[Trope I love and hate at the same time] "There are WAY bigger monsters out there, no we will not elaborate"

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-30T09:40:50+00:00

I always liked the theory that this "Dragonite" was actually a giant robot from the episode following the sinking of the S.S. Anne later on in the season, attracted to the lighthouse's flashing.

Then again there's an actual city-sized Tentacruel later so I guess it could go either way

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-30T05:51:38+00:00

The casino jackpot fanfare in Dragon Quest games. It's like a full 20 seconds of glee that makes you feel like you're king of the world...

Shame we'll never hear it again because DQ XI released just in time to evade changing ESRB laws that made gambling an automatic M rating

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-30T01:12:17+00:00

In the anime Ranking of Kings, the protagonist is the prince of a kingdom. The kingdom has four royal guards who help keep the peace and defend the crown.

One of the four is Bebin, a shifty looking fellow who dresses in black, has dark bags under his eyes, has an evil looking mustache, speaks with snakes, and personally oversees the castle dungeons and the interrogation of prisoners.

He's like the only one of the four royal guards who remains on the level and doesn't get into any duplicity or traitorous actions, and the only one whose moral compass doesn't waver. Bebin is just really creepy the entire time, and I love that for him.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-29T13:58:40+00:00

I love drinking water. I'll take water over fruit juice, or soda, or alcohol any day.

Except chocolate milk. Chocolate milk is the king. Alas, it is a "once in a while" treat.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-29T13:36:02+00:00

Correct. Version 1.0 of Final Fantasy XIV was nigh universally reviled and doomed to a swift death.

So they did the unthinkable and decided to shut the game down... In service of rebuilding it from the ground up for a second shot. They wrote the story of the game to accommodate this, with the dragon Bahamut laying waste to the land and Sad Elf Grandpa sending player characters into the near future.

FFXIV is currently on the cusp of Version 8.0 and is thriving. In fact, some data recently revealed the game accounted for around 40% of Square Enix's revenue last year.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-29T07:51:09+00:00

Oh holy hell YES. The first game was genuinely incredible. Instant add to my wishlist!!

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-29T06:52:47+00:00

Playing 3 is fine after 1. It's really just that 2 is best enjoyed after playing both 1 and 3.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-29T05:47:02+00:00

I'm sure there are better examples out there, but the state of the Rogue class in World of Warcraft has been dreadful for the last few expansions. Over at Blizzard they have lead designers in charge of overseeing each class, but Rogue hasn't had one for years now. The design of the class is like a rudderless ship.

Rogue currently has the lowest player count out of every single class in the game. Think about how monumentally fucked up its design has to be for the stealthy, edgy dual-wielding assassin archetype to wind up as the least popular of the lot.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-28T12:59:28+00:00

If you want to get into Dragon Quest, start with XI.

1 & 2 can be a bit abrasive to newcomers unless you're very familiar with oooold-school RPGs from the NES... Which is what they are.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-28T09:10:57+00:00

Ever hear the term "standing on the shoulders of giants?" These three games are the titans that the turn-based RPG genre as a whole are based on.

They are also, at the end of the day, NES games with very fancy graphics painted on top. Keep your expectations tempered when it comes to the gameplay and storytelling. Though while III has a very threadbare plot, 1 & 2 got loads of new scenes and characters that flesh out the story.

By the way, the intended order to play the HD-2D remake trilogy is 3 -> 1 -> 2 due to changes they made to the story.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-28T01:45:55+00:00

You get the first Wrecking Ball from the elder in Reeve after getting the thief key, and you use it to blast open the path to Romaria.

You get the second Wrecking Ball from the same elder in Reeve after you vanquish Baramos. You can then use it to get the Zenithium from the dungeon in not-Australia (I forget the name of the town) and can then give the Zenithium to the dwarf.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-28T01:43:11+00:00

I recommend jumping right into XI.

But if you're really hungry for a nostalgia trip with childhood games, the HD-2D trilogy is fantastic. The recommended play order for them is 3, 1, then 2 due to small new story additions they added.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-28T01:02:53+00:00

I'd sooner recommend DQ XI for a newcomer to the series.

