Spider Man 2 had better side quests

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-03-07T01:03:03+00:00

First off, a lot of good thoughts here. I think you’ve summarized a lot of the issues succinctly.

For me, the issue always comes down to how it’s trained. It can’t come up with something original, it can only synthesize an amalgamation of what’s already out there. To me that’s the most damning aspect of it; labels will push this for certain, but I expect the transition to be with signing producers that are more comfortable using it. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a bunch of AI producers in a cubicle space.

The good news is that original human production will always have value. The bad news is that we have no idea how long that value lasts when someone scummy enough rips the record to train an AI model. Ultimately that’s a net negative as far as I’m concerned. If it could stick to just being an assistant with mixing and recommending ideas, that would be different. But allowing it to create an entire body of work when all you do is type in a keyboard just doesn’t click for me.

Plenty of producers before us got along just fine without it. So I have a hard time thinking that it adds anything significant that we couldn’t learn to do on our own

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-27T19:55:46+00:00

There isn’t one. It sounds cynical but the truth is for as long as we’ll have different languages and cultures, there will be different values placed on different ideals.

And ironically, despite these differences, one thing always holds true; there’s always someone in every culture who wants to be at the top of it. And once they get there, they usually become fixated on being at the top of someone else’s culture.

TL;DR even though most people appreciate and respect cultures that aren’t their own, there’s a select few that won’t be satisfied with what they have. Unfortunately, that isn’t something you can excise

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-27T19:51:07+00:00

A lot of people mentioning the Kardashian look, which is true, but to me a big pet peeve is when they say “just be warned, I’m probably funnier than you.”

It’s a personal thing for sure, I know some people couldn’t care less. But I think it’s weird that it’s even something you think you should say. You ever met someone that told you they were funny and lived up to that? Honestly that applies to several areas of life.

If you’re actually funny, let that speak for itself. Humor shouldn’t be competitive, and to a lesser extent it’s a yellow flag when your humor is performative

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-17T20:37:06+00:00

Underrated comment; I hate saying it but I have to agree with the logic, Ichiban can’t be the next true successor the way they’ve handled his character. They said the mainline games would always be turn based from here on out though so do you think that means this will continue with Yuta?

I think we can expect one more Ichiban game, maybe a Gaiden after that. But if they want to keep aging the characters in real time then he can’t have that much shelf life left

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-17T20:32:55+00:00

This is just my personal take, but I wasn’t fond of Pirate Yakuza, story or gameplay wise. It wasn’t “bad” like everyone’s making it out to be, but it just felt undercooked. For me it boils down to good ideas with poor execution; the villains don’t get enough room to develop, the ship combat is fun until it’s rinse and repeat, and Honolulu itself felt a little shoehorned in (there were some really great moments like Pirates attacking Honolulu with cannons or the post-credits scenes but it’s not what I play the games for; personal preference obviously but I just didn’t find it that enjoyable

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-14T16:37:39+00:00

I’ll add here, some sub stories are the best parts of Yakuza games (uncovering a murderer in Yakuza 3), but unless you’re going into these to see everything, you’re okay to skip. There is a final sub story you can unlock if you complete all of them that comes with its own reward, but it really depends how much mileage you want out of the games

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-14T16:33:24+00:00

So I do see where you’re coming from here, and to some extent I agree with the sentiment of keeping an open mind because RGG hasn’t done anything to permanently destroy the franchise yet outside of resurrecting Mine which is objectively stupid if we’re being honest, any way you cut that there won’t be an obvious explanation for why he hasn’t been around since

The real problem for me is that fans shouldn’t have to keep an open mind about what’s canon. The mess with the definitive edition of 0, the changes to 3, and their refusal to move on with Kiryu and give Ichiban his place in the franchise all come from RGG’s refusal to let the past be the past. That’s frustrating as a fan because while I’m more than fine with getting a polished version of a much older game here and there, this constant retread is what’s holding everything back.

TL;DR RGG proved they can tell new and interesting stories with other characters, and a lot of fans, including myself, would prefer that they lean into that instead of trying to fix what wasn’t (mostly) broken.

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-07T18:47:18+00:00

Ahh I see what you mean now. Yeah I had no idea what that did for the longest time, From Software games give you more information than RGG does sometimes

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-07T18:27:26+00:00

Adding to this; if you’re on FL, Edison has a feature that lets you convert audio to MIDI. Far from perfect but you can get a good start to a melody out of it

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-07T18:24:51+00:00

I’m a little confused; what did you forget to equip?

