coming out, that I'll likely resort to rewatching some shows that I actually liked.

Anyone have any recent recommendations? Yes, Dune 2 is supposed to be *almost as good as the first one*. I'd care if the first 30-50 minutes of the first one didn't bore me to tears.

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

I’m starting to understand how critical it was for Hollow Knight to have *A FUCKING REASON* for endlessly respawning enemies. Because like Hak, the Lone Fungus' enemies are an absolute chore to deal with, and every room is chock-full of them. But then you get *fuck all* for killing any of them. (Also like Hak, the final boss is an obnoxious multi-phase boss fight that I just didn't feel like dealing with. Because I stopped enjoying myself many hours ago.)

The movement is not precise enough for being so punishing, and the challenges are less 'platforming' than finicky timed button presses. Ones which restrict all the upgrades that you’ve been earning, and make you feel like you’re constantly going nowhere fast. With a map that’s way too big and tedious to go through, when the dev included so few fast-travel points. (To the point that I was returning to the menu every time I completed a room. Because restarting at the last checkpoint was a more convenient way to travel.)

I *want* to give credit where credit it’s due. It *does* have some enemy variety. It *does* have many (very worthless) spells and charms to use. And it has five more levels than I really wanted to get through. (And then it had another one for good measure.) But it felt like a lot of it was quantity over quality. The shit awful bosses being a good example of that. So I’ll be nice and say Lone Fungus was aggressively mediocre and leave it at that.

The only thing I didn't try is using Mouse + Keyboard for certain sections. And lowering the difficulty, which the game does allow you to do mid-game. But I don't think that would've changed my opinion much.

Motherhood: The Destiny Of Twin Dragons (On Hiatus)

With the shared knowledge that catching a single glimpse of any monster was enough to make most of the isolated masses’ blood run cold. Unless you were a trained soldier that was paid to make them bleed instead—and that was usually dealing with goblins or wolves that were a quarter of their size. It was a choice that the elder dragon would’ve considered to be ill-advised and completely absurd for her to do. The mother willfully allowing others to be a part of their birth?! When the very idea of ‘massive flying beasts that were living amongst men’ would likely breed nothing but paranoia and disbelief among those ignorant of their existence.

Not that informing those of your intentions had saved him from the militia group that found him forging for food…

Yet his last mistake in death was neglecting to emphasize how critical their earliest moments would be for forming their bond. Only instructing her to be equal parts affectionate and scrupulous during the hatchlings’ development. For her sons listened and absorbed every word that she had said in the days leading up to this—and felt everything that their mother did. Meaning Cassandra’s gentle stomach rubbing was akin to a sculptor of life. Molding the very personalities of her unborn—into something that closely resembled her own feelings and desires.

Creating a growing urge to be closer to their mother each time that they had received her loving touch. Until the mere thought of being held in her arms was starting to make the first son restless in her womb. At least before the mother had started humming a lullaby that seemed to possess a power of its own. Briefly captivating her audience of two with the song. But also sparking an intense curiosity in the second son that was wondering how she was doing that. Further motivating a yearning to be seen by their mother and unleash themselves out into the world. Provoking the same urgent sensation that brought their mother to the edge of the bed.

* * *

Quickly breaking the illusion that the birth was of a human child; when his long bright-red tail unfurled, along with the lower half of the hatchling’s scaly body that began squirming free. Kicking his stubby little legs around in mid-air until his folded wings slid out. As one final push helped him unceremoniously drop onto the bedroom floor, rear first, with an audible thud. Assuming no one was there to catch his descent and immediately feel the heat emanating from the horned lizard. Regardless, his dull spiky body would pose no harm, as the baby dragon would look up at his mother with great big eyes and a wide toothless smile.

The reaction of which, prompted the second larger hatchling’s head to emerge, as he’d scooted himself out faster than his brother. Visibly not-so comfortable with being in a stranger’s grasp, and quick to land down on all fours onto the bedroom floor. With his light gray body and sharper features looking closer to their father’s. The second hatchling began to tear up and let out a soft cry.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I have never done well with constant interruptions when trying to write something. It might as well completely kill all momentum that I might've had otherwise.

Yeah, I can occasionally benefit from taking breaks when I choose to. But my friends know how much it annoys me when I'm interrupted mid-writing session. But it has never stopped them from doing it a million times anyway.

Guess there's always tomorrow.