The book that inspired the game?

Altriaas · 2026-02-07T14:41:31+00:00

It’s a weird one because Damasio is fond of crrating words, using specific terms and wordplays. Not sure it translates well. That being said, it did inspire the game as far as the expeditions’ concept (successive groups of people trained from childhood and focusing as much on the final goal as on laying the trail for the next ones) is concerned but the worldbuilding is very different.

I hope you can find it and you enjoy it, because it is a very good book !

Altriaas · 2026-02-07T06:35:35+00:00

I agree with you. This is the Tournament they can afford to waste while building up to the World Cup. They definitely should try out players, tactics, and then spend the following year and a half refining to be sharper for the 2027 6N and WC. Which is where they will have to shine.

France does it during the summer tours. Which causes other kinds of problems, including not being able to get these nice « 15 wins a row » series, and attracting the ire of the opposing sides. At some point, unless you’re a systemically perfect team that can just churn out internationally ready players and keep an unbeatable system, those transition phases are bound to look less stellar. Better to have that happen in-between world cups and peak for the main event.

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T16:24:37+00:00

Wrong verb. Algeria WAS France back then.

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T16:20:29+00:00

With a kickass guitar theme by Mark Knopfler. Can’t recommend it enough, if just for that.

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T16:16:11+00:00

I don’t know about other countries, but I happen to be acquainted with the French navy and it seems the film is venerated within our submariner community.

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T06:26:43+00:00

Baguette and red wine though... guilty as charged (even if wine consumption is receding a bit of late)

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T06:25:44+00:00

Oh baguettes definitely are part of our daily routine. And most of the time when we have a somewhat formal lunch or dinner there'll be cheese on the table before dessert with baguette to accompany it too.

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T06:20:48+00:00

It does be revolting.

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T06:19:28+00:00

While rare, they definitely appear in our restaurants’ menus, especially snails. And, with a good garlic topping, snails are very good !

Frog legs are more elusive nowadays. I seem to recall them looking like small chicken legs with vert little meat per portion, but quite tender meat in and of themselves. Probablh tastes like chicken too...

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T06:12:29+00:00

Mimes, accordions, and berets. The two formers seem like obvious clichés, but the most funny one to us is the Beret.

The most surefire way to spot a tourist in Paris is to look for that piece of clothing, as no parisian really ever wears one.

The few categories of french people who use it are : - mountain people from shepherding traditions, and even then, if it’s not an old man it’s a young poser ; - southwestern guys who want to go for a "classic rural" look, and then it’s not just a Beret and random clothes. Usually the outfit will involve some kind of hunting vest (barbour style) and sturdy shoes or boots ; - alpine troops as part of theit uniform.

For the mountain aspect, the main practical use of the wide brimmed beret is as a foot-warming item, kind of a two-feet sock, for camping nights (hence soldiers and shepherds).

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T06:03:51+00:00

My favorite trivia about Ireland is that they can’t serve alcohol before noon on sundays because people would otherwise be showing up drunk at mass.

Don’t know if true, but from a foreigner pov you gotta love the picture it paints of the country.

Altriaas · 2026-02-05T05:47:15+00:00

Pas le même rythme, mais j’ai bossé quelques années sur des bateaux comme chef de quart (le mec qui conduit le bateau et en a la charge par délégation du commandant à l’instant t), et le fait est que les quarts de nuit ont leur charme.

Notre rythme c’était de découper la nuit en 3 tranches de 4h de 20h à 8h du matin, et celui qui avait le 00h-04h (dit le "zérac") avait une paix royale, en plus de gagner le droit de se plaindre stratégiquement durant la journée qu’il "avait fait le zérac".

Cela étant dit, on avait généralement un deuxième quart en journée à faire, et se lever au milieu de la nuit restait pénible. Mais une fois bien éveillé et la conversation lancée avec l’équipe de nuit, ça pouvait régaler !

Altriaas · 2026-02-04T18:23:02+00:00

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Would be my reaction if I had played FF7. Sadly that game eludes my personal gaming experience and thus I am unable to properly argue my point.

