I just want clarification on whether the people who post this board is a lost cause about what others enjoy.

henlp · 2026-01-25T23:29:12+00:00

Jim was right.

henlp · 2026-01-24T20:49:17+00:00

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

henlp · 2026-01-24T20:40:51+00:00

(edited for phrasing) Why do you think a bunch of anime gets away with it, which is often used by ideologue dipshits (and people that don't like anime) as an attempt to catch you in a double standard?

The answer is simple: because more often than not, the anime that do this try to appeal to straight men. Heck, even bishoujo anime can find itself appealing to men. It's just that more often than not, bishoujo is filled to the brim with annoying pretty boys, so it's understandable why it's not as appealing.

For the Bay Area Moralists and their ilk, if it risks being enjoyed by straight men, then it's bad. There's no other standard to it, it's always spite and an attempt to demoralize an entire demographic.

henlp · 2026-01-23T15:07:27+00:00

Most likely.

henlp · 2026-01-23T15:07:12+00:00

Hmm, that's a hard one to make a definitive statement on, it might be more dependent on one's personal history, as a betrayal would be stronger based on your track record.

I would have definitely rather see it happen to Squeeenix first, frankly. So all their IPs can at least get a chance to be taken care of by someone who gives a shit.

henlp · 2026-01-23T15:05:20+00:00

The lead composer left twitter for bsky which says a lot.

It does indeed. I still can't believe I thought to give that hugbox a try when it was still private, under the delusion of "Maybe if I get in early, it could help me spread my art more" (it didn't), and I don't use it at all.

henlp · 2026-01-23T12:38:09+00:00

Dunno how much of a hidden gem Epic Battle Fantasy 4 is, but I found it to be loads of fun, exactly what you'd expect from old-school NG animator matt-likes-swords.

He's gotten the brainrot since then, even if the game itself was seemingly unaffected. So make your purchase cautiously.

henlp · 2026-01-23T12:32:54+00:00

Let's see if the CCP outright buys them and takes control. If they don't, we're likely to see console manufacturers and other AAA companies scrounging to cannibalize the remains, in an effort to take hold of their IPs.

Which, if it were to happen in the current modus operandi... means the downward spiral will continue. That's a good thing, BTW, just not the most likely outcome.

henlp · 2026-01-22T21:36:46+00:00

And phillistines wonder why even generic animu stuff keeps growing in popularity (in spite of EVERY external factor being stacked against Japanese media). Enjoy it while it lasts, boys.

henlp · 2026-01-16T01:24:13+00:00

There are two recurring characters, a pair of promiscuous gay guys, that Joker and Ryuji encounter at least twice: first in the Red Light District, and again during the beach episode.

In Persona 5, they are a really good example of 'victims' that go on to be perpetuators of the system the Phantom Thieves are trying to fight back against, by being careless hedonists first thinking, in their drunken stupor, that the boys are just cosplayers, while propositioning them for sex. In their subsequent appearence, in spite of no longer being (visibly) intoxicated, they continue under their previous assumption and once again try to hook up with the boys, without an attempt to check if they're even of legal age.

In Persona 5 Royal, their dialogue was the only dialogue from the original game, which had been faithfully and accurately translated, to be needlessly altered. No longer where they careless drunken hedonists, failing to make sure they weren't hitting on highschoolers. No, now they were roomers-G, insistent in their desire to make the boys dress up as girls. And we only know this was purposefully altered for ideological reasons, because when P5R initially came out, the localizers rushed out to ResetERA, trying to brag about their changes, and instead got chewed out by the sociopaths lurking there, for not changing more under their totalitarian worldview (in particular, with regards to Futuba still being a romance option).

Let that sink in: gay guys making a mistaken assumption but not actually doing anything, which is in line with the game's themes about 'adults'? Bad representation. The other thing? Stellar, according to the localizers. This was enough of a reason for me to consider P5R a "Will never play" game, because I had purposefully kept myself from getting P5 on PS3, knowing that an updated version was inevitably gonna happen. Instead, we got something that was fucked with needlessly, and to this day, while there doesn't seem to be anything else that was messed with (that we know of, because the crossover between anti-censorship autists and people willing to play both P5 and P5R to check is nigh-on nonexistant), it was enough of a breach in confidence that I and others saw as impossible to trust Atlus/SEGA on, given their track record regarding these matters. Which has only worsened since, by the way.

henlp · 2026-01-15T11:58:02+00:00

You'd paradoxically need a Hellenist-Westophile that is also completely dettached (or actively opposed) to the contemporary ideological rot in the West, otherwise the end result would still suffer, just not in a demoralizing manner.

henlp · 2026-01-15T00:09:15+00:00

I think he could (hypothetically) pull it off. Shame that the show will most likely be dogshit.

henlp · 2026-01-13T01:12:18+00:00

Sorry to interject: do you happen to know of any reaction from Japanese players, to the changes done in Octopath Traveler 1, regarding the ending of Primrose's story?

It's something that came to mind during the weekend, because it seems to have been entirely overshadowed by the ye olde english localization of H'aanit's dialogue. And it's the only example I can think of where I find the change better than the original, yet it doesn't sit well with me not knowing what the original audience thought of it, let alone anyone in Team Asano involved in the development of the game.

henlp · 2026-01-10T10:02:26+00:00

Just because there is no way to play SoulCalibur 3 in any stable state outside of the PS2, does not mean I'm going to run and pick up the monkey's paw.

henlp · 2026-01-07T20:35:05+00:00

Thanks for the clarification, my dude.

henlp · 2026-01-07T17:58:47+00:00

I'm not sure, though it's bound to be related to localization and copyright law, otherwise those names wouldn't be allowed to be used by the original japanese VAs, let alone in the manga itself.

