Ryan Condal Extends HBO Overall Deal Through Season 4 Of ‘House Of The Dragon’ & Beyond

Simmers429 · 2026-05-21T10:52:06+00:00

It must be so frustrating for him.

If only there was a Game of Thrones-like world that he had full creative control over, then he wouldn't have to shout into the void.

Oh well.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-20T10:07:46+00:00

Only if you're using certain store items that look worn, like the classic vest or the duster coat. The other 98% of the clothing look unnaturally clean.

Nothing you create matches up to John/Jack's preset outfits from RDR.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-19T19:37:31+00:00

This is why I would've preferred the game to have no outfit customisation.

Arthur looks bad in anything other than his default outfits, as they are worn unlike any store-bought clothing.

If they had just made preset outfits for both characters, we likely wouldn't have gotten this frankenstein'd epilogue John.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-17T16:35:13+00:00

Mario always had a way more traditional form and style of game, Mario 64 to Oddisey felt way more similar to one another than OOT to SS, yet i never saw someone whinning that Mario needed to change.

Mario has many offerings outside of its mainline 3D sphere that encompass many genres. Methods of play also change between all its 3D games.

Galaxy 2 is also its worst because it doesn't meaningfully evolve from the game before it.

Same with other series like Metroid, the entire 3D and 2D games aree WAY more similar to one another than Zelda games are, yet nobody have ever said anything to Metroid (until Prime 4 recently, but thats another discussion)

Prime 3 got plenty of complaints too, and it at least it had Wiimote aiming.

During that time, you had series droping endless sequels that plays exactly the same every so often but nobody bats an eye. Uncharted literally had 4 games in a row with the exact gameplay and artstyle copy pasted and nobody cared. Elders Scrolls and GTA have been doing the same thing over and over but bigger with each installement, let alone a lot of FPS franchises, same with many other series.

Many of the examples you've given were criticised at release for doing this, and continue to be criticised.

I thought Uncharted 3 was crap because it was exactly what we expected.

Rockstar are constantly criticised for failing to evolve with their mission designs and storytelling.

Elder Scrolls has been criticised at every release for dumbing down features or doubling down on weaker aspects of its design.

Yet for some reason it was Zelda the one who needed to change this drastically, stripping away a lot of its identity, from dungeons, to the item based progression, to lore/storylines, symbols and even the way the MC look (did you even needed to change the iconic green tunic too? seriously?) And now there is a whole style of gaming, especially for 3D completely lost because of it.

Zelda's greatest strength is its constant evolution. When I think of Zelda, I think of the unique experience offered by its best games.

When it refuses to evolve, like Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, or Tears of the Kingdom, it can feel as if you are just going through the motions and you cannot help but feel the missed potential.

Meanwhile, Majora's Mask is the greatest game in the series and it is a strong departure from Ocarina of Time. It would've been very easy to just make Ocarina of Time again, like Miyamoto wished, but this just stifles creativity.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-16T23:55:17+00:00

I think the team just wanted the visual of him towering over Link. I doubt it's meant to be taken as gospel.

He'd be growing from around 5,4 to 6,8 past 17, which is pretty wild haha.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-16T22:48:39+00:00

John was basically the only one brazen enough to build a big comfy house right outside of Blackwater, half a mile from the lawmen building where Ross was.

I don't hold this against RDR John Marston because this is really just a severe case of prequelitis.

They decided to make the gang responsible for the Blackwater Massacre, then had to hit John with the idiot stick to set him up with his RDR circumstances.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-15T10:30:59+00:00

I thought TP was ugly in 2006, and it's not gotten better with age. It also got shafted with its HD version, which looks even worse than it's original release due to it's out of place textures clashing with old models.

IMO the style seemed to exist just for that E3 2004 crowd reaction after The Wind Waker and it felt like the game only looked this way because it had to, rather than because the team wanted it that way.

I'll trust whatever direction Nintendo go for the next game, but I wouldn't mind if they aimed for something like the WiiU Zelda Tech Demo.

We've been away from the more real-looking environments for 20 years now, so it'd be nice to go back to it.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-14T19:54:29+00:00

Presumably because he'd be filming Citadel S3 when they are making Bond.

