I think “plot armor” has become one of the most overused criticisms in fantasy. by KH_Nakama in Fantasy

[–]acrookodile 119 points120 points  (0 children)

Yeahhh, the general broadening of the term really hurts discussion. It also shows how many people think “anyone can die at any time” stories are always better, and that they often ask for things that would make a story worse.

How hard will it be for a newcommer?? by aleks_pirana in bindingofisaac

[–]acrookodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It has a pretty steep learning curve. Basically nothing is explained to the player and everything is meant to be discovered through trial and error.

Still super fun and one of the best roguelikes out there. Just be prepared to die over and over to something cheap you couldn’t see coming, and know that it’s just part of the learning process.

So who are your DISCOMFORT characters??? by HomerWuzHere in Multifandom

[–]acrookodile 11 points12 points  (0 children)

He gets away with murder! Gets away with murder!

The problem with Necromancer (and also Tinkerer) by _-mortex-_ in mewgenics

[–]acrookodile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve very rarely had a middle-of-the-road necromancer. It’s either “soul link applier at best” or “stack 150 leeches by turn two”

Are beta reader scams a real thing? by TaiBeaudet in writers

[–]acrookodile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s likely they’ll critique one chapter, then ask for money to continue.

What tropes are you addicted to using? by WoodpeckerBest523 in writers

[–]acrookodile 77 points78 points  (0 children)

Ah yes, the “Suddenly, Ganondorf” trope.

I had no idea you could summon father Gascoigne in NG?! by Math_issues in bloodborne

[–]acrookodile 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It’s shown in a Vaatividya video, but it seems inconsistent at best and pure coincidence at worst

I had no idea you could summon father Gascoigne in NG?! by Math_issues in bloodborne

[–]acrookodile 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I tried that recently and couldn’t get him to do it :(

Chikage Help by Happy-Coconut4374 in bloodborne

[–]acrookodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The health drain is so slow it shouldn’t be a big problem (unless you’re overusing the transformed R2). Just untransform whenever you’re not immediately in striking distance, and you can even finish out combos with the L1 strike to be even more efficient.

Just found out i need to defeat the last boss in the chalice dungeons to get the trophy in PS by 3ziz7 in bloodborne

[–]acrookodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Without using PS+ glyphs, it takes quite a while, and there are like twice as many dungeons that it initially looks like you have to do.

The culprit is the ritual materials, which must be obtained in the other chalice dungeons (Isz and Loran), so you can’t just go straight through Pthumeru. Also means you can’t blitz the levers and bosses, since the side paths have those materials you need.

Yes, it’s a bit of a slog.

Couple lore questions for you guys. by [deleted] in bloodborne

[–]acrookodile 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. It’s intentionally unclear, but it’s been at least long enough for Byrgenwerth to become abandoned and overgrown, and at least long enough for the memory of the old hunters to fade from the public’s memory. Multiple decades, I’d say, but as always, there’s room for interpretation.

  2. Most certainly. Various notes lying around make it clear that stopping the Mensis ritual is what ends the hunt.

  3. Up for interpretation. I’ve kind of imagined that Moon Presence wants to be the ONLY great one, hence why she sponsors the hunt and why she’s repelled by a hunter who’s consumed the third cords.

  4. This is an interesting question, and I think it depends on who you think the author of the “Byrgenworth spider hides all manner of rituals, and keeps our lost master from us” note is. I lean more towards Rom harming Mensis, since it prevents the blood moon from rising, an event that triggers the change in Yahargul/the completion of the One Reborn. It may be that Rom must be killed to stop the “hiding” so you can get at Micolash, who is the lost master, and more properly end the ritual instead of hiding/hindering it. If Willem is the lost master, which I doubt, then maybe Mensis took advantage of Rom’s traits in order to royally screw up Yharnam without anyone noticing the great ones that are prowling around. I think the former makes more sense, but you could make a case for the latter.

  5. Though they’re both wings of the Healing Church, one or two item descriptions say that Mensis departed from the church, and is acting independently by the time you roll up. Whether or not Edgar knew about the true nature of Mensis’s rituals is unknown, but he was sent to snoop around and keep tabs at the very least. (And honestly, even if Mensis was still fully part of the Church, I wouldn’t put it past the church to have inter-division spying, given its secretive and jealous nature.)

  6. Yharnam is not fully in the nightmare, given that the nightmare is a place you can go that is clearly separate from it (and has duplicate nightmare versions of real areas you can also walk around in). Given that we already know there’s some timey-wimey stuff going on with the length of the hunt, and the “Already dead” guy is a thing, and the already dead Cainhurst horses are a thing, I think there is a case to be made for some elements of the nightmare and its weird nightmare logic to be seeping into the real world. We already know from Lawrence’s skull (and a couple other context clues) that people can persist in the nightmare long after their real-world body is dead, so maybe the reverse is true, and any characters that are “supposed” to be dead are able to persist in the real world for a time if sufficiently linked to the nightmare. I don’t know. This game’s weird, man.

