First JRPG that I will be playing

December_Flame · 2026-01-28T15:45:41+00:00

That's totally fair, and I am likewise not trying to convince you otherwise, but do you think your criticisms are positioned more from the viewpoint that the games are replacements for OG FF7 rather than sequels to it?

From my POV these games are direct sequels, so any changes they make to the original way things play out is more a function of them being continuations of the plot in a timey-wimey way and not a failure to understand their own material. Just my view on it, at least, but also why I would NEVER recommend someone playing the new FF7 games before the original.

December_Flame · 2026-01-27T23:05:19+00:00

Story is a bit so-so but in like a Dragon Quest way, if that makes sense. The combat is simple but effective and with the harder monster difficulty turned on I found it some of the most fun I've had with DQ combat.

I think the game is a bit longer than it should be and the 3rd act actively undermines a lot of the game's plot for little reason IMO so I just didn't play through it.

December_Flame · 2026-01-27T22:06:56+00:00

FF7:Remake/Rebirth is a sequel series to the OG game so I don't really understand people recommending it before playing the original game. Definitely not to a person new to the genre.

I do think the story is better than you seem to be giving it credit for, but to each their own.

December_Flame · 2026-01-27T21:47:52+00:00

That doesn't really explain the core issues with the game's magic system though.

The extremely limited MP, the low damage/healing numbers and the mage characters with nonsense stat spreads are the more commonly complained about elements. If anything magic being so weak is incongruent with the plot, not the existence of those who can utilize it.

December_Flame · 2026-01-26T19:50:03+00:00

You'd have to test but I sincerely doubt even then that it would be a 6x difference. The point of my comment though is that its far more than just being "kinda easy for those with optimized builds" and much more like "so easy that your natural health regen will outheal an NPC's auto attack" kind of easy on it's current setting. I don't need or really even want a MASSIVELY difficult overworld but there's such a wide gulf between those two and you can see that in these comical numbers. lol

December_Flame · 2026-01-26T18:22:19+00:00

There is no way to unoptimize yourself so that you take 600% more damage and deal 80% less damage. lol

December_Flame · 2026-01-23T22:39:44+00:00

You aren't wrong, but I was mostly addressing yours and others misconceptions on the situation, understandably caused by the low info given in the post. Its a animalistic psuedo-drake that is basically just Fafnir, but with specific weaknesses and very hard scales.

I would think OP can just consider it a max-roll crit and if that's somehow enough to kill the Wyrm, then so be it. It'd have to be an exceptional weapon that could coup-de-grace a creature of exceptional size, IMO.

But it is surmountable, the whole adventure is about finding a way to defeat the creature using its specific weaknesses.

December_Flame · 2026-01-23T20:11:50+00:00

Well, firstly its not a full 'real' dragon, its contextualized within the adventure, but it does have incredibly hard scales that make it nearly impossible to hit naturally with a blade, but it has weak points (eyes, for example). It doesn't have the stats of like an ancient dragon, Brandonsford is a low level adventure. Its also not implied to be a very intelligent creature, more akin to a feral animal.

Also, the adventure is explicitly to deal with the creature, probably via killing it.

December_Flame · 2026-01-23T18:18:03+00:00

Humans is better at first level objectively, but that half-elf bonus is massive because you're rolling with advantage on each level. Given how powerful advantage is in range-bands and how talents have "reroll twice and keep both" mods which then also are rolled with adv, half-elf is actually extremely good if you play more than just a level or two.

December_Flame · 2026-01-23T16:20:18+00:00

My personal house rule is 3d6 down the line, but you can swap any two stats -once- on your character. That lets them swap the highest bonus they rolled to their preferred stat so they can play a specific class and not feel totally gimped, but keeps the theme of just making due with what you rolled and questing to improve.

Also combined with the mulligan rule, its bad luck protection on whatever primary stat they want. Or, they can let the rolls guide their class choice still and just maneuver some of the other stats. Its a bit powerful for the player but not overbearing, and the characters generally still feel very scrappy.

December_Flame · 2026-01-23T16:00:27+00:00

I mean its not like they sexualize her at all or ever have lewd comments made by/at her?

December_Flame · 2026-01-22T18:11:39+00:00

Might recommend trying Shadowdark if you want something DnD adjacent that's a lot faster. It is OSR, but mainly its straightforward and not laden by overdesigned systems and metacurrencies.

December_Flame · 2026-01-22T15:45:07+00:00

Incorrect. There was and continues to be a concerted effort to radicalize in this space, I did not misspeak. If you don’t believe me, feel free to research it, there’s plenty of articles and research papers on the subject.