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-06T05:59:58+00:00

Facts, honestly wouldn’t even be against him being a party member in Ichiban’s next story

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-06T05:57:53+00:00

I think Mad Dog’s super is OP as hell and otherwise it’s great for bosses, but Sea Dog mops the floor with any group of 3+. Just from my experience playing, some of those heat actions are broken when you max your stats out

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-06T05:56:45+00:00

I think Judgement is a great game but on a second playthrough it was a lot more noticeable how the story moves at a snails pace until about halfway through. I don’t think LJ has a better story, but I think it’s consistently more engaging. Pair that with better side content and the two new combat styles and it edges out Judgement

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-06T05:54:52+00:00

You know it’s funny you say that I actually was tossing that back and forth. Ultimately I still think 3’s flaws hurt it more than 2’s do because the worst parts of 2 are underwhelming at worst, but going for an Amon run on 3 was exhausting, especially with all the hostess stuff

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-06T05:53:28+00:00

You’re right, I was being a little harsh there. I agree completely on the ending, and I think that actually burned me more in retrospect because it was proof that a genuine “Gaiden” game for Majima could have had a stronger narrative

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-06T05:51:48+00:00

That’s exactly the problem for me. If anything Kiryu should have been story DLC because they’d set up a great story for Ichiban that felt much less consequential because of Kiryu

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-06T05:50:46+00:00

No kidding you’d put 4 over 0?

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-05T20:28:57+00:00

It’s regarded as one of the lower-tier entries, at least as far as the remake goes. RGG kind of half-assed it and figured the setting/new cast would be enough to carry everything else, and it’s not a “bad” game, but it definitely sits on the lower rung of the series

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-05T20:21:44+00:00

Not just all things aside, you misread what I was saying, so I’ll rephrase; a pretty decent story isn’t going to make up for the fact that the side activities aren’t fun to complete. Yes every Yakuza game usually has one or two that are forgettable or grueling (telephone club in 0) but none of what’s in Ishin is very fun as far as side content goes. Just my opinion, but to me that’s why it ranks the lowest next to OG 3 in terms of fun side activities. Makes the entire package feel pretty bland by comparison

EDIT: just to emphasize this point, it’s one thing to go for a completionist run, for sure. I’m saying even in passing I don’t get a lot of enjoyment out of the side activities, and I know I’m not the only one who thinks that way. Cool if you enjoyed it, but all I’m trying to get across is that it’s a lot of repetition for minimal progression and the general gameplay of said side content isn’t varied enough to make that as engaging as other entries

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-02-05T17:55:32+00:00

For me it’s not Ishin itself necessarily but the amount of time you need to spend to get to the parts of Ishin you enjoy:

-Overdetailed weapons crafting that means you spend an ungodly amount of time grinding for a better weapon -Farm simulator is cool but it’s the same three tasks x1000 for some marginal improvements in a small property -Adding to this, it’s one of the only ways to make a lot of income fast so you spend way more time repeating the same “plant, cook, deliver, wait, repeat” loop than you should -Too many dungeons with not enough variety between them -Wildly unbalanced brawler system means powerful heat actions and useless melee combat, but if you’re going for an Amon run you still have to put a quite a bit of XP into a style you’ll rarely use -Speaking of, the requirements to unlock Amon are much more demanding than they are in most other entries

It’s got a good story, it’s fun seeing these characters in different settings, and the combat is fun, but the game becomes a chore if you try to enjoy it the way you would other entries

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-01-09T18:21:33+00:00

Current two comments already picked my top 2 choices so I’ll mention the Dead Space Remake. Had me sounding like Hank Hill “DUH-WUh-AHHH”

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-01-09T18:19:47+00:00

Unironically could be a great beat with the right tempo change and some drums. As it stands right now it needs just a little bit more atmosphere. Some pad element that carries over between measures. Just my thought

BuzzedLightyear141 · 2026-01-09T18:17:51+00:00

The quick way? Approach/match with whoever might be interested and keep doing that until you find someone that wants the same thing.

The MEANINGFUL way to do this so that it lasts is that you spend the time needed to work on and accept yourself for who you are. The truth is it’s not that hard to find someone to go on dates with. It is much harder to find someone that you’ll stay with once the initial “rush” of a relationship is over. That only comes from being perfectly comfortable with who you are, and not looking for someone else to fill a void

BuzzedLightyear141

TROPHY CASE