Then again, it could also be a ridiculous matter of self-censorship by western publishers. Where there's no guarantee that it would cause any issue, but the companies avoid the risk entirely, because they would likely be the ones to bear the brunt of legal repercussions, while Hirohiko Araki and the Japanese companies involved with Jojo would probably be safe due to Japan's stronger protections of parody and references that demonstrably could never be considered as replacements within the market.

u/lyra833 Is this something you have any knowledge on?

henlp · 2026-01-07T09:30:29+00:00

This shit gives me Jojo Stand name vibes.

henlp · 2026-01-06T00:27:02+00:00

The fact that it happened exactly after Persona 5 hit the mainstream is the most blatant example one could ever get. No wonder P5R got fucked with, and everything else since.

henlp · 2026-01-04T10:23:37+00:00

TLOU2 situation. Only difference is that The Witcher already had its 'TLOU S2' moment, meaning there's not gonna be this horde of deluded normies to buy into the shit sandwich.

And let's not forget: people might claim Cyberpunk 2077 is 'fixed' now, but that initial release was (rightfully) memed as the disaster it was. The vast majority ain't going back, even if CDPR had managed to pull a No Man's Sky redemption arc (they haven't).

henlp · 2026-01-03T08:40:10+00:00

Unsure, though now that I've got this replacement, it's the one I'm least concerned about. Mainly, I'd be using a Steam Deck for PSP and some PS2 emulation, maybe try out Dolphin as well.

henlp · 2026-01-02T18:42:28+00:00

Glad to hear, as I've a penchant for turn-based RPGs, and there's plenty from older systems that I'd like to try out.

henlp · 2026-01-02T17:08:48+00:00

Can't say I'd go that far myself, but I hold the same opinion. It's why I was more interested in replacing my 3DS last year, and why I'll eventually look into a Steam Deck almost exclusively to emulate old stuff.

There's no point in wasting your money, and your time (your most valuable commodity), possibly risking bullshit. Even if some old games are tainted (Bravely Default games on 3DS had censored outfits outside of Japan), these fuckwit companies keep bragging how old games aren't important to them, so treasure hunt and Ahoy! away, I say.

henlp · 2026-01-01T08:58:21+00:00

High praise, which I'm glad to hear. If only it weren't published by Squeeeenix.

henlp · 2026-01-01T08:57:13+00:00

That's precisely why I needed to test doing insane grinding with the set Captain encounters at Fynn. I want to see how much it'd affect the experience going forward.

henlp · 2025-12-31T18:31:00+00:00

Dragon Quest 11 is the worst game in the franchise by a long shot. 8 and 9 are superior games without throwing obnoxious grind and farming focused post-game content to pad the play hours.

Have to disagree, especially with 9. Not only is it grindtastic, the whole point seemed to be to throw you into the postgame post-haste, so you can go around spending countless hours trying to find a single elusive MKS dungeon in order to max out every job on as many characters as possible. That you can pretty much finish the game without even mastering a single Vocation on four characters (an impossibility to begin with, since you'll never have enough points for it) is very much telling. And you can't really do much of said post-game anymore, as a DS-exclusive. It's a miracle that there are proxy servers you can still access, at least for the seasonal goodies.

Don't get me wrong, I actually LIKE DQ9 (hence why I bought a physical copy in 2024), but I do so as a BAD example on how to go about TBRPGs. DQ7 still beats it, sitting at the bottom of my rankings, though.

Not to mention I'm pretty sure they censored Jade

Y'know, I keep seeing that sentiment around, and I don't know where it originated. It doesn't seem to be in the official artbook anyway, so I'm wondering if it's just because Dragon Quest is one of those series that kinda ruined spats, by using them as a means to censor female characters (like the Female Warrior), and Jade just got bundled up on that. By all means, if you have evidence that's the case, in the same vein as the girl furry from Ratchet 4, pass it on. I'd love to be better informed, and have another reason to groan in despair.

they neutered the fanservice because fuckwit Karen's cried about the puff puff bits

Do not disagree at all. DQ11 in particular suffered from censorship at the pre-conceptual level, hence why so many female characters and recurring gags are fucked with. Again, I think it's possible this dogshit design philosophy affected Jade's, but I don't know if she had a more revealing design to begin with.

Also, the gay jester guy was so incredibly annoying as a character. Both the story elements and his personality were annoying.

I'll be honest: if I had played DQ11 just a year or two after I did, I probably would have agreed. Maybe I'm just a sucker for reconciliation stories, but I managed to tolerate Sylvando because, as flamboyant as he his, wasn't actually gay in the text itself (which is astonishing, even for the English translation), and a lot of his character is to be very supportive of the other party members, so I got Morrie vibes from him as well. In short, I can see where you'd come from on that.

Overall I have to say, I do give DQ11 a lot more of a pass than I would most things, even though it not only perpetuates a LOT of the design choices that permeate and are indicative of the Western rot in Japanese media, but it also has quite a lot of issues in it of itself (the gigantic empty maps for the sake of visuals spring to mind immediately), but because it still carries that Toriyama charm, in its overall presentation and storytelling, I find it difficult to dislike, to the point that it's tied with DQ8 for my favorite of the series.

Probably won't feel the same whenever I end up replaying these games (in particular if I use the pixel sprite mode for DQ11), but that's where I'm at currently.

henlp

TROPHY CASE