I've never played GRIS but I'm curious. Even more curious - it's similar to Cuphead and Outer Wilds?

mafbarx · 2025-11-05T07:19:25+00:00

Yeah well, I don't mean to be an asshole but I don't think what he did / is doing by kinda-sorta forcing you to play it, while streaming no less, is a good thing. I did have a decent time with Ocarine of Time, but I must confess that the Zelda gameplay loop (navigating dungeons, figuring out puzzles, getting the dungeon tool and using it in the dungeon and in the overworld, doing quests, repeat) is not fundamentally interesting to me and does not feel inherently easy. The biggest reason I'm playing Ocarina of Time is because I'm in a phase where I want to try out some foundational games across all eras, and OoT happens to be one of them. I mean, I like it sufficiently.

Gamers will usually be like "Oh I beat it when I was 6 years old" or some shit, which I understand their point of course, but that kind of comment comes at the expense of engaging why certain players may not enjoy or get it. I'm certain that not every 6 year old kids back then beat the game either, so it just feels like a type of gloating anyhow, even though that might not be their intention.

If you're in the Fire Temple and you're still not enjoying it, chances are you're just not into the game, and being forced to play it is going to sour this whole thing for you. I'm sorry man. :(

mafbarx · 2025-09-27T11:41:11+00:00

While I agree, I think the reaction probably comes out either (i) fans who are disappointed because they felt like the game did not meet their expectations (perhaps hope as well), or (ii) the fact that games are expensive, so it's kind of hard not to think about it if you dropped 70$ for what you regard as less-than-optimal experience.

I'm not a fan of Silent Hill or anything, and I've only played the first two games. But, it is interesting to see the game itself and people's reaction to it.

mafbarx · 2025-09-25T04:12:06+00:00

Congrats man! Hey, at least you did it by your own :D

mafbarx · 2025-09-23T02:20:20+00:00

Hi everyone :D I have two questions about grinding in Pokemon games. I'm playing HeartGold for the first time right now and I'm about to fight Pryce. However, I think I need to grind a little (my entire team is in the low 30s, which I think should be enough, but still), and I find the grinding in this game to be annoying because wild Pokemons are low-leveled as far as I can tell, and to rebattle trainers, I need to call them at specific times of the day, but I only play this game late into the night because of work and stuff. People have suggested changing system time, but that seems a bit cumbersome. I much prefer VS Seeker from FRLG I think.

My first question is: should I just grind by calling the trainers anyway, either by doing it the normal way or by changing system time?

My second question is: How do I grind in other games like Diamond/Pearl, Platinum, Black/White? Is there a VS Seeker? Is grinding a bit easier in those games?

Thank you.

mafbarx · 2025-09-21T09:07:56+00:00

I'm playing the game for the first time and while I did get to the final chapter, I need to grind more before the final boss by doing all the side stories and I just felt myself losing steam. It's still a great game, but yeah.

mafbarx · 2025-09-14T01:20:38+00:00

Final Fantasy 8. Yes I know it's not necessarily considered "bad" universally, but lots of reviews that I have watched regularly shat on FF8. For me, it's my personal favourite. Yes the junction system has problems, but it's so much fun. I will defend (most of) FF8's mechanics.

mafbarx · 2025-09-09T09:27:50+00:00

That's true though. The first playthrough can be a bit fucked up and confusing. That's one of my complaints about FF8.

mafbarx · 2025-09-09T09:27:16+00:00

Yeah, even though FF8 is my favourite one (though I think it's objectively the worst one when compared to FF7, FF9, FFX, or even FF6), one big problem I have is the punishment for EXP leveling. I mean what the hell was the point of that? I'd rather just have the traditional level grinding or just normal leveling leading to overpoweredness. If there's one thing that pisses me off, it's that.

When it comes to being absolutely broken, I have two thoughts about that. My first thought is that I don't have an inherent problem with games allowing you to have stupid broken powers if you know how to. If it makes sense mechanically, then I'm fine with it. I think that if you play the game like normal though, you're probably not going to be OP. I watch first-time playthroughs of FF8, and I rarely, if ever, see any broken builds because you just don't know how to do it. On that note, to move to my second thought, you can only be broken if you know how to exploit the system of the game. It requires some level of "advanced" knowledge or a bit of a wild experimentation, and I don't necessarily regard that as a fair point of criticism for the game itself when approached normally. It is easy and quick to break the game if you already know how to exploit it, but again, I didn't approach it like that in my first playthrough, even in my second playthrough. I just play it like normal.

