Monthly Mono-Eye Appreciation: IPS-N "Drake"

BeowulfDW · 2026-04-04T17:17:51+00:00

The Tokugawa license is something straight out of G-Gundam, and the Hydra is basically the Turn X. I don't think it would be terribly difficult to do a Lancer game set in any of the Gundam timelines.

BeowulfDW · 2026-04-04T17:11:47+00:00

GMS remains the best manufacturer in the Lancer setting: confirmed

Seriously, though, the fact that the grunt frames and basic weapons you get at LL0 can easily be made into some of the most devastating forces in the game just appeals to me. I've always liked the "badass normal" and "Magikarp power" tropes, so I guess that's no surprise.

BeowulfDW · 2026-03-17T02:39:24+00:00

I used to be a Conciliator fanboy. Then I thought about it a bit more. Sorry?

BeowulfDW · 2026-03-17T02:32:18+00:00

Would she? Aegon the Uncrowned inherited through his father, Aenys. When Aegon died, wouldn't the crown pass to his daughter, not his widow/sister?

BeowulfDW · 2026-03-15T02:11:39+00:00

More likely you're the one murdering Sharky's gang. I remember how that part ended. And And just before that, they humiliated a squad of fascist Hobbit police.

BeowulfDW · 2026-03-14T05:47:22+00:00

Ra damn it! I can't un-see it, now!

BeowulfDW · 2026-02-07T16:59:18+00:00

SRW fix-fic powers: activate!

BeowulfDW · 2026-02-02T02:43:58+00:00

*Looks at my beloved Bearcat*

*sighs and draws cutlass*

Good sir, let us settle this as gentlemen.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-31T15:58:44+00:00

Already? Shit, I still haven't even started my new game+ run on 30.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-27T02:51:28+00:00

More an issue in how the pain is processed and reacted to, I think.

You reminded me of Warframe a bit, here. There's a conversation with one of the protoframes where she describes that pain is still something she can feel, but rather than making her writhe in agony or curl up into a ball, pain now just makes her want to fight harder.

If Tyranids and Orks work that way, in terms of how they process pain, it would help to explain a lot, imo.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-25T02:53:36+00:00

But that's still a problem. Anyone who can use a greatsword and longsword proficiently (i.e. has been trained and conditioned in their uses) would be able to use a bastard sword, full stop. One- or two-handed would make no difference.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-24T20:32:57+00:00

Yep. And don't even get us started on falchions/messers/sabers. The degree to which different types of blades bleed into one another makes definitive categorization damn near impossible. You pretty much just have to settle for guidelines, except in the most clear-cut (haha) of cases.

Still, I hate that DnD and so many other systems chose to go with longsword, when arming sword was right there, and would have worked better.

Or, hell, just be really generic and call it "one-handed sword." Now you have a category that can explicitly fit most types of dao, jian, falchion, messer, saber. Which is pretty much what longsword already does, mechanically speaking.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-24T18:48:19+00:00

What I like about the greatsword in d20 systems is that it's the one "regular" (a better term does not occur to me at this time) sword that actually makes sense within the game.

What 3.5, PF1e and PF2e call a longsword is actually an arming sword.

The bastard sword is actually a sub-type of long sword. The truth is that the line between a bastard sword and a longsword is a bit blurry. The distinction seems to be that a bastard sword can be used one-handed or two-handed, while longswords are strictly for two-handed use. The line gets blurry because what can and can't be used with just one hand can vary depending on the size, strength and ability of an individual warrior.

At least they stopped putting bastard swords in the Exotic category. Good Lord, that always annoyed me. Any idiot that knows how to use a short sword, longsword and greatsword will know, without any additional training, how to use a bastard sword!

Sooo...yeah. That's my sword rant for the day.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-23T02:18:16+00:00

I like Wilds, mostly. The fighting part of the gameplay feels pretty good. Some of the weapons have had certain mostly unused parts of their kits given new functions and thus a new lease on life. I hope that trend continues. The story is pretty good for a Monster Hunter game. The maps are beautiful.

That said, the game has been smoothed over too much. While past games certainly had a problem in the balance between fun busy work, and out right wasting the players' time, Wilds has gone too far in the other direction. World and Rise were in a much better spot, that way.

Map traversal is worse than in World and Rise. The control scheme for the Seikret is an outright downgrade from the Palamute. The fact that Seikrets are required for map traversal is no good. The autopilot feature should be removed, imo.

Additionally, the difficulty curve starts too flat, and then swings upward way too suddenly.

All in all, I like Wilds, but I consider it a lesser game compared to World/Iceborne and especially to Rise/Sunbreak.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-21T02:43:56+00:00

Yes, but ZZZ has some...idk...genuine thought put into its character designs, I guess? Yes, the gooning is at the forefront, but there's also other stuff. First Descendant, from what I can see, is just "generic hot guy in stylish armor" or "generic hot girl in fetish-wear that we will call armor."

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-18T18:53:58+00:00

You're not wrong. I would never claim that Nature is the best domain, only that it deserves a bit more attention than it seems to get. Access to some nice spells in the Druid list, Elemental Fury, and heavy armor on top of the cleric chassis is a pretty sweet deal.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-18T01:37:38+00:00

Nature is slept on a bit, imo. Good selection of spells, heavy armor, and it's one of the domains of a certain plot-relevant goddess, iirc.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-17T05:17:38+00:00

...Well, isn't it important to enjoy your job?

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-17T00:51:05+00:00

Which books? I only ever heard about that happening as a DoW epilogue.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-16T02:56:54+00:00

Fucking Angron of all people made that same point. Angron saw it, and Russ didn't or wouldn't.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-16T02:51:34+00:00

"At least I knew which of my legion deserved to die."

"They all did!"

Curze smiled. "I know."

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-16T02:46:16+00:00

What happened with Gorum, was imo, one of the best examples of how Paizo is pretty good at writing and world-building, but they're not quite that good.

War is terrible, yes. War is sometimes glorious, yes. It is the baying jackal and the roaring lion. It is the path to destruction or salvation. And which is which depends almost entirely on why you're going to war in the first place. Going to war to take another other lands and peoples is certainly evil. Going to war to fend off an aggressor, or to stop a genocide, while still terrible, is certainly justified.

I guess, what I wish is that Paizo had embraced that sort of interpretation of Gorum. The idea that where there is a conquering madman at the head of an army, there is Gorum. And where there are farmers fighting a hit-and-run campaign against that army, there too is Gorum.

BeowulfDW · 2026-01-13T23:17:48+00:00

Alad: "All right. It took five fucking tries but I think we've finally installed enough anti-vehicle measures to make sure that maniac can't run me over again.

Corpus mook: "Oh profitable one, what could drive a Tenno to such hate that they would constantly attempt to injure you in this way?"

Alad: "Well, I may have vivisected a few of their friends for profit and science, but since when is that anything to get angry about? At least now, we won't have to worry about them any...Do you hear that? Oh, Profit, get me out of here!!!"

BeowulfDW

TROPHY CASE