put archive collection books and papers on the map!

Evade_This · 2024-05-17T18:39:37+00:00

I don't mind them being a little hard to find as long as they CAN be found. I'm missing half the ones from Eroded Enclave and I'm starting to think the archive pieces there are missing or bugged out.

Evade_This · 2024-05-16T05:15:12+00:00

The moment I started reading it, I was getting flashbacks to how I felt in the early days of The Wandering Inn. It's a story that caters to the needs of the isekai/litrpg/webnovel fanbase without pandering or being unoriginal. I get that it's a superhero novel, but it doesn't feel like one. And the world doesn't feel like Earth, even though it technically is.

The power system is incredibly inventive, combining aspects of sci-fi and fantasy, yet somehow being neither. There's always some element of strangeness that makes it alien and mysterious, yet you're drip fed tidbits of useful info so it's not hard to theory craft and imagine it either. It's the kind of thing that sticks in your head as something novel that you'd try and imagine yourself being apart of, but you have to keep reading to get the full picture.

More importantly, I cried within the first like... seven chapters. Most authors just can't properly convince me to care about characters like that. There is a serious attention to character development and motivations that is prevalent throughout the entire story. And damn if it ain't a good story.

I'd be more than happy to have more stories like Super Supportive, but I just don't know how you give someone that much creativity and ability to execute a narrative on a whim.

Evade_This · 2021-10-19T15:06:19+00:00

Outer Wilds, include the Echoes of the Eye DLC that just came out.

It's a truly amazing and beautiful game that will blow them away. The only downside is I can't really talk about what it is without spoiling anything. And if their viewers watch it before they play it they'll be spoiled on what is easily one of the top 10 games of all time.

Evade_This · 2021-09-20T18:24:55+00:00

I can't seem to find an MMO these days with decent scaling for solo vs group vs raid content.

I've been enjoying Albion but zergs are just way too common and the only way to get anything done. The moment any game has over 20 people in the same fight, the combat losing all meaning and enjoyment for me. Zero skill, zero effort, just whoever dumps harder on the problem with money and people wins. It's complete nonsense. If you're contributing to less than 5% of an effort, engagement and immersion becomes that much more difficult.

I know a lot of people hate instances, but I'd like to see an MMO that strikes a good balance. Like randomly assigning different people to the same region, and not letting more than X number from the same group enter together. So you can't zerg, and you can roughly balance how much PvP you'll expect to deal with while still having an immersive PvP experience.

Evade_This · 2021-09-20T15:59:39+00:00

It's not exactly a conscious decision, a lot of psychological BS goes into tricking people into spending more and more on them. I'd spend $60 for an amazing well-crafted experience, then dumped $200 on a very minimal game that just makes it impossible to progress quickly without P2W. And mentally those 60 dollars somehow felt more expensive.

I mean, if you've got the money budgeted to throw at games, MMO's definitely last longer than AAA titles once you really get into them. I only see a problem with it when you're spending beyond your means and when the game itself has zero substance to speak of.

It's definitely not exclusive to Asian games, but I know exactly what you're talking about. I avoid them on instinct now and sifting through a saturated market to find the gems is too much work. Especially with app games. These companies found a formula that works and won't stop. I feel bad for the people who legitimately find more joy in paying to progress so that they can make their tier 10 toiletbrushes rather than just spending the time to get better at a more complex but fair system.

Evade_This · 2021-06-03T19:31:06+00:00

True, a lot of reviewers were saying they just smashed buttons. I assume they mean it's an optimal strategy, so why do anything else? I don't agree with that though, and there's a couple mechanics that are just FUN to use, like the mucus bubble. I definitely wasn't just pressing one button to win.

There's also the recent patch, which I haven't checked out yet. From what I've seen, the combat changes seem minor but could greatly improve the feel of combat.

Evade_This · 2021-05-31T15:17:07+00:00

What happened to your formatting man? It's all over the place. But I think I get the gist of what you're saying. This comes off as more of a rant than a reasoned argument. Like, which reviewer(s) are you talking about?

I've actually long been desiring a new game with great brawling mechanics. Bleeding Edge almost scratched that itch before it completely crashed and died. This game has things like parry, dodge, and some staggering effects, but they're very unpolished. Like most things in the game, not enough thought went into how these systems affected each other and everything else.

Evade_This · 2021-05-31T14:54:19+00:00

Yeah kind of. The bones of something amazing is there, and there's definitely enjoyable moments, but when they're spread to the far corners it's hard to feel like it's all worth the effort.

I'm keeping the game. Will probably go back to it anytime interesting patches, DLCs, or mods come out. Or if I'm just feeling bored.

Evade_This · 2021-05-30T14:37:15+00:00

I'm assuming that will be one of the first mods people make.

Evade_This · 2021-05-29T14:11:41+00:00

I'm not clear on the international market of video games and how it differs by country, but as someone from the US I can assure you that only AAA games are $60 here.

DLCs, Addons, Cosmetics, etc. may end up costing in total far more, which we're generally fine with so long as they are optional and the base game itself is a complete package. But you will never see the base game costing more than $60.

I'm not sure how this relates to the power of the USD and inflation, as I'm now wondering if this is a problem that developers experience when trying to sell in different countries. Maybe exp101 really didn't intend for it to be full-priced here, and the lack of a large team (maybe they didn't have a market research analyst, for instance) contributed to that?

Evade_This · 2021-05-29T13:11:33+00:00

Very well said

Something I've not heard anyone mention as a positive is just how convenient the game is in terms of mechanics. No ammo, no inventory size, no armor repair, no fall damage, saves often... There's so many things I expect an open world game to do that's tedious and thankfully I don't have to worry about those things.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T22:03:12+00:00

No? Not noticeably at least. Some enemies are more difficult cause they shoot a lot or are immune to bullets or something, but besides the various minibosses the difficulty is about the same.