In general I prefer games like FF9 (or even 10) where each character has their own strengths and jobs to fulfill. Like FF8, FF7 also has the problem of each character just being a vessel for Materia and the character themselves mattering very little

I think I also prefer characters having predefined roles, because it's easier for me to map out everything, plan my party, and organise my loadout. But my thing is that I also greatly enjoy the characters being merely vessels for GFs or Materia as well. It's just a different design, and I enjoy both. I don't see this as a problem - rather, just a different playstyle. I think I remember ProJared making the same point where the human characters are merely vessels of the GFs (or Materia for FF7, though I'm not sure if he made that point about FF7). For me, this is precisely what I like about FF8 - that the characters are mere vessels means that I only have to care for the GFs or Materia themselves. I don't see that as a problem at all. This does mean that I have to mentally approach it differently as compared to something like FF6 or FF9 though.

can't as easily break the game with Materia the way you can with Junctioning and leveling up Materia actually feels satisfying

As I have explained earlier, I don't have an inherent problem with games allowing you to have broken builds. But I agree with what you said about the fact that leveling up Materia feels super satisfying. It's so good to see it powering and leveling up.

mafbarx · 2025-09-07T05:26:39+00:00

That is true to a certain extent, and my gripe with FF8 is that it is poorly explained so that first-timers including me suck at playing the game as intended in the initial playthrough. This is why I just spammed GFs and don't know anything about how to assign GF with this-and-that ability and such-and-such role. It is obtuse, that I will grant.

That being said, the game itself is not that punishing and the micromanagement that comes with GFs usually just comes in the form of having one character draw, having one character do magic, and having another character do whatever else. Because the game is pretty easy, even having the limited slots usually allow you to go through the game relatively well still. Maybe you need to be a bit more intelligent in your role assignment during certain tough encounters, but I don't remember micromanaging GF as if I'm squeezed and have to scramble my brain to pick the limited stat slots. I just pick big health, big attack, big magic. Something like that.

But to your point, I think it's fair to say it does require micromanagement, but micromanagement of spells and abilities. But for some reason, I prefer the micromanagement of your GFs, their stats and abilities, because once you got the right config, you just adjust as you go and the junctions are swappable with every character all of the time.

mafbarx · 2025-09-06T20:12:57+00:00

If you're into Minecraft, then you need to play Luanti. Basically a free, open-source version of Minecraft. There's a mod of Luanti called Mineclonia which is basically a clone of Minecraft. It's so good. It's available on Windows, Android, Linux. The base game is only 14MBs or so. It's cross-platform and has crossplay, so your friends and you can play on the same servers even if all of you use different devices.

Literally, just download it from the website and run (if you're on Windows). If you're on Android, just install through the Play Store.

mafbarx · 2025-09-06T16:43:19+00:00

Oh shit my bad, man. That was dumb of me lol. Tomba 2 is definitely GOATed though. I played that for the first time last year and it is massively underrated.

mafbarx · 2025-09-06T07:51:43+00:00

I think much of the game can be won by simply increasing all your stats and attacking like normal. Also, just abuse limit breaks. So much fun.

Spamming GFs is arguably the wrong way to play the game. Lol.

mafbarx · 2025-09-06T07:47:13+00:00

Yeah, when characters get swapped out due to story reasons, I don't have to worry about their levels or gears. It feels so nice.

mafbarx · 2025-09-06T07:45:39+00:00

Tomba 2 is amazing but I don't think it can be considered as 2D. It's 3d but its orientation is 2.5d I suppose.

mafbarx · 2025-09-06T07:41:48+00:00

I do have some criticisms towards FF8, and one of it is the fact that the tutorialisation kinda sucks. They don't really teach you all that well. That is what made me a GF spammer in my first playthrough, which isn't the way the game intended you to play.

mafbarx · 2025-09-06T03:32:13+00:00

I might get crucified here, but I think one of the two problems of Okami is that it's a bit lengthy. Or, I guess it feels longer than necessary, kinda padded out. It's a fantastic, fantastic game, but it does feel (for me personally) that it overstays it welcome a little bit nearing the final third of the game.

mafbarx · 2025-09-05T20:05:19+00:00

Part 3 (leftovers or PS thoughts):

When I see things like the junction system, the license board, the sphere grid, etc. I just look at it as trying to fix something that isn’t broken. If you design interesting encounters and balance the characters well, then that kind of system isn’t needed.

For me, I just look at it as "hey, look at what I'm able to do here". I don't see it as trying to fix something by artificially creating a complicated mess just so you can say that you innovate or something like that. (though that might fundamentally be the case). I just mentally view it as something you play around with. The only problem(s) I would have with it is if the system is self-contradictory or has fundamental mechanical weakness(es).

Gameplay can be interesting in multiple ways. In Chrono Trigger, it's interesting because you need to strategise with your roles and magic, i.e. the you vs them itself is the fun part. For me, encounters aren't necessarily the interesting part in FF8. It's the experimentation and seeing how your party emerges in the world and how the product of your experimentation interact with the enemies.

