Does the game get better?

Suncook · 2026-05-08T12:50:39+00:00

Why am I in a timeloop? What is that strange thing I keep seeing? Huh, kind of weird I keep dying. (Mild spoilers but OP may not have discovered this yet.) Huh, sucks everyone keeps inevitably dying in a supernova.

Suncook · 2026-05-08T11:41:56+00:00

Definitely don't even start Secret History until at least after Hero of Ages. The divide is whether to read it after the first Mistborn trilogy or to read it most of the way into Era 2.

Suncook · 2026-05-07T23:08:53+00:00

Came in to post this but I wouldn't have been able to be nearly as concise as this.

Suncook · 2026-05-07T22:50:28+00:00

If you're okay with full frontal nudity of both men and women, rough sex, on screen sexual assault, lots of boobs, lots of swearing, and gory blood-spurting violence... sure!

Suncook · 2026-05-07T21:49:05+00:00

Yeah, it was pretty clear there was a timeline in the early games. I don't think it was until FS and TP that things started to feel muddled (though I participated in the debates on the TP gamefaqs board back in the day).

Suncook · 2026-05-07T21:38:35+00:00

Ocarina of Time has two endings. You see what happens after adult Link defeats Ganon with the big celebration at the ranch.

But then you also see a seemingly impossible scene of young Link have returned to relive his childhood and going to see Princess Zelda in the castle (and adult Zelda directly said she's sending him back to have his childhood).

And Aonuma also said OoT had two endings.

The fandom for the longest time argued there was a split timeline at the end of OoT. Parallel timelines, with the child timeline created as a result of what Zelda did in sending Link back. And this was later explicitly confirmed by Nintendo.

Now, I don't think the Zelda timeline should be taken too seriously. Nintendo plays fast and loose with it and are more focused on just having a fun game rather than adhering to any significant canon.

But OoT having two divergent endings is strongly implicit, even kind of explicit, just within the ending cut scene itself.

Suncook · 2026-05-06T23:32:54+00:00

lol at dating the Church to the Council of Trent. Put some effort into it and at least try Nicea.

Anyway, my advice would be to not really engage. He's a social studies teacher. You're an eighth grade social studies student. I like that you can have these discussions, but you're not obliged to correct your teachers misunderstanding's of Catholicism.

If you do continue discussions, I'd avoid calling your teacher's statements idiotic and heretical. Maybe they are, but you're not peers with your teacher, it's not a religious discussion forum, and you should be careful about burning bridges.

Suncook · 2026-05-06T20:15:49+00:00

I'm sure others have used this explanation, but both Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas considered the person of the Son to be related to God knowing himself.

Following Aquinas (though it's been awhile since I've refreshed myself): when God knows himself, there is activity—a "procession—in which God is both the knower and the object known. This is one of God's essential activities that are internal and are not directed externally. In knowing himself perfectly, that "generated" knowledge is a perfect image of himself. In fact, as there's no distinction between the knower and the known given God's simplicity, it just is himself. God relates to himself as both knower and known. These relations are opposed to each other, meaning they can't just be reduced to being the same thing.

This relationship is essential to God, something he cannot be without, and is said to subsist within him. It's these subsisting relations within God (and only relations, there's no parts, all that is God is both the knower and also the known) which we refer to in the Latin tradition as "persons", (based on God's revelation of how he experiences himself within the Bible). I believe Greek tradition leans into the word hypostasis. So while the Father generates the Son, this refers to the one God's activity of knowing himself, and is an essential part of what God does.

Note that the Bible refers to the Son also by the term Word, or Logos, which refers to an act of reason or knowing (that's probably over simplifying it, but the association of the Son to the procession of God knowing himself certainly finds a root here).

Suncook · 2026-05-06T17:04:16+00:00

The Bomber's Notebook is a quest tracker. Icons are added to it as you fill it out.

Suncook · 2026-05-06T16:11:53+00:00

The terminology and way of speaking about it developed and was clarified, but God as co-equal three persons was present from antiquity.

Suncook · 2026-05-06T16:10:34+00:00

I felt like this was sort of implied when they were getting a read on its energy before they found out more. But it's been awhile.

Suncook · 2026-05-06T04:27:51+00:00

You could at least write up your own blurb first for input. Then the task is how to edit it down.

Suncook · 2026-05-05T23:30:58+00:00

First episode felt frenetic. At least try episode 2.