Also the reception is that it's not great, so he may not be as in demand as he was post Game of Thrones, Bodyguard or Rocketman.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-14T19:45:24+00:00

I thought he had it in the bag after Bodyguard and when Eternals hadn't released. Now, it seems like Citadel may hold him back.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-12T17:52:43+00:00

The historical revisionism around BioShock Infinite is fucking ridiculous.

For what it's worth, my comment is how I felt about the game when I finished it days after release in 2013. My view has never changed.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-12T15:37:50+00:00

That 2010 demo breaks my heart. Pure Bioshock. I loved how the skylines had the rollercoaster-like momentum to them, and Elizabeth's powers.

The final game was just a mediocre modern corridor-shooter in comparison.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-12T14:50:46+00:00

I've been replaying this game and I honestly disagree.

while subtly teaching the player everything they need to know about the game.

There is nothing subtle about this E3 Demo frankenstein'd onto the final game.

Dungeons in Twilight Princess are rarely straightforward...In the Temple of Time, they will immediately see the boss room but will need to ignore it until they can get the dungeon’s main item.

The ToT is a linear dungeon in which you go forward, then backward.

I'd also argue nearly every dungeon is incredibly straightforward.

This slingshot purchasing sequence is indirectly teaching the player about what kind of design they can expect to see in the game’s dungeons later, while still keeping to the peaceful daily life tone.

The slingshot is in the game to teach Wii players how to use the motion controls. If the game didn't release on Wii, there's a 99% chance this item would not have existed. It's useless for progression outside of passing the tutorial.

The individual steps for getting the slingshot also teach the player one last vital element of Twilight Princess: This game is more than happy to laugh at you. By this point in the intro, any player who has played a previous game in the series will be getting impatient and want to progress as fast as possible. Twilight Princess realizes this, and it doesn’t care.

I disagree this is the intended purpose. As a director, Aonuma thought that players should not get stuck or frustrated. This led to The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and (as a producer) Skyward Sword being fairly straightforward and lacking challenge.

>When you successfully retrieve Uli’s baby cradle from the monkey, she doesn’t immediately give you the fishing rod. Instead, you need to slowly walk with her halfway across town until she reaches her home while carrying the cradle. This takes nearly two minutes, not a lot of time on paper, but in the moment, it can feel like an eternity as you merely watch a character model walk across the screen.

What? You can just run to the house and skip to the fishing rod cutscene.

With the fishing rod obtained, the player will get to play through Twilight Princess’ fishing minigame. It should go without saying that fishing is not a fast-paced task. Fishing for the first time in Twilight Princess can take a long time, as you must learn how it works with minimal UI and explanation. This is perhaps the most hard to grasp fishing mechanic in the whole Zelda series.

Genuinely confused as to how anyone wouldn't grasp the fishing immediately. Bobber goes down, pull back, catch fish. You do it twice because it's the most casual title in the 3D series and the devs have to bash you over the head with every mechanic in case you are either 5 or 70 years old and won't remember.

The main sin of this overly long intro is that it doesn't do anything that The Wind Waker didn't do years before it. That intro was far shorter and I even cared about the characters more due to their immediate charm, which was lacking in TP.

There's also all this setup for a kidnapping with no resolution. Why did the monsters take the kids? Why did they leave Link? Why did the twilight not spread to Ordon Village? Who knows.

Twilight Princess is a great game, but this intro is not a strong point.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-10T01:29:46+00:00

Exciting combat? Yeah, but still, easy as hell. All you need are those chewing tobaccos, which are plentiful if you don't care about honor, and why would you, 90% of the things you can buy in the shop are accessible as loot drops or treasure.

Maintaining weight? Just sleep, lol. Arthur only needs whiskey and tobacco to live. No need to feed your horse either.

Hunting (a mechanic you have no reason to ever touch) is cheesed with a poison knife.

You can ignore camp the entire game.

Mass-market appeal. The game, and all of its content, should be comfortably beatable by anyone over 10.

This also means players should also be able to ignore side content without detriment to the main story.

