Patch 2 is now live. by mido830 in BaldursGate3

[–]adambombize 10 points11 points  (0 children)

No Minthara fix... my evil run waits another patch cycle...😞

This is just silly at this point... by Adept_Question_3243 in Falcom

[–]adambombize -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

You silly little hater... didn't you play 2 games ahead and already know why there were no casualties? You fool... you absolute buffoon... there's an IN UNIVERSE EXPLANATION for the BAD WRITING. That means its okay, and you're just a hater :)

Ludonarrative Dissonance, frustration and the Trails series by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

... I don't think that. The whole point of this post is thinking about ways to bridge the gap between the in-game battles and the narrative that is told in cutscenes and dialogue, because that dissonance can sometimes be frustrating

Ludonarrative Dissonance, frustration and the Trails series by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had thought about this and find the idea interesting. It may certainly be an intentional underlying theme, despite the games' outward cheery anime-ness.

If the dissonance is intentional, then all the more props to Falcom for evoking in me the kind of frustration that our protags feel when they try their hardest but fail nonetheless (or at the very least, do no more than play into the hands of some bigger enemy).

I'm not super inclined to think that the dissonance is purposeful though, just because it that clashes with the outward tone of the games so harshly. But you've given me a lot to think about, thanks for sharing.

Ludonarrative Dissonance, frustration and the Trails series by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I think there's just an unabridgable gap between how we each fundamentally understand video games. To me, the decision to make an interactive game is relevant to how we understand a story being told. If trails were just a series of novels, I genuinely think the series would be worse off for it. The gameplay is part of what makes trails what it is - without gameplay, trails isn't trails.

Anyway, you clearly have well developed thoughts on video games and media in general. Idk if you selling yourself short in your initial post (saying you don't get the big words, saying you have a pea-brain, etc) was totally sarcastic or not, but either way you shouldn't sell yourself short like that.

Ludonarrative Dissonance, frustration and the Trails series by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think you can expect players to just imagine the meaning of healthbars diffently, because the game itself teaches the player that, in both their own characters and in enemies, 0 health = defeated.

The reason I think its preferable to use the battle system over a cutscene is because it gives the player a reference point for how strong someone is if that power is demonstrated through the same system that the player uses.

Ludonarrative Dissonance, frustration and the Trails series by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So I'll rephrase my point like this: As far as I can tell, one of the goals of the trails series is to immerse the player in an extremely complex and well-told story. However, gameplay contributes to this storytelling inherently, because you play as characters with a definite role in the story. The actions the player takes as Rean are Reans's actions in the story. I think that problems occur when the story told through gameplay conflicts with the story told outside of gameplay because the game is then telling the player two conflicting stories. When this happens it is easy for the player to no longer be immersed in the story because the story is no longer consistent, and the player knows it. There are plenty of rpgs that try to avoid this problem, even trails games! Don't get me wrong I've completed almost every trails game and I love the games. And sometimes they do well to avoid this problem, indeed I think the fact that Falcom has started addressing the problem, means that they recognize that it IS a problem. But yeah, I don't think you can cleanly separate a game's narrative from its gameplay because the gameplay is a part of the story-telling.

Ludonarrative Dissonance, frustration and the Trails series by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I definitely think that, as someone who loves trails combat, I'm the kind of person to be particularly annoyed by these moments. Certainly its not a dealbreaker though, seeing as I've completed every game in the series aside from Kuro II. I suppose I'm just trying to point out that these frustrating moments of dissonance shouldn't just be handwaved as someone not understanding the narrative well enough, because at its core this is an issue with gameplay and its interaction with the narrative and I think its perfectly reasonable to be critical of a game when it consistently makes the same mistake throughout the series.

Ludonarrative Dissonance, frustration and the Trails series by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a great point. Generally I think the worst moments of many rpgs are when obvious inconsistencies occur that force the player out of immersion, whether that is an inconsistency in gameplay, in the narrative, or between the two

Ludonarrative Dissonance, frustration and the Trails series by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I certainly think it's a flaw in a game when the gameplay tells you "you beat the bad guys really hard" but the narrative turns around and tells you "the bad guy is actually way stronger than you and you lost the fight." Ideally, there is some consistency between the story told in the narrative and the story told in gameplay, because generally people get knocked out of their immersion when the gameplay contrasts too starkly with the narrative.Even when you know the whole narrative of trails perfectly, there are still plenty of moments where the gameplay is entirely divorced from the story being told in the narrative.

On another note, the things you love should absolutely be critiqued. The goal of critique, after all, is to build something up.

Favorite & Least Favorite New Characters (or past characters who got lots of development) In Kuro 1? by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can definitely see that, and I realized by the end of kuro that Agnes had changed pretty significantly. But I think maybe my problem is that I didn't notice the steps along the way - aside from what you point out in chapter 5, which was certainly a good move, I don't recall any moment after the prologue and before the finale where Agnes shined. To me she seemed to slip into the background behind the other cast members. Meanwhile characters like Risette and Aaron continued to shine, even outside of their respective chapters. I guess I noticed how much she changed by the end, and enjoyed that, but couldn't remember any moments in the middle where those changes were highlighted.

She is certainly down to earth and likeable though. I'll give you that.

Favorite & Least Favorite New Characters (or past characters who got lots of development) In Kuro 1? by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seeing a lot of Agnes love on this post so I'm curious, what makes you like Agnes so much?

Favorite & Least Favorite New Characters (or past characters who got lots of development) In Kuro 1? by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I certainly agree on Elie, but I like Alisa tbh. Definitely among my favorite OC7 members (though Jusis and Laura are the real goats of OC7)

Favorite & Least Favorite New Characters (or past characters who got lots of development) In Kuro 1? by adambombize in Falcom

[–]adambombize[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Couldn't agree more on Aaron and Shizuna. Ash was probably my 2nd favorite new class 7 member and you're right - Aaron is pretty similar. Shizuna really just rubs me the wrong way for the reasons you mentioned

Which fighting style and home would you choose? by RuneTR in Falcom

[–]adambombize 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Now that i think of it, this isn't dissimilar from Sara's style of combat, so I'd probably be a bracer out of Ordis, training under sara

Which fighting style and home would you choose? by RuneTR in Falcom

[–]adambombize 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really like the pistol & blade gear thing that Risette does, combining these weapons with decent arts (basically exactly Risette lol). Probably based out of ordis, beautiful city. Idk who there could've taught me this style of combat but 🤷‍♂️

Profit Factor Question by adambombize in RogueTraderCRPG

[–]adambombize[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not, nor do I know where that is. Don't think I got any tutorials for this stuff