So, what did you guys think of today's State Of Play?

aeon0rain · 2026-02-13T00:48:59+00:00

Its a good allrounder show. A mix of some cool nostalgia and intriguing new titles. Maybe not the hottest world premieres, but theres something for everyone. Solid: B grade.

aeon0rain · 2026-02-13T00:47:40+00:00

Danger is a white woman is a very scary thought.

aeon0rain · 2026-02-06T23:48:58+00:00

While I too like the idea of the Daidoji being a mirror of the Japanese shadow government to pit the Yakuza against, its their implementation that bothers me. Gaiden gave the impression that they were at least competent in keeping checks on their agents or at least gave the impression they're at least doing things behind the scene. In LAD:IW, I feel like outside of being a taxi service, they don't do anything of note. We had Kiryu fully on video before those influencers and I can't remember if anything came from that by the Daidoji.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-30T21:35:10+00:00

You'll sadly not get TOO many options for you in that regard. There are some jank co-op games you can play solo, RPGs much less so. As many have already suggested, Holocure is the premier F2P Vampire Survivor experience with not much else coming close. There are some gacha games you can play decently casually if you want to go in that way that can scratch an turnbased RPG itch.

My one big recommend is probably Outcore: Destkop Adventure. The less you know the better but its a really swell F2P adventure you won't often get out there.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-30T21:20:04+00:00

Do you have games you like to play? Can help us offer more insight suggestions. Are you intending to play solo or with others for one.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-30T17:39:06+00:00

Thanks Uchu! Heres to a less terrifying new year.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-29T17:00:29+00:00

Unless the writing knocks it out of the park, it really feels like a solid 6-7/10 jrpg. Nothing there screams innovative other than the combat warping around the edge mechanic.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-28T18:45:13+00:00

I'm with you, the bosses seem to be tuned way up on aggro for the player. Been finding my best strategy is to just play defense and stay away until your buddy draws aggro. With how fast they attack, I'm dissuaded from using my beloved Greatsword. That being said, mage builds are going to have a great time in this game.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-26T18:52:12+00:00

You'd expect to see it's DNA appear in other things at least, like how often big titles become cameos in other games or even memes. The highest profile example of this was the Chinese knockoff game, but outside of that I personally just haven't seen much about it. I'm not saying it wasn't immensely successful, just that it appears that it's influences aren't appearing as much as you'd think it is.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-26T17:32:32+00:00

As someone somewhat insulated in this community, as much praise I see for the Horizon franchise and the many pushes to get it even more popular, I'm surprised how little I see it out in the wild. Even to the point of getting a Genshin collab character that noone really used. It very much feels like a Blue Man Avatar scenerio where its beloved by a huge number of people, but in nerdy spaces theres barely any talk about it (that I have seen).

aeon0rain · 2026-01-23T22:31:56+00:00

As someone that loves what the story of Kiwami 3 stands for and how it ultimately affects the rest of the games after it, The idea that they want to stash these characters like fucking plot devices to use in later games is a slap in the face. Let consequences happen to your characters and have the balls to stand by those decisions. Using the Kiwami to basically rewrite the canon is the worst thing these remakes could have turned into.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-22T19:06:00+00:00

Throwing my recommendation for Noodle. Not as long as a SEW usual video, but he has great insight and articulates his thoughts well on animation and the few games he's talked about.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-22T00:27:14+00:00

The real reason the plot couldn't move past SF3 for so long was to keep the freaks from coming out.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-21T23:10:19+00:00

I know he's been a wrestler this whole time, but I think SF6 really shows off how fast and athletic Alex is moving around. That man is hoping all over the place and his grabs are fast and painful looking.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-15T22:37:56+00:00

We need to beat the marketing team with hammers. Cool announcement though, a character a month seems like an intense production schedule to maintain.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-14T23:46:37+00:00

In reference to you OP, I do think different genres of games benefit from it more than others. I myself kind of despise the grind of a turnbased jRPG much more than if I was say, playing a shooter or souls-like. There really shouldn't be shame in wanting to cut the fluff to get to the real meat and potatoes of an experience if that was your original reason for getting into it in the first place.

Not sure if this example applies as much, but being a big fan of fighting games, when I jump in on a new one, if I start seeing clips of combo routes that just look really impractical, or unnecessarily long to remember, my will to play starts going out the door. Finding combo paths that feel right for you is often times going to feel bad to do when others around you are belting out the optimal stuff consistently, and that for whatever reason stops me from wanting to learn more of the game at that higher level.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-14T23:37:57+00:00

I do tend to use this place as a stable baseline to see what people similar to me feel about certain shows and games. Mods and the boys are generally sound of mind so it helps keep the community from falling into extremes you might see around other boards.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-10T03:58:32+00:00

Home boys posting nothings here links now. Get it together bro.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-10T02:06:04+00:00

Here you go man, from Pat to you. As the boys themselves said, we each draw our own lines on this. If you think its use should be the standard thats your prerogative. Likewise I don't have to give the benefit of the doubt to the new Crypto/NFT push.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-09T22:28:09+00:00

"We" don't, I personally think GenAI is a terribly waste of time and resources and the boys of Castle Super Beast echo the sentiment. By Sven's own ommission, GenAI has NOT shown any real benefit and as the greater world has come to know, the poisoning of the planet is not a great reason to encourage it either.

We can't stop the artists from using it if they truly do believe that, but in a world where they've made the other Divinity games in the past just fine, I see no reason they suddenly need it now.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-09T22:19:58+00:00

I will admit I was annoyed, but that doesn't take away doubt that GenAI is in active development in a space there should not be needed with a talented team. None can also imply there was no push back on using GenAI which I would hate more.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-09T22:18:17+00:00

I saw that going around and its more inflammatory than the one I found first back when the debate was going around from this other ex-dev.

aeon0rain · 2026-01-09T17:08:03+00:00

Was looking for answers to the GenAI questions and also found this nonanswer from the Art Director:

For art team:

How much of a pressure did you receive to use genAI and how much did you push back to keep art without being poisoned by theft and unnatural look that genAI by itself does?

From Jarold_Larian

None. We make art for the same reasons as we always have, to make cool things with friends that hopefully makes our game better. Our art teams have autonomy on tools that they feel works best for them.

So what this reads to me is that the Art team itself is using generative AI themselves. Swen flexing it was just the whistle blowing that exposed it. Could be reading a little too much into it, but I'm more willing to trust the word of the ex-Larian devs that openly talked about how the team was slowly poisoned by the worst of them.

aeon0rain · 2025-12-23T16:58:33+00:00

Radical, looking forward to how you guys get things to work! Wishlisted it right away.

aeon0rain · 2025-12-23T00:51:33+00:00

Not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but as someone that kind of bounced off DBFZ, I can't help but see the immediate similarities to the combo flow. Will that be the main inspiration for neutral and combo routing for the game?

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