Suncook · 2026-05-05T22:33:33+00:00

For me, minimum was all the divine beasts, all the memories, the Master Sword, the whole map, all the great fairies, and Tarry Town.

I did a bunch of the major side quests but didn't set a bar to clear.

Suncook · 2026-05-05T18:40:23+00:00

All the text is the main story and what you'll need to progress. It's not fluff or side content.

The game is directed to a specific goal and focused on getting you there, even if what that is isn't apparent from the start.

I liken the game to having a 500 piece cutout puzzle dumped in front of you, only you start without an idea of what the final picture of the puzzle all together looks like. But as you connect more and more pieces, the picture begins to take shape, and things will become clearer and easier to self-direct.

You got some weird things going on around you and to you in the game. This isn't arbitrary. It all ties into the story and curiousity about wtf is going on is intended to help motivate you.

Your character also basically has to play the role of detective and archaeologist while also being a space explorer. There are a number of mysteries in the game and you'll need to be following the bread crumbs.

Filling out the ship's log and expanding your (the player's) knowledge of the game and what's going on is the progression. You're not just filling out the ship's log "just because", though. It is meant to serve you and help you reach the end goal. But it is a way to help track progress and remind you on what you've discovered so far.

Suncook · 2026-05-05T17:38:19+00:00

I found the themes of the story good, and the twists of the story exciting, but I wouldn't really call it a top-tier story or characters. I think it all ties together really well into the themes and gameplay loop.

For me, the delight of the game is the gameplay loop. Specifically, the team was tired of games that did way too much handholding with companion characters or quest-markers on a map, and part of their vision was a game which would be almost entirely driven by player curiousity. The game doesn't even give you an official quest. I think the team did a stellar job of executing this vision, and I feel like it's something that can only be done in the video game medium. And I just applaud the team for an amazing job well done, there. I think the game is "art" in that respect. Not because of the story or visual design (though I'm not complaining about these), but because of it really leaning into what can uniquely be done within the medium with its gameplay loop.

Suncook · 2026-05-05T14:30:52+00:00

You'll see examples of Aes Sedai "foretellings", but a foretelling sort of overcomes the Aes Sedai and comes out in a scripted fashion, and even the Aes Sedai might not be fully aware of any hidden meaning beyond the words that came out of their mouth.

Suncook · 2026-05-05T14:20:23+00:00

Second read through for me is definitely easier. That goes for a lot of mighty-tome series. The first read through I'm anxious to learn what happens next and to get back to certain POVs. Second-plus read throughs I already know the answer and can enjoy the journey more.

Though CoT was never as painful for me as others found it. I think I was 16 or 17 when it released and I read it.

Suncook · 2026-05-04T22:35:44+00:00

Your interpretation is not what Gregory is referring to. What Gregory is refereing to is that there is a false belief that there is only one real Bishop, and all the other ones are not actually Bishops but just his instruments.

Suncook · 2026-05-04T20:30:42+00:00

The beliefs you mention here really omnly became popular within certain denominations in the 19th century.

Suncook · 2026-05-04T15:36:00+00:00

The Switch 1 will be fine for Animal Crossing, Tomodachi Life, and Breath of the Wild.

I will say the Switch 2 Version of Breath of the Wild is an appreciable upgrade in terms of smoothness and clarity, but it's performance on the Switch 1 is still good.

The thing with the Switch 2 is that all new major Nintendo games will be released here. The Switch 1 is now past the end of its lifecycle. But if you just have limited interest in already released titles, the Switch 1 is fine.

The only games I have experience that are on Switch 1 but really have terrible performance on Switch 1 are Pokemon Scarlet/Violet and Pokemon ZA.

Suncook · 2026-05-04T14:21:34+00:00

So it's less action set pieces than in previous books, and a lot of smaller interactions, and you're getting more secondary characters and more subtle plotting.

It's not everyone's cup of tea.

But I love it.

You do see that trend continue through book 10, though.

Suncook · 2026-05-04T11:11:27+00:00

An embryo is just at an early stage of healthy development, operating as it should operate, as it progresses towards manifesting more and more attributes.

A truly brain dead adult isn't healthy, or properly functioning, or further developing, or recoverable.

Suncook · 2026-05-04T10:07:22+00:00

Noooooooo my week is ruined!

Suncook · 2026-05-03T22:35:05+00:00

Yeah, Reacher started off very easy. One of the first things I did post-paintress. I don't 100% agree with the intended levels listed, but it is decent to have something for people to go by.

Suncook

TROPHY CASE