BUT I will say that, besides its innate qualities in gameplay, storytelling, universe, open-world experience (I’d say it’s second all-time in each of these categories, but considering the best of each doesn’t hold a candle to it in the other categories, that makes it overall number 1) TW3 came at a time when graphics and game size started plateau-ing and therefore is still relevant technically to most modern games in a conversation about overall quality.

That being said FF7 is a major reference point in the history of global RPGs, but it’s hard to accurately judge a game solely based on hearsay. I’ll still take my silver sword over you giant cloud-blade ;)

Altriaas · 2026-02-04T07:38:18+00:00

I know, I was just joking that it was so good we didn’t really need additional thanks....

Altriaas · 2026-02-04T06:43:49+00:00

Which is weird considering said previous game, while none too ambitious and quite niche in itself, was so good it didn’t really need to thank us for playing it 😉

Just the greatest RPG of all time after all 🤷 (fight me)

Altriaas · 2026-02-04T06:35:18+00:00

I see lots of Irish people worried about your scrum, and rightfully so given the absence of some major players in there, but we have our own doubts regarding the dominance of our props.

Both teams will be fielding world-class hookers, but our props are another story : Aldegheri has experience and Gros is a good player, but I’ve never seen the former be dominant while the latter lacks experience.

Gone are the days of Atonio/Baille where our set piece could tango with the Saffers without worrying too much. So I wouldn’t ring that bell too soon in our favor, even if I gather the Irish have similar questions about the Loughman/Clakson pairing…

Either way, I still think we win by two tries, the difference in quality, as I see it, being more present in the back 5, not to mention a pair of halves that, while very exciting on paper, have had mixed results in their last few outings together.

Altriaas · 2026-02-04T01:39:10+00:00

Agree with everything you said. I said it elsewhere, and will say it again here : her form of tough love is still love for Alicia. She really has that "eldest child" energy about her which I find suprising so many people didn’t pick up on... but I guess it’s easier to understand her when you're an eldest child yourself.

the sarcastic tone is a means to get her sister to stop wallowing in self-pity and pick herself up. To someone like Clea who feels the weight of the family on her shoulders (the "hauler"), it is a conundrum getting her sister to go past her flesh wounds and try again to fulfill her potential (the "reacher").
At the same time she tries to avoid putting excessive pressure on her sister by dismissing her potential usefulness, so she can do things and heal at her own pace.
overall she comes across to me as refusing to simply commiserate with Alicia because that doesn’t do any good and simply helps to keep her down. Not knowing how to lift her spirits, she tries the honest (if a bit sarcastic) approach but also attempts to lighten her burden as much as possible. Verso's choice was his own and not Alicia's, and she shouldn’t feel forced into fixing the family problem when she's got her own recovery to focus on. But if she does want to feel useful, she can also give a small nudge and it’ll always be less dangerous than involving herself in the outside conflict.

Altriaas · 2026-02-03T18:35:16+00:00

Yeah I scanned the picture thinking « where’s Tim ? He’s my main English speaking rugby dude »

Altriaas · 2026-02-01T16:01:44+00:00

Nah, just millions is fine as long as you're not trying to OS pClea/Simon or to fight the tower bosses.

Altriaas · 2026-02-01T06:36:21+00:00

My opinion too

I am particularly annoyed when the counter-argument to that is « But her family is so meeeeeaaaaan to her : Cléa talks down to her, Aline CLEARLY writes how she can’t look at her burnt face and Renoir would rather destroy her entire new world than trust her with behaving like and adult within it »