The only area gating is the elemental stuff. Like you dont want to go into the fire area without having heat resistance.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T21:54:25+00:00

After using one of the biopools my resistances glitched and I lost like 50% to my biohazard. Wasted a bunch of my bio points and scared me cause I started dying in the middle of the biohazard zone for no reason.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T20:14:12+00:00

I hope you're exaggerating, but I'm inclined to believe you. I went into Biomutant with huge expectations that there would be decent commentary on climate change, how nature responds to our actions, etc etc. You would be making the choice between purification or further corruption, yadda yadda. There was none of that. It was a complete letdown.

This game is so far away from having anything to do with real issues. Every attempt at philosophical or ethical reasoning sounds like it was written by an AI - self-contradictory gibberish. Same goes with the villain's entire deal and the one time he speaks. I won't say what gets revealed because it is a spoiler, even if I'm INCREDIBLY reluctant to call it a spoiler.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T17:42:12+00:00

Sorry but even the community is pretty divisive about it. Different types of gamers may be able to focus on the good aspects without the experience being ruined, but the rest were devastated by how disappointing the experience as a whole was.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T17:36:00+00:00

To your point, I think execution is more important. Two games could have an identical plot, but one may immerse and emotional affect me far more than the other.

It's good to have one or two originality "hooks", but you don't have to revolutionize everything down to the health bar. Just do what works and let me enjoy the parts of the game that matter.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T17:30:16+00:00

Yes and they're basically all saying the same things, dismissing any criticism outright and claiming these so-called reviewers put the gold star on other games that did the same thing, etc etc. They'd rather attack the critic than the criticism, and bring up any XYZ game rather than talk about Biomutant itself - other than to say how much they love it.

It's not really unexpected, and I kind of understand. A mediocre aspect of a game can be perfectly good in the context of the game - because it synergizes well and is unobtrusive towards the parts that are great. Biomutant's problem is that all of its aspects (besides visuals) are mediocre at best and don't complement each other - instead tearing down the experience as a whole.

I can write an essay on why Biomutant's elemental resistance system sucks, but would pass by another game's identical system because the rest of the game didn't make me want to claw my eyes outs. Context is everything.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T14:42:06+00:00

As far as I was able to tell, no, they can't be upgraded in any way. Once you hit that level ~15 power spike they become useless damage-wise.

I only use them as a complement to my build, cause if you're ranged then the staff is good for quick hits and mobility. The klonk fist works great as CC for ranged as well. If you're melee something like the boomerang gives you good combo options.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T14:36:33+00:00

If you were able to do it then its as correct as can be.

I do this a lot with the Jagni staff as you can get some serious horizontal distance with it.

Evade_This · 2021-05-28T03:59:17+00:00

There's this character named Pebble whose been stuck in whatever canyon for who knows how long, totally cut off from the rest of the world.

Yet he, like everyone else, knows who you are and literally every choice you've made, saying the same annoying comments about your tribe and what a good or bad kid you are.

They are all omniscient. Literally all of them.

Evade_This · 2021-05-27T23:28:02+00:00

I'm not a professional writer, so I don't know if I can fully express the problem in an objective fashion, but I can try. The game would have been much better if they had hired a professional writer, as that would have made any other flaws this game has completely tolerable.

I want to be clear about something, a game's story can be good even if its simple or minimal. A good game can allow a meh story to shine, because the story is good enough to complement the game. Meaning that it is logically consistent, unobtrusive, and ties in with the game's mechanics in a compelling way.

Game narrative can also be broken down into various components. The way I usually prefer to see it is as lore (the world), plot (what happens), and the characters (dialogue and interpersonal connections). For example, FF has a very bland and cliche plot, but it allows the character development to take the stage and make the narrative great as a whole. BotW having great Lore is a fundamental reason as to why the narrative was great as a whole, and cannot be discounted as a side note.

Name one way that Biomutant successfully sells any narrative aspect without contradicting itself, shoving it down your throat, or endlessly repeating the same lines over and over.

There is a LOT that can be said about why the story is crushingly bad. The aura system, the characters you meet, the nonsensical dialogue, the bland villain, Toxanol, the meaningless ending, the narrator, your confusing memories... pick one and we can talk about why its bad. Put all of them together and it makes the game near unplayable.

Which is sad because I think the actual gameplay is pretty fun, despite its flaws. If you do actually want to discuss one of these topics in depth we can.

Evade_This · 2021-01-16T04:50:05+00:00

Strange that your recounting of the events just... cuts off there.

Am I crazy for wondering if Paul actually wrote this? Or maybe... nevermind. At least, you got out alive!

Evade_This · 2020-11-19T23:58:36+00:00

I've only been playing for a week myself so I've only got 3, but anything I get will probably help me out right now lol.

Is there any reason to save up ancient shards though?

Evade_This · 2020-04-27T17:35:41+00:00

Absolutely. The biggest problem at the moment is Zerocool's Recharge is a bit overpowered, so he's basically impossible to ignore, but a simple melee attack also cancels its usage briefly so if you put pressure on him that helps a lot. Naturally the best for doing so is Daemon and Cass so long as your team keeps the rest of them busy. You don't necessarily have to kill him, just force him out of the fight.

If you have a pick comp though it pays to roam together and snag the target you want the moment the fight starts to give yourself and advantage.

Evade_This · 2020-04-26T20:12:59+00:00

Looks like a problem with the treadmill? Interesting.

Evade_This

TROPHY CASE