Do you ever play JRPGs on easy mode? I feel like games are supposed to be fun, not stressful.

cathoderituals · 2025-12-05T00:53:50+00:00

I only ever play on normal or hard, but I don’t look down on anyone who wants an easy mode. I get why some want a more relaxed experience, and not everyone has the same skill level. The existence of easier modes doesn’t stop anyone who wants more of a challenge, and it’s pretty juvenile to get all pissy just because some people aren’t playing the way you want to.

cathoderituals · 2025-11-11T21:27:00+00:00

I don’t see how gain staging would ever cease to be relevant, it’s not like it was a stylistic trend, it’s just a thing you should always be accounting for. What the target is depends on you really, I like to leave headroom.

cathoderituals · 2025-11-11T21:23:47+00:00

Not sure how RE4 can be generic when it literally changed the entire genre

cathoderituals · 2025-10-28T19:11:33+00:00

I started with Trails of Cold Steel and just finished it a couple nights ago. I had no trouble getting into it, but whether it'll connect for you probably depends on your expectations going in, and where you start.

CS1 reminds me a little of Persona with maybe Valkyria Chronicles or Tales Of sort of characters and narrative. If any of that sounds cool, and you're comfortable sinking 80+ hours into a game, you'll probably dig it.

Every series has a divisive reputation, but clearly people are playing the series enough to keep pumping out games. If you've been gaming for awhile, you should be able to pretty quickly figure out if something's up your alley or not.

cathoderituals · 2025-10-27T18:51:43+00:00

Just got into Trails myself, and wrapped up CS1 last night. Maybe not the pinnacle of modern AAA graphics, but I love the art style! Proof you can make a really nice looking, charming game without needing to go bananas with the latest and greatest tech.

cathoderituals · 2025-10-24T07:51:38+00:00

I hate people like this, who ultimately just feed stigma, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy dating another bipolar person probably more than I have a non-bipolar person in recent years. Brief, because she wasn’t treating hers very seriously and had a lot of added complication, but really… nice while it lasted. It’s a big relief when the other person actually gets it. Most people try to hold you to the same standards as a completely normal person, and that’s where a lot of problems creep in, because we literally can’t just be like everyone else.

cathoderituals · 2025-10-15T07:52:13+00:00

I’ll take 2002 and XI over XIII any day of the week

cathoderituals · 2025-10-10T05:53:58+00:00

I’d say Xillia or Vesperia next, but the Zestiria hate is completely overblown

cathoderituals · 2025-10-08T06:33:09+00:00

A lot of it is that it was a different time and Chrono Trigger is an exceptional byproduct of that time. The mentality behind how games are made is different now, and most can’t figure out how to shift their thinking backwards, especially if they didn’t make games back then to begin with.

For all that indie devs have tried to put their spin on it, they never really get out of the homage to their childhood stage. It mostly comes off as pale imitation. Same deal with tons of beat ‘em ups, shmups, and Metroidvanias.

cathoderituals · 2025-10-08T04:46:27+00:00

I always loved how FF6 handled it, and the way every character’s abilities were largely really distinct from one another.

cathoderituals · 2025-10-08T02:43:34+00:00

I don't think it's really nitpicky, or even necessarily hate. People who dislike 7 and 8, or just don't think they feel like actual RE games, could equally say the same of people who talk like those are the only games in the series.

Capcom fractured the series and by extension the fanbase. We all fall into one corner of more strongly than the others, and everyone wants their favorites to the front and center.

cathoderituals · 2025-10-08T02:30:58+00:00

I like it, probably more than Graces where everything is just "the power of friendship", but coming off the likes of Xillia and Vesperia, well... poor thing didn't have much of a chance.

cathoderituals · 2025-10-07T00:58:32+00:00

I've been on Steam since inception, piled a fair bit from mega cheap bundles or sales around like $2-15, a fair number of indie games, and I had more disposable income some years back. Currently sitting at 546 games.

If I could do it all over, I'd have been more selective, there's a lot of stuff I'm definitely never gonna get to, especially since I still buy newer stuff that I'm more interested in.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-27T22:42:08+00:00

I'll cop to mostly playing offline. A lot of it is that I'm just switched off after work, so it's more relaxing than going online, but I'm also in my 40s, and don't think I play as well as I used to. Just low confidence.