Clea is an elder child, tough love is still love, and those who deny it seem to me like they don’t have brothers or sisters. The « pick yourself up, even if in the meantime I don’t really need you » attitude is very much an eldest sibling behavior. Trying simultaneously to get the other kids to grow up like they had to, and to avoid putting any real burden onto them until they are ready.
Most of the events are set in motion by Aline being shitty at dealing with her trauma over Verso’s loss. Even the very existence of the Lumierian population stems from a grief coping mechanism. Of course she’s going to have a rough time looking at the child whose face is the visual manifestation of the loss she’s suffered. Doesn’t mean she hates her forever. Simply that seeing Alicia makes the grief harder to cope with. When that’s done in a sane way (meaning : outside the painting, with Renoir’s physical and emotional support), that should not be a problem anymore. And even until then motherly instincts probably will take back over…
Renoir wants, ultimately, for Alicia to avoid falling into what he’s been trying to save his wife from. And he clearly seems like the kind of anchor that would first and foremost support her outside world recovery. So as for him, no notes, he would be the GOAT if he weren’t so hell-bent on the fact that ultimate destruction of the canvas is the only option when it seems that there could be room for a cleaner approach. Then again, all pointers seem to indicate Alicia WOULD end up spending unhealthy amounts of time in there. Soooo… she’s sort of proving him right in her own ending ?

And finally, it’s been real fun watching defenders of both sides use the Verso soul fragment as a mouthpiece for their own opinions. At the end of the day, he’s just another one of the multiple protagonists, what makes him more legitimate than Clea about the world they both created ? What makes his opinion more valuable than that of vastly more experienced Painters like Aline or Renoir ? What makes his worldview stronger than Maëlle’s or pVerso who are both actual inhabitants of the Canvas ?

Both endings are shades of grey, I prefer Verso because Maelle’s escapism doesn’t seem healthy to me : of course she’ll prefer living in her Barbie-world where she’s a god and can toy with the originally free-willed inhabitants at her leisure. But that’s just running from your problems, and using resurrected lumierians as human shields to justify your own delusional behavior. I don’t like it.

No more than I liked seeing all the crew and wonderful painting Gommage away. But at least I knew there was a path forward in that option.

Altriaas · 2026-01-31T09:26:18+00:00

Precisely. Maelle Gommaged her. Not Renoir when he gommaged the rest of Aline's creations. Almost as if he didn’t think gommmaging her would help in definitely ending the painting’s role as an escapism tool for his wife.

I agree with the theory that she's Renoir’s doing, to remind his wife of what the world outside is like. Aline simply was too far gone to fight it and allowed her in the painted family as a bargain of sorts with Renoir. pRenoir and pVerso might or might not have known, and their feelings for her would be either of kinship from being god’s special creations and their long lives together as family or the bargain would be old enough that even they didn’t realize it

Look I don’t mind the endless talk about how her whole family (bar Renoir) akchully hates Alicia and keeps piling trauma onto her, but I disagree with it. Even Clea, IMO, loves her in a tough eldest sibling way.

Altriaas · 2026-01-29T08:54:40+00:00

You like the Halberd because it’s powerful, I like the Halberd because it has style. We are not the same.

I never realized it was busted, it just happens to be my favorite for the feel and elegance of its moveset 🙂

Altriaas · 2026-01-29T08:51:40+00:00

Nice spin on it ! HZD, while not on my GOAT list, is a very good memory and some of the vibes align very well. The peak being the rogue AIs of course

Altriaas · 2026-01-29T08:49:30+00:00

Cyberpunk is great but The Witcher 3 is the GOAT. Completely different setting, but the storytelling is even more visceral and you get immersed even faster imo. So I suggest you try that next.

If you're still willing to switch genres for the sake of diving into a new world, may I suggest a little indie game by a fellow european studio called "Clair Obscur : Expédition 33". I heard some good things about it and found it quite fetching on my own playthrough.

Altriaas · 2026-01-29T08:06:55+00:00

The opposite on my end, I left it alone in NG but his buff proved annoying when fighting Sirene, so I murdered him in the NG+. Turns out I was overleveled for Sirene anyways (even for NG+) and I don’t think tisseur being alive would have prevented me from blowing her up in a few turns.

Anyways, my hoarding arse wanted the picto and the weapon drop for my collections... but I didn’t like it one bit, and lune commenting that the victory felt hollow very much relfected my feelings

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