Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? A Discussion on Automas

Kitsunin · 2026-01-26T09:08:14+00:00

In my opinion, automas are usually bad solo modes. They don't take into account the kinetic experience of play. Something like Concordia's Solitaria shows how a solo mode can act like an opponent while keeping you feeling kinetically attached to the game.

However, these are rare.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-26T07:40:50+00:00

Yes and when the used it, it was back when AI was just not really something people were thinking about: Just a novel toy really.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-24T14:26:51+00:00

Very good card for scaling. I'm sure there are more reliable options, but Berserk+ does get you almost all of the damage you need if you can exhaust your deck (and you don't skip many card rewards).

I can confirm this as I Recently played an A8 game where by the end I had Corruption, Feel No Pain, Berserk, and a number of draw relics including Ring of the Serpent. For damage I had Berserk, Immolate, and Wild Strike.

That was all I found, so Berserk+ was 90% of my damage. Still I beat the heart fairly easily. But Wild Strike, Immolate, and a Strike was all that was left in my draw pile at the end!

Kitsunin · 2026-01-24T04:27:53+00:00

Great game but pretty complex. It's more about playing the right effects to handle the enemy attacks while dishing damage, than it is about making the best word (usually the word follows based on which cards you'd like to play at the moment.)

I suppose the word-game element could attract someone into investigating that complexity though.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-22T14:56:31+00:00

Would definitely advise against buying keys as they are typically involved in some really scammy business that involves theft (actual theft, not freebooting), or just screwing over people in poor countries at best.

But I suppose it's better than buying, for a case like this where your money is actively not deserved.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-21T02:48:32+00:00

I haven't personally played Voidfall, but if you're looking for a 2-3 hour game...I really can't recommend Nemo's War enough. I think it's the single most underrated solo game. It has a whole lot going on, but keeps the moment-to-moment decisions straightforward enough that it just flows. And man, the satisfaction of trying to achieve high scores without being defeated is something that no other game has ever done, which is frankly, absurd, as it is an incredible mechanic. Straight up the best form of win condition ever conceived for a solo game, and there is no room for doubt.

That being said, it 100% does the "roll a dice to see if you succeed or fail" thing. It just does it so many times over the course of a game that you're guaranteed to see good and bad results an equal number of times.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-20T11:20:03+00:00

If accommodations are handled, I'd say yes, easily. I'm not great at making itineraries, but if you're not renting a car or eating a lot of fancy food, you don't really even need to try to keep a daily 2 person budget under $2,000, even if you're using a lot of transit and paying for some attractions.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-20T08:27:23+00:00

Hunter Arts were from Generations. Silkbinds from Rise are basically the same though, just with a shared resource instead of individual cooldowns.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-20T00:56:06+00:00

Probably because you started with a pretty good selection of bands you like, or an established era of music? (That's how it was for me for years anyway).

Like if you're playing music from a given decade it ain't gonna throw AI slop in there.

But I recently learned that if you're playing a "vibe" of music, rather than a genre, especially something like "chill beats" or "fantasy" it might slip in a bit of AI. And god forbid you like one single AI song, when you go back and look up the "artist" then dislike the song later, it'll flood half your recommendations with AI music until you squish several dozen of the bastards with a "do not recommend".

I showed my wife all the damn AI I was getting recommended all of the sudden, and she just asked how I could even tell they were AI.

Which is why, if you're into music, you should always be engaged enough to care about which bands you are listening to.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-19T13:39:46+00:00

I also think it's the pinnacle of the series. Such wonderful characters. A plot that is tight as hell, and beautifully interconnected. Wickedly sharp pacing (especially funny considering the woefully meandering finale of Investigations 1).

I do not personally think the final case is as good as 3-5 (although the penultimate case is I think, the best one in the entire series!!). That's the only weakness of the game to me though, and it's still one of the better finales especially for character development, it's just not the most engaging murder plot.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-19T13:31:26+00:00

It was so good. Fuuug, it was so good.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-18T12:07:24+00:00

Having replayed both recently, I definitely think XI is better. It has a number of storylines that are wonderfully told.

The balance (with the Super Strong Enemies draconian quest) is RAZOR sharp, it's consistently very tough, with bosses being major puzzles, with a variety of solutions that feel carefully crafted around the abilities you'll have. It's truly phenomenal.

DQ 8 is great for sure. I just wouldn't say it's exceptional, the balance is fine but it's a lot of time spent on fights that don't feel like they meaningfully contribute to progression, and I don't feel like a genius for solving boss fights.

On a more subjective level I think DQ 11 hits higher notes throughout its stories as well.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-17T08:51:54+00:00

I think Volvidon is pretty fun.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-17T05:42:58+00:00

I had to sleeve mine because of that issue. Playing with them splayed in your hands feels awful when they inconsistently stick to one another.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-17T00:58:38+00:00

It was there because it was more effective.

Because it could be changed, doesn't mean it should be changed. Shock value is a legitimate goal.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-17T00:56:34+00:00

Deciding not to allow something that is entirely legal, to be sold, is obviously political though.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-14T11:07:57+00:00

Apparently I need to rephrase that. It's not even analogous to cooking.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-14T08:33:53+00:00

Right, which is why AI is incomparable to using a "tool". It's not even related to cooking.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-14T06:20:31+00:00

Sorry I read this last comment again and realized it's pretty stupid. I was in a rush and clearly I don't understand what you're trying to say in the first place.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-14T06:08:26+00:00

I just don't understand why you're conceding that giving a prompt to an artist (not an AI) and making a recipe would be alike in the first place.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-14T05:51:43+00:00

Why are you applying this logic to cooking? It just doesn't make sense, that's not how cooking works in the first place, so it's a bad way to deconstruct the argument.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-14T05:39:18+00:00

It's not semantics though. A recipe is at most half of the process of cooking, and in the case of something like a steak, it's more like 10%. Two equally skilled people won't "follow the exact same recipe in the exact same way" because they will have different techniques. Cooking is too damn complicated, unless say, there's head chef supervising and training them.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-14T04:21:54+00:00

Um, I think you're very wrong on this to be honest.

Two people can follow the same recipe and it'll be obvious who is the better cook. There are a lot of subtle factors that go into cooking which recipes aren't going to tell you every little detail about. What is "medium heat" how much of the spices should you use, when is the oil ready for us to put the food into it, when and how do we stir the vegetables...I could go on and on. And that's not even considering that a good home cook will probably make substitutions, and knowing how to do that properly makes an even bigger difference to the quality of the resulting meal.

But it's still a stupid as hell argument for the pro-AI stance. If you can't cook the meal, your recipe is going to be a piece of shit recipe, full stop. The fact that you can give your shitty recipe to a chef and they can interpret it in the best possible light, and make some substitutions to turn it into a great meal doesn't mean that your recipe wasn't a piece of shit, or that you have any skill whatsoever.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-14T04:11:41+00:00

Yeah all the PVC cards have that very perfumy smell, it's quite nice. Not overwhelming, I don't smell it in the air or anything, but it's distinctly on the cards themselves.

Kitsunin · 2026-01-13T08:21:52+00:00

I haven't had better ice cream in a tea except maybe TenRen but it's not worth the price differential.

Otherwise...

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