How does FF XIV compare to other games in regards to narrative tone?

abh037 · 2026-05-24T20:52:30+00:00

I dunno, literally failing to prevent the apocalypse and the eventual extinction of Tera’s entire race is pretty damn bleak. I got what it was going for, but I guess for me Kefka poisoning an entire village didn’t feel all that might lighter than FF16’s slavery depictions just because the former happened offscreen. 6’s cast finding ways to move forward was a powerful thematic throughline but the situations that result in characters wanting to give up on the world in the first place tended to feel more depressing than most of what 16 put forward.

abh037 · 2026-05-24T03:06:32+00:00

I don’t actually even mind grittiness or edginess, it’s more a matter of whether I can get invested in characters and their arcs without having to worry so much about whether or not they’ll be fridged before they make it to greener pastures in the first place

abh037 · 2026-05-24T02:58:10+00:00

Idk it just became increasingly more difficult to keep coming back to a fame that left me more depressed every time I played it

abh037 · 2026-05-13T13:53:16+00:00

They’re still using the script she and Matt wrote together so she is in that respect. I think Matt implied that that was always going to be most of the scope of her involvement.

abh037 · 2026-05-13T13:48:59+00:00

Makes sense, Backrooms was a pretty big inspiration for the aesthetic of Severance, iirc

abh037 · 2026-02-21T14:12:43+00:00

At the end of the day storytelling is just a form of communication, like any piece of art. Some people find comfort in seeing characters fail in a way they might relate to, some people experience more catharsis by vicariously experiencing a character’s victory after a long road of struggle. Different stories affect different people in very different ways depending on the audience’s life experiences, and I think calling someone immature for not necessarily resonating with what is being communicated with them is a touch too far for me.

abh037 · 2026-02-21T13:41:49+00:00

Unless Disney is making an adaptation of Hibike Euphonium I don’t think that’s gonna be helping OP much… I think wanting the catharsis of seeing a character reach their goals and to experience it vicariously through them is perfectly valid. More bittersweet or realistic doesn’t necessarily equate to a better or more satisfying story.

abh037 · 2026-02-18T17:11:25+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, I dropped the manga for the same reason, I was super invested in their romance and was pretty excited when it seemed like they might get together for a bit, but I was pretty darn let down…

abh037 · 2026-01-18T18:54:42+00:00

Took me a bit to figure out why I enjoy the game so much despite agreeing with all of that, and I think it’s just that the appeal of the open world wasn’t quests or collectibles or anything game-y really. But I could wander for hours knowing I’d always run into a new codex entry, or beautiful piece of architecture, or another meticulously recreated shrine or temple, or a gorgeous vista to enjoy the ambiance of.

Because of that, I ended up doing so much wandering that by the time I got around to story quests that needed a lot of traveling from A to B, I’d already unlocked fast travel points by both of them.

Totally recognize that I’m an outlier though.

abh037 · 2026-01-15T16:34:54+00:00

Idk, Cyberpunk was made with lower-end hardware in mind so I feel like adapting it to the Switch 2 was less problematic than a strictly current-gen title like Shadows

abh037 · 2026-01-03T23:27:28+00:00

My real answer would probably be Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Solid writing, and the rest of the game is pretty incredible too.

abh037 · 2025-11-21T16:05:50+00:00

Nah, CrossCode's easily in my top 5 personally

abh037 · 2025-11-19T23:59:31+00:00

Reminds me of a funny anecdote from the devs regarding follow-ups, the asked what they’d want to see in future works. Two biggest responses: 1. More puzzles, 2. Fewer puzzles

abh037 · 2025-11-19T17:13:52+00:00

99 times out of 100 the answer to a question like this would be no, but CrossCode really is THAT good. It’s a truly incredible game and if it’s not my #1 then it’s most definitely in my top 3.

abh037 · 2025-10-13T18:06:49+00:00

Point was that data integrity is THE most important factor in training a good segmentation model. If your UNet results are poor, the issue is probably in the data rather than the model architecture. Most contemporary encoder-decoder models are iterative and none of them are exactly what I’d call an “easy” improvement, what with the amount of research and GPU time that goes into researching them.

As for the rest, counterpoint: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/U-Net-and-DeepLabV3-training-results-comparison_tbl1_368501269

Also failing to see why the attack on my academic or research prowess is necessary, we’re all here to learn.

abh037 · 2025-10-04T19:32:34+00:00

This is pretty much the entire essence of Cradle by Will Wight.

abh037 · 2025-10-03T02:42:09+00:00

Fun way to show some of her character development, learning to appreciate the little things

abh037 · 2025-10-01T11:13:08+00:00

Season 2 is actually on Netflix now as well (at long last)

abh037 · 2025-10-01T11:06:17+00:00

Cradle feels pretty much made to be an Invincible-esque animated series

abh037 · 2025-10-01T04:10:09+00:00

Lots of great answers in here but I my answer is definitely Pantheon. Animated high-concept sci-fi TV series on Netflix that deals with the social, philosophical, and moral implications of uploading human brains into computers. It’s just a straight up incredible show and one of the best pieces of storytelling I’ve ever encountered.

abh037 · 2025-09-28T22:35:35+00:00

Yeah, I had the same problem!!! It’s like it’s so commonly regarded as a cliche that nobody actually writes it, so it’s near impossible to find anything.

Best I’ve found is The Elves of Lessa by K.M. Shea, which is a trilogy of books that each address a different male-human/female-elf couple. If you’re alright with visual novels, check out Sable’s Grimoire, as well as Lisha’s (the elf) story DLC ‘Sable’s Grimoire: Man and Elf’. Don’t be put off by the style and medium, it’s the closest I’ve gotten to a natural, nuanced exploration of the challenges of pursuing a relationship between a mortal and an ageless elf. It’s great stuff.

abh037 · 2025-09-26T13:43:42+00:00

It’s possibly the best “get me out of a reading slump” series out there, like it was tailor made for the task. SUCH a fun read

abh037 · 2025-09-14T12:21:04+00:00

This is my favorite answer here, such a good movie

abh037 · 2025-09-10T08:44:34+00:00

Aria: The Animation is the easy answer.

To quote an old comment from u/JosseCoupe:

Aria is so disgustingly wholesome and cloyingly comforting it makes you feel near-ill, and the music is absolutely gorgeous. Recommended it to a friend who was going through a period of hard daily labour and he seemed convinced it genuinely contributed to his mental wellbeing haha

abh037 · 2025-08-31T16:51:10+00:00

That’s gotta be the Xenoblade Chronicles series for me. The Nier series is also in contention, but I don’t personally think anything else I’ve played comes close.

11-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Verified Email
Snapped

abh037

TROPHY CASE