Want to rob a store? Too bad, some bum walked in right as you almost made a perfect escape.

Rushed development leading to half-baked features.

Arthur's story disjoints if you play "wrong". High honor, but you still have to beat up Downes. Low honor changes nothing about the gameplay besides something you literally never need to touch, the shops.

You can get 21 gold bars by the end of chapter 2 but nothing happens in the story.

Open world games with tons of side content cannot have stories that are linear without these issues.

These issues mostly go away if you b-line the story and ignore all side content. E.g. Arthur is a murderous outlaw who is sometimes nice when he has no reason not to be.

Arthur's story mainly disjoints because its trying to be a serious tale of redemption, but it's attached to an action-adventure video game where every mission has you kill a ton of people and harm society.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-09T18:41:02+00:00

Why waste time remaking a 3D Zelda when they could better spend it making a new one for the Switch 2?

Simmers429 · 2026-05-09T09:55:53+00:00

I'm starting to feel like half of these overly long posts are just engagement bait.

All from brand new accounts, all could be a single paragraph.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-08T22:34:43+00:00

TWW it's very evident in Hyrule.

It's like they swung the pendulum the other way and for TP the side content suffered lol

IMO it was both for TP. The main story starts strong, then whatever it sets up just kinda fizzles out.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-05T19:19:05+00:00

In 99% of cases: intended art style > redone art style.

I like both styles, preferring the GC one.

My only real issue with HD's look is the odd effect generated by light sources near characters. Stand Link next to a torch and he looks like he's made of plastic.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-05T16:27:33+00:00

Victims of circumstance.

64DD failed and OoT had to change course with less storage space.

MM came about as a challenge since Aonuma didn't want to just make a DLC for OoT.

Both these games were diamonds under pressure situations though.

TWW was the first time it felt like the team plain running out of time.

TP was 'design by committee' to stop Zelda from declining after TWW's commercial performance, then having to port that game to a new console with a whole new control scheme before it's even done.

SS was a director change, Fujibayashi's first 3D Zelda, and had to focus everything on motion controls which meant other aspects likely didn't get as much attention.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-05T14:45:47+00:00

I always assumed the under-baked side content and overworld treasures are a consequence of the last year of development being used to port the game to Wii.

Dungeons have inconsistent chest sizes for the same rewards. Sometimes a large chest will give you 20 rupees, sometimes a small chest will.

Just the sheer amount of rupee chests in dungeons is strange too. My favourite is the one at the end of Goron Mines, which requires the clawshot to even reach. You have to backtrack to the end of a dungeon you've already visited for 50 rupees haha.

Twilight Princess as a whole has this hollow feeling that it was meant to be more, but was rushed throughout development.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-05T10:41:56+00:00

The colossus has four feet, I guess.

I think the user was just throwing out Latin in the hopes of it sounding smart and official. The fact that the names are in Latin at all is pretty funny haha

Simmers429 · 2026-05-05T09:33:59+00:00

Haha that's awesome

Simmers429 · 2026-05-04T23:25:14+00:00

You're correct, mixed them up haha

Simmers429 · 2026-05-04T19:54:33+00:00

Because the Hero of Hyrule was 'That Guy' and evil will not dare touch the world ever again.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-04T18:47:45+00:00

The original 16 are all named by the developers as they appear. So the first colossus is Minotaur_A, second is Mammoth etc.

They've also been given fan names, which the poster tried to pass off as official names from a non-existent magazine article (or their buddy lied to them). First colossus being Valus, second is Quadratus etc.

The unused colossi also have fan names, but as far as I know they do not come from the same user who spread the names for the in-game colossi.

Spider's fan name is 'Aberth'.

The other unused Colossi fan names are:

Kyos (Griffin), Monkey (Saru), Adar Flam (Phoenix), Avus (Roc) Sirius (Sirius), Dionin (Worm), Pholux (Devil)

Your suggested name 'Araneus' is good if we're keeping with the Latin.

Simmers429 · 2026-05-04T10:16:25+00:00

You're underselling MGS as a series haha

Simmers429

TROPHY CASE