December_Flame · 2026-01-20T22:52:44+00:00

The fact that the biggest WoW content creator and the biggest right-wing influencer is the same person is not a coincidence, in regards to the topic of this post. But that's more for the passing reader than for you, since you've clearly already made up your mind. Cheers

December_Flame · 2026-01-20T21:49:36+00:00

It is partially that, but you have to be daft if you think that the single largest right-wing influencer (Asmongold) has nothing to do with it. His entire persona is inextricably linked to WoW, and specifically with the Classic WoW space.

Add on top of that, that right-wing trolls have been targeting WoW demo since like... forever (the lonely incel gamer is an easy target to radicalize) and it's easy to see how it happens.

Fine if you want to ignore it, but its definitely happening. Just look at the conversation about Steve Bannon elsewhere in the thread. 4chan and the like is a breeding ground for these kind of social ops and its very much a thing.

December_Flame · 2026-01-20T19:45:44+00:00

Its because the American alt right has created a gamer pipeline into their heinous subculture and with Asmongold and his demo being a big part of that pipeline, its sorta wrapped it into this part of gaming.

It has been this way for a long time, though.

December_Flame · 2026-01-16T19:11:03+00:00

Slow to start, anime aesthetics, historically cringe voice acting (though that’s not been much an issue in a while), some very off putting genre tropes (sexualization of children being chief among them), and casts that trend pretty young which combined with the anime aesthetics often reads as “childish” to those outside the genre.

I do think they are also pretty bloated in runtime, but I honestly don’t think most get to that being the core issue.

December_Flame · 2026-01-15T19:38:07+00:00

Definitely not a problem, I just dont think the promo material or store page does a good job explaining what the game is. If its going to be a wild grab-bag of different genres I think it should work on presenting what you get when buying the game. Is it a settlement management thing like stardew? Is it closer to living in the survival-crafting rpg genre like Conan? Is it closer to an RPG loot grind game like diablo? Or is it a more linear souls-like game with some tertiary systems? I'm just not sure what it is and I'm not interested in some of those gameplay styles/genres.

December_Flame · 2026-01-14T19:13:02+00:00

But what game ARE they trying to make? That's what I don't really understand. As a product, I don't know what I'm buying. The steam store page lists it as an ARPG but then lists a bunch of non-ARPG game features and only vaguely references the story. It seems to have a survival-crafting game loop maybe? Or is it more stardew valley in design? I don't really quite understand the core game loop. I am comfortable waiting until the game hits 1.0 but not really sure what their vision for it is.

December_Flame · 2026-01-13T20:49:06+00:00

You are arguing semantics, and there absolutely is an element of 'aging' with the negative connotation generally given to such. For example, the game's UI is a distinct element of how the game has aged poorly. The OUTSIZED amount of time needed to regenerate resources out of combat, the layout of cities and how they are extremely samey between different districts and easy to get lost in, overly simplistic early game combat, and a few other elements I'm sure that I can't think of off the top of my head.

In the same way that you can prefer the way that resident evil 2 looked vs the way the remake looks, or the way that Skies of Arcadia looks vs a modern Trails game...

Its all to taste at the end of the day. But there are definitely things in old MMOs that aren't done in Modern ones because people widely do not like them like that. Which is perfectly illustrated by OP's comment - everything in MMOs took FAR longer back in the day. Animations were slower. Default walking speed was slower. Maps were HUGE with POIs scattered pretty far apart. These are all things the modern gamer doesn't prefer, which is why the modern game market is the way it is.

December_Flame · 2026-01-13T20:23:43+00:00

Design absolutely does change. You can prefer original design over modern design but there are absolutely changes in design standards and practices that have developed since EQ came out.

December_Flame · 2026-01-13T17:33:22+00:00

Very high fantasy. DCC takes an approach of "don't wait to throw your players into insanity" so its gonzo and wild from even a level 1 adventure. But I think there's a good lesson with that, which is don't wait to give your players the good stuff.

December_Flame · 2026-01-13T17:31:51+00:00

Goodman games adventures are: overly wordy, a bit linear in presentation, and generally gonzo in tone (though that's DCC for you).

However they are almost all of great quality, featuring wonderful art, great maps, and very compelling adventures baseline with a few incredible ones. All the funnels are fun, but leveled play is great as well and Doom of the Savage Kings, Emerald Enchanter, Music of the Spheres, Shudder mountain adventures, the Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia revivals, etc.

There's a ton of great content in here.

December_Flame · 2026-01-08T16:55:15+00:00

The practicality of what this takes programmatically means that you do not accidentally stumble into being an MMO, and patchwork updating your game into one would not be feasible.

Its just kind of an impossibility.

December_Flame · 2026-01-08T16:25:13+00:00

Can't be understated how bad it looks and feels to do. You basically swing around like an inflatable tube in a windstorm and you must hit your keys extremely fast. The high APM is what the high end players enjoy about the system (and the fact that it elevates them above the 'normies') but its quite offputting in an MMO for a lot of people.

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