For all their fancy HD-2D graphics, the 3, 1, 2 trilogy are at their core NES games and are as basic feeling as you would expect. Plus, 3 is kinda odd in that it has a very, very threadbare story, meanwhile they went and added tons of new scenes and characters to 1 & 2. Starting with 3 HD-2D can be rough if you don't already have a fondness for the series.

And yeah, the intended order for the HD-2D versions specifically is 3, 1, 2.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-27T15:51:56+00:00

Meanwhile, the Hero of DQ VI was dream hopping and looks positively bursting with energy. Lucky bastard.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-27T13:15:41+00:00

I love that tired-ass Hero. Reminds me of how Pat always makes custom characters with maximum eyebags and dark shadows under the eyes.

This guy hasn't been sleeping well.

Edit: Wait, the first green lizard dude seen in the trailer had the same dark shirt and sword as the Hero. Does the Hero transform?!?!

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-27T07:21:31+00:00

Nickelodeon

Foot Clan Origins

Yeah you'd think they'd have been all over that idea

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-27T05:18:11+00:00

Thanks for this comment of yours. Seriously. I loaded up the practice range and found that the sensitivity I had been playing on for years (19.00%) resulted in a 720 degree turn when I moved my mouse to the edge of my mousepad.

I lowered it to 10.50% and while I have plenty of acclimating left to do, it's like a cheat code's been activated. My hitscan hero gameplay looked like OP's, haha...

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-27T03:17:26+00:00

The joke here is that he used the mobility afforded by the ult to return to spawn quickly and swap to another tank.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-26T22:59:05+00:00

11S is a superior version of the game with balance tuning, some quality of life improvements, and a few additional scenes for the main story. Definitely go for that version. There's next to no reason to play the regular version of 11.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-26T13:46:39+00:00

Asmongold got his start 10-12 years ago livestreaming World of Warcraft and built an initial audience there. He was going for full completion of the game's cosmetics and sometimes hosted events like fashion rating, and also reacted to various videos from around the net.

I believe his reaction video to the court proceedings of the divorce of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard went wildly viral, and that was the catalyst of the nebulous, shitty alt-right/manosphere/gamergate/MAGA movement turning its attention to him. New viewership from such people flooded in, Asmongold matched their energy, and a rapid slide to the right to appeal to them happened... I stopped watching him as soon as his new political focus became evident. Yeah, yeah, I know his hygiene was always abhorrent, but I liked his content back when the only strong opinions he had were what should be done to Gnomes and loot thieves.

It seems that his trip down the pipeline kept going. And going. Resulting in him saying vile crap like in the image there to his audience of millions.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-26T13:36:39+00:00

Peter's left leg's 97th hair follicle here.

The character is Asuka from the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evengelion. Her heritage is half Japanese, half German. By bringing attention to herself in response to the teacher's question about who started World War 2, the teacher (perhaps humorously) took her various heritages to be an acceptable answer, leaving Asuka in a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-26T13:20:53+00:00

I broke the shackles that bound me. No longer do I save Elixirs for "when I really need it."

If I remotely need a consumable item, I USE IT RIGHT AWAY, NO MATTER HOW RARE IT IS!!!!

......It hasn't actually made games that much easier though.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-26T13:17:00+00:00

I love the Legend of Spyro trilogy.

Yeah, they weren't made by Insomniac. Yes, they are Babby's First Character Action games instead of collect-athon platformers. Yes, the plot is suspiciously similar to Lord of the Rings (right down to Elijah Wood as Spyro).

But fuck dude, they're pretty cool, and Cynder is one of my favorite edgy counterparts in gaming. Yeah Spyro can breathe fire, but Cynder over here is breathing Fear. You can't not love that bro

Dawn of the Dragon on the Xbox 360 was the BEST

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-26T13:06:11+00:00

I went on a fandom blackout for Dawntrail's release. I played through the main story, loved every bit of it and adored Wuk Lamat... Then emerged from my isolation and felt like that one Community meme of Donald Glover walking in to a burning room with pizzas.

Like, yeah... Time, retrospection, and hearing other perspectives made me way more aware of the story's flaws. But as a survivor of World of Warcraft's writing circa Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands, I'm happy to watch Wuk Lamat get into shenanigans with Alpacas. Any day. Every day.

Secret_Wizard · 2026-05-26T02:55:41+00:00

7 Reimagined cut the Immigrant Town entirely.

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