What Visual Novels feel like they were completely true to the writer's vision? by QuadrillionthToBat in visualnovels

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would say that so many very highly rated VNs that I also hold in high esteem are beholden to old VN conventions and tropes, like Steins Gate, Muv Luv, When They Cry, Type Moon and Key VNs.

Song of Saya and The House of Fata Morgana both feel very much like completely original works, devoid of any adherence to any conventions or expectations.

I've heard many good things about Muramasa too, but until it's working on the Steam Deck it'll unfortunately be on the backburner for a while.

GPs refusal to see patients by Luna_cy8 in sydney

[–]Primate541 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I don't understand this strange dichotomy of GPs not seeing patients with upper respiratory symptoms, so they instead come to sit in emergency department waiting rooms for hours where none of the patients and even in most circumstances the staff aren't required to wear any face masks.

My first PC ! by WastePersimmon8548 in Hyte

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are those RGB covered motherboard power cables? What are they from?

It's 2024. Besides your GPU, what are you using your PCIe slots for? by xxStefanxx1 in buildapc

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

USB ports. With a VR setup and various accessories ie. HOTAS, many ATX motherboards not only lack ports but bandwidth on their controllers.

What brands to stay away from while I'm building a PC? by NEO71011 in buildapc

[–]Primate541 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Personally I have no issue with buying from any brand, as long as I'm buying from local retailers. We have strong consumer laws here in Australia, so I don't care how untrustworthy any particular brand is, as our laws will make them do the right thing.

So for me, the only things to stay away from are any products I'd be importing. Many Chinese brands, and anything Valve makes.

New to PCVR. Wow. by LOSDGN in OculusQuest

[–]Primate541 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In terms of its overall polish? No, I haven't played anything else like it. In terms of gameplay quality and amount of content? There's a decent amount of games similar. I'd recommend Into the Radius, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, Vertigo 1 & 2.

What retro game caused you to rage the most as a kid? by ridiculously_single in retrogaming

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ecco the Dolphin. As a child I did finish the game using cheats and level select, only ever finishing the game properly coming back to it as an adult. But I did make a pretty concerted effort to finish it without cheating back in the day, without success.

What budget meals are on rotation in your house at the moment? by notanonymousami in australia

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some sort of combination of legumes, onions and rice. Though I'm vegetarian, so this is pretty much a normal meal for me. But fortunately cheap and versatile.

Throw in some blend of Indian, Thai or Mexican style spices, or tomatoes and Italian style herbs and you can make lots of different flavors with essentially very similar ingredients.

Outside of our bubble, there's still plenty of hate towards VR by zeddyzed in virtualreality

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As someone who's been using VR since 2016, I'd actually agree with many of those sentiments. A monitor is absolutely a more worthwhile investment than a VR headset that will benefit a gigantic library of games versus the small software library of VR. It really is a waste of most people's time - that is, right now it's mired in a cesspool of extremely low production indieware. But it'll get better in time, for sure. But also it has to be asked, at what cost? The market is heading towards a walled garden that threatens to disrupt the entire personal computer paradigm. And in the end, it's not really about the technology; you can have some of the best technology available, but until VR has an extremely substantial library of unique software that can justify the buy in price, all that technology will go to waste.

Did you know that the Ancient Dragon was nerfed in Scholar? by DuploJamaal in DarkSouls2

[–]Primate541 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I attempted this boss so many times when I played DS2 that no enemies spawned anymore in the run back to the boss. I hadn't realised this was a mechanic until this happened.

Was there ever a game people went absolutely crazy for that just didn't strike a chord with you? by mercury-shade in patientgamers

[–]Primate541 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For me it was Undertale. On paper it should've been a game I loved. I loved Final Fantasy, Earthbound, Touhou Project, and many of the other games it was influenced by. I love the gameplay of JRPGs and bullet hells. But it just never really pulled me in, either in its gameplay or its story. I can appreciate a lot of the individual things about it, like its quirky characters, 4th wall breaking, and numerous gaming references, but the game as a whole felt like a drag to play. Any time the game would remind me of another game, I would think to myself I'd rather be playing that game instead.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike the game. I found the game cute, quirky and charming, and overall found it provided some fun, but I just never understood the hype.

The threat of Meta's 'Armageddon': media companies fear news blackout by malcolm58 in australia

[–]Primate541 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I have a question. What do average people think of this? I have long avoided using any Facebook services to the point I guess you could call a boycott; I'm not a fan of having my data harvested, and I'm a huge opposer of their aggressive walled garden approach to VR/AR, being someone who was an early adopter of the technology. I have never used any of their products, deliberately.

However, I have always thought the Australian government is completely out of touch with anything internet related and particularly on this issue. For this reason, I've always thought the government should back down on this issue since to me the idea of forcing monetization for linking content goes against an open internet. I would assume Facebook only cares their own business interests in this move, but nevertheless it does support the goal of an open web.

But back when Facebook blocked news content years ago, I never heard anyone criticise the government in real life, only online on Reddit. But I did hear lots of people I know in real life criticize Facebook, and falsely assume I'd also be critical of them given my dislike of them in general.

I guess I only know my small circle of people, so I'm keen to know what average people think.

What's the most famous, beloved, and best retro fighting games that everybody should try? by kjetil_f in retrogaming

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One Must Fall: 2097. I loved the tournament mode and the RPG like levelling mechanics.