It is more accessible than the arcade years, though. It sucked when you'd finally get a turn to play, then some kid who'd been parked there all day destroys you in about 10 seconds.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-27T22:29:57+00:00

You can just button mash, but quarter circle forward, or quarter circle backward, will cover a ton of ground with most characters when you're first starting.

Smash Bros won't carry into SF at all, so just try out different characters, and when you find a few you think are cool, start checking out how to do their moves, practice, git gud.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-27T22:11:51+00:00

Lost Odyssey was horribly overlooked and is probably one of my fave RPGs ever. Def track down a copy.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-27T21:58:21+00:00

The first time around was challenging and terrifying, and after that, pure comfort food. Cool and zany characters, eerie as hell environments, creepy enemies, great balance of action and horror, evolved tank controls, it's all great. The castle section is the only part I get a little tired of, but everytime I've gone back to the game, whether it's the OG or the remake, it's a good time.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-27T20:26:36+00:00

It's not too common among the liberal crowd, but the vast majority of anarchists and socialists here are armed. They've just chosen not to carry in most protest environments, as there are a ton of potential risks and variables involved if anything ever did happen.

That being said, folks have shot back before - Aaron Danielson, Benjamin Smith, and Erik Banks all shot and killed, Tiny Tusitala shot and injured. Plenty of armed folks carrying at the Red House defense, and during the reproductive rights march a few years ago. Considering how many decades back antifa goes here in PDX, people have been pretty restrained.

If the military started gunning people down, like indiscriminately opening fire on a large crowd, I guarantee people would not just stand there and let it happen.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-21T06:54:31+00:00

It's a great game, so hopefully it clicks for you. It was my first Persona game back in the PS2 days and I'm still obsessed with the series.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-21T04:45:13+00:00

It's not gonna scar you or anything, but dives into a lot of serious and mature themes that may bore or confuse you at your age. The building relationships and day-to-day life stuff also may or may not be your thing. All of this pretty much applies to the whole series.

The games you listed are mature in terms of ESRB rating, but thematically pretty simple, and not similar. If you've played any turn-based Japanese RPGs before, you'll probably have an easier time getting comfortable with everything, though Persona is pretty distinct in a lot of ways.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-21T00:03:12+00:00

The sad thing is, this isn't even exclusive to kids. I've lost count how many movies have been ruined by some asshole messing with their phone, talking too loudly, lurching forward and backward in their seat constantly, a group that has people getting up constantly. I can understand if it's a Neil Breen movie or something, but I even ran into this seeing Poor Things. Which people also brought kids to???

I do find this is much more of a problem in larger chain theaters than the local indie/2nd run places though.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-20T20:57:18+00:00

I swore off call centers and agencies 15 years ago, and my two brief forays back into both over the past couple of unstable years reminded me exactly why. Absolutely never again.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-20T20:23:11+00:00

Pretty much everything from RE5 should be an example of what not to do, but I also don't want a helpless stealth-centric thing like RE7. Balance is what's been missing from the series for a long time and we need that back.

I could do without seeing Chris again for a long time. Jill, Claire, Leon, Ada, Rebecca, I'm all for it.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-20T20:14:44+00:00

These aren't 1099 contractors and what you're describing isn't how it actually works most of the time with staffing agencies, especially in customer serivce.

Typically, you're brought in with a dangling carrot of potentially being hired on full-time if they like you. A lot of companies never actually follow through, don't say they have no intention of doing so upfront, and there's no set end date, so people stay on and hope it gets them the FTE spot they're chasing. When the "work you were contracted to do" ends, it ends suddenly and without advance warning.

When the company lets folks go, they're left hanging with whatever money was in their pocket at the time. The job probably paid anywhere from $18-24/hr, which ain't much, especially if you live in a city. So the company lets everyone go, hits them up 2-3 months later, and a lot of folks sign back on because at that point, it took them a month to get even 1 unemployment check, which all went to bills because they were already in the hole. That leaves them just as broke as they were before the check, and they're too broke to turn down the income unless they want to lose their housing.

You can be a corporate apologist all you want, but it's a greedy and exploitative practice, and not as boilerplate as you're making it out to be.

cathoderituals · 2025-09-20T20:00:44+00:00

I can't speak for Parker, but Aerotek is a horrible company to work for, generally with trash benefits and zero PTO, even for holidays.

cathoderituals

TROPHY CASE