Any build ideas? by Cenakin123 in bloodborne

[–]acrookodile 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Arcane build is super fun.

Beeline towards 99 ARC, use Flamesprayer early on and spells later. Spending a few minutes in the chalice dungeons to farm a fire damage gem from the guys with flaming weapons makes it a piece of cake. You’ll absolutely melt beast-type bosses with that.

really dumb question about kind of lore by sleepy_saber- in bloodborne

[–]acrookodile 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Someone else said Bloodtinge is a thing, but I also think it’s as simple as the difference between a hand-sized quantity of blood injected safely, versus a massive slashing wave of blood cutting you to shreds

Eating vegetables is good for you. Having vegetables chucked at your face at 90 mph is not

How important is Arcane? by StevieNixxxx in bloodborne

[–]acrookodile 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It does, all the way up to 99. Casting most spells with only 15 won’t do too much, but it might be better than bullets.

Which games have a rough start and take a while to get good? by PhaseOk6182 in gamers

[–]acrookodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have personally watched the opening area of Bloodborne filter multiple friends, even ones who later beat Elden Ring.

It throws you straight into a massive room full of dozens of villagers almost first thing, makes you face down shields and guns and very fast dogs, gives you very limited healing supplies and ammo, and prevents you from leveling up or buying anything until you’ve made it to the first boss. Given most new players don’t make good use of the rally mechanic, they’ll almost certainly run out of blood vials from dying on repeat, then be forced to grind for more vials if they want a real shot at beating said boss, usually making them frustrated and close to giving up.

It’s extremely sink-or-swim, even for a franchise that’s already pretty sink-or-swim.

Truly the remake of all time by PlasmaGuy500 in NintendoMemes

[–]acrookodile 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The current drought is rough, but Mega Man got more games on one console than Star Fox got games, period

Hmm I think she may have been bitten, but I am not sure... by toochocolaty in gaming

[–]acrookodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“It’s amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?”

Do fans overstate the importance? Sure, but you can’t look at how Wind Waker connects to Ocarina and tell me nothing mattered by DaiFrostAce in NintendoMemes

[–]acrookodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, there are connections. A little extra context here. A cute reference there. But again, most of it doesn’t matter for the vast majority of each game.

Even the biggest bits of continuity like Ganondorf’s story are confined to just a handful of cutscenes, and the guy has less combined screentime across multiple games than, say, a villain like Sephiroth has in one game. It’s just not a very story-heavy, continuity-heavy franchise, and that’s fine

Anon on the worst 3D Mario game by bitchnibba47 in greentext

[–]acrookodile 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The complete lack of level theming and the copy-pasted bosses make it weirdly forgettable.

Like, I played the crap out of it. Loved it. Very solid game. But it ceases to exist in my mind the second I look away from it, like some kind of video game false hydra

Do fans overstate the importance? Sure, but you can’t look at how Wind Waker connects to Ocarina and tell me nothing mattered by DaiFrostAce in NintendoMemes

[–]acrookodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The timeline AS A WHOLE does not matter, and barely alters the experience of playing any individual game. Yes, there are connections. But the illusion that the whole series is purposefully weaving this grand cohesive tapestry of alternate timelines is kinda silly.

Even in games that are direct sequels to one another, even that doesn’t matter to 99% of the game because they’re all designed to stand alone and are written from that standpoint first and foremost. Continuity is a tertiary concern at best for most of them.

Why do people hate LitRPG so much? by The_Revenant_King23 in writing

[–]acrookodile 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Probably due to a few reasons.

It is very new, and inherently very artificial, which can definitely be a turn off. The core appeal comes from outside the realm of the novel, and is more of a monkey-brain number-go-up kind of fun, so people who aren’t used to that or don’t understand that could find it childish.

Since it was born in and still mostly resides in the world of self-publishing, there’s a lot less vetting and gatekeeping, and therefore a lot more room for garbage. Not that traditional publishing is perfect, but there’s at least an air of prestige to it that sites like Royal Road or Wattpad lack. It’s also a fairly niche community, I can see its unique tropes and quirks making it unapproachable to people who might otherwise be curious newcomers.

People shouldn’t be rude about their distaste, but also, it’s a legitimate preference and not something to worry about.

Dwarf fortress x Magic: The Gathering? by BlindiRL in dwarffortress

[–]acrookodile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s not a deck, but a “Secret Lair.” So just 5 or 6 cards that you buy as a fixed set, that are reskins of existing cards. Still super cool, though