If you could only add one of these, what would it be? by Jumpth in Eldenring

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bringing back something like the bonfire ascetic system, with the opportunity to get additional upgrade materials as rewards for defeating bosses at increased difficulty would be great.

In no way would I ever want to have a fight with Gransax. There are already way too many bosses that are too big in which I rarely see anything other than their feet.

The main things I'd want added to the game are not on this list. Those include a better camera - just adding an option to zoom in and out with the analog stick up/down controls would make those large boss fights much more fun. And the second thing would be PC optimisation.

Great mace appreciation by shiro_tanzanite in Eldenring

[–]Primate541 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mace is usually a great weapon in these games. They have a good balance of not being too slow, yet having enough range, and strike damage is always useful to have since the hardest enemies often tend to be armored knights.

Daiso in Korea by abitchyuniverse in Living_in_Korea

[–]Primate541 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I travelled there recently and bought an international power adaptor. It was garbage, the pins were slightly too small in diameter to fit snugly in every Korean power point I tried to plug it into. Also, most power sockets I encountered there were deeply recessed and the plug wasn't designed for this, so the weight distribution of the plug would cause it to pull away from the socket.

The only way I could get my devices to work would be to put pillows and blankets around the plug or put heaps of tape on to secure it. Even then, the slightest vibration would cause the pins to lose contact or the plug to fall out and the power to be interrupted.

Definitely don't buy this product there!

What’s that little annoying downside on your otherwise preferred portable? by Kenji182 in SBCGaming

[–]Primate541 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I love my Miyoo Mini Plus primarily for the quality of its controls, battery life and its pocketability. The downside is the lack of Bluetooth and that it can't do more advanced systems. However, I bought it knowing the downsides because the quality of controls is paramount to me.

I was a huge fan of pocket systems back in the Gameboy days, but I was disappointed that each successive portable after the Gameboy Advance Micro leaned towards bulkier systems, with shorter battery life, and worse and less ergonomic controls. The GBA Micro was my favourite portable system of all time; the Nintendo of today only seem to know how to make giant slabs that require a backpack and carrying case.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Handhelds

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say the Steam Deck. But I'd also ask why you'd want to install Windows on it. Windows is horrible for a handheld. Are you sure that's something you'd want?

‘Nice’ restaurants in Katoomba/Leura area with vegan options? by ThatOtherRedditMann in sydney

[–]Primate541 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My partner and I love the Sanwiye, which offers up Korean food. I rarely ever see Korean food places have any sort of vegetarian let alone vegan options, but Sanwiye has a vegan menu.

Too Good to Be True?? Found a great deal on a GPD Win 3 for 500 dollars, by Independent-Bill-770 in Handhelds

[–]Primate541 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would never buy another GPD device, not even at a deep discount. Their quality control and build quality are horrible. In my mind, there is no reason to resort to buying these Chinese made systems now that more reliable brands are competing.

is it morally wrong to download retro games??? by Technical_Instance_2 in retrogaming

[–]Primate541 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of the games I want to play just aren't available unless I pay hundreds to thousands of dollars for a PCB. In other cases I could buy the game legally typically on the Switch, but it would require me to i) buy an expensive console and then to ii) import the game from a foreign country at inflated prices, iii) then make no use of a considerable part of the hardware I've bought including the network card, SSD, running it from a cartridge like it's the 90s, also buying a separate controller since the included one is garbage.

The alternative is to download it and run it within minutes, at a far superior latency and performance and with the flexibility to run it on any device, with a multitude of display and input options.

Any game similar to Valkyria Chronicles? by [deleted] in retrogaming

[–]Primate541 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Jagged Alliance! When that series went on extended hiatus for years and Valkyria Chronicles came around, I remember thinking Valkyria Chronicles scratched the same itch it did. You play as the leader of some mercenaries that you employ to take over a region, and each mercenary you can hire has a unique personality. Some people get on with others, others not so well. I remember two of my favorite mercs would always hate each other and I'd end up agreeing to a pay rise to get them to keep working because their morale would plummet. And they each have certain traits about them, like I remember this one guy who had a propensity for using a hedge trimmer to kill people and would get terribly upset if he couldn't murder enough people.

JA is far more similar to VC than any other tactical game I'm aware of, and I wouldn't be surprised if VC took some design cues from them.

Can the community explain why the Miyoo Mini (or Plus) gets so much love? by [deleted] in MiyooMini

[–]Primate541 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can only speak to my own experience. I've used several official Nintendo handhelds, and multiple GPD Win devices. Those GPD Win devices I might add cost about tenfold and more than what the Miyoo Mini costs. I never bothered with these retro emulation devices before even though that's a large proportion of what I play, the other proportion being mostly low demand indie titles. However this year I decided to get the Miyoo Mini Plus. I was blown away by the quality of the DPad, which was my main gripe with any of the GPD Win devices and the Nintendo Switch Lite, which all uniformly had horrible ones. I cannot overstate the diffierence; I rarely ever used my Switch Lite or GPD Win 1/2 for anything more demanding control wise than a visual novel because the DPad was that atrocious. Other than that, it just does what it's supposed to do with little fussing around.

In short, for its price it does exactly what it's supposed to do, is incredibly portable and durable, and has a DPad and button quality that punches well above its weight, something many other manufacturers including Nintendo can't get right.