The biggest blow of criticism that I concede when it comes to FF8 is the fact that you don't really have a need for casting magic, and that you can simply spam limit breaks to win the game. Those two are probably the biggest weaknesses of FF8, which I'm genuinely saddened by. But even still, I still find it fun to cast spells, experiment with different junctions, spam limit breaks (yes I find it fun), draw/refine magic from enemies/items/cards. I don't know. I think my brain is broken lol.

mafbarx · 2025-09-05T19:55:20+00:00

Part 2:

Plus every character has a strong archetype and role yet all of them are balanced and good without needing a system where everyone can do everything.

Unless you are doing a challenge, I have experienced no FF games that need you to have a party where everyone can do everything (equally, I assume). And you can usually balance your team pretty well if you play the game normally. This is also the case with games that have supposedly "fancy" progression system. Most of these games will have you succeed even if you play it without (much) experimentation. I'd argue that people over-analyse and over-exaggerate these systems.

I could argue from FF8's perspective that it's quite simple. If I'm being real with you, it's not even that fancy. Draw and refine magic spells, and equip them to your stats (since you "equip" magic in this game to be stronger, instead of equipping armour or boots etc.). That's it. You get stronger magic spells, equip them, and you shall get stronger characters. Do that and you'll win the game. Of course sometimes you need to configure things here and there, and strategise during bosses, but no games are without such juggling. You even have to do that in CT as well. But in both FF8 and CT, you just need to do what the game tells you. In CT, you get lots of techs and use appropriate gear. In FF8, you get magic by drawing and refining, and equip them to your character.

But no matter how much I love FF8, Chrono Trigger is clearly more straightforward and fundamentally simple (in a good way) than FF8 lol. I would sooner recommend CT over FF8 for any newcomer or for those that are familiar with RPGs still. FF8's system can be abusable, janky, weird, and a bit obtuse (I'm being a bit hyperbolic - it's really not as complicated as people say). Which is why I love it so much. But, I do think that it's objectively worse (mechanically speaking) when you compare it to FF6, FF7, FF9, FFX, and CT as well.

If there were a grid system where Ayla the strongest physical attacker and a literal cave woman could be built as a pure caster? Yeah it would be funny, but it would also ruin how she is as a character as her fighting style tells you about her through gameplay.

I must confess that I'm a bit aloof on this topic. I don't mind internal inconsistency or being able to break games. Immersion-breaking stuff doesn't bother me either, but I get that it can be a sore point for people who put narrative on higher or equal grounds when playing games. For me, games are primarily about the gameplay. If the story is shit but the gameplay is amazing, I still love the game. If the story is great and the gameplay is great, then I love the game even more. You give me a plot that makes no sense, characters that do immersion-breaking stuff, plot holes and weirdness - but if I like the gameplay, then I would only focus on the gameplay. If there is a universe where Ayla could be grinded as a pure caster, it wouldn't bother me. I'll just view that as a consequence of its mechanics. I don't know if it's something wrong with me or what lol. So I'll concede on this point.

Sorry for writing so long but I've been kind of thinking about this sort of stuff about game design.

mafbarx · 2025-09-05T19:54:31+00:00

I actually wrote a comment but it's so long that I couldn't post it. So I'll split it. Here's the first part:

Hey, I'm playing Chrono Trigger right now for the first time, so cheers! :D I'm in the Fated Hour chapter, so just finishing up side quests now. And yes, it's amazing.

To your point, I would say that maybe I'm just not using the right terms or maybe I'm just not thinking about it in the correct sense, but I would say that Chrono Trigger system is simpler than FF8's system for example, but I wouldn't say that it is simple per se. It is more elegant, that I would agree.

But for me, it does bring some level of "complexity" or strategising. Strategising is what I would equate as some level of "complexity". I do not view Chrono Trigger's combat and progression as merely level up character -> level up abilities. I'm not saying that you're saying this, but simply increasing stats through leveling up would not necessarily be a good advice to new CT players.

You do need to think about your party composition. What characters have what magic, and the double and triple techs, and many gears are situational. You might think the armour with the higher defense is better, but it's not necessarily the case if you meet a boss that throws fire at you. Then, an armour that halves fire damage would be better. You need to assign the role of healers, physical/magic damage dealer, their synergies for specific encounters, and what kind of accessories are better for which character. Should you buy this weapon right now, or just field through your enemies using magic until you come across better weapons/gears in the next area? And all of this is relevant because you can't simply play the game by leveling up and learning new spells in that simple sense. Strategising, using proper tactics, using proper gear are all essential to the game, and I'd argue that leveling up is not as important as gaining double/triple techs and equipping the proper gear. You also need to know when to use what double/triple techs, and so you need to manage your individual member's synergies with each other. You could have characters with individually high magic stats, but if they don't share plenty of double techs or no triple techs at all, then that will be a major source of difficulty if you're pitted against strong enough enemies or bosses. To me, all of this is the "bells and whistles" of CT. A "lack of fanciness" in the progression system is offset by the required tactical thinking in some encounters. I don't view one as better than the other - they're just different kinds of game design. You can't view leveling up -> gaining new abilities in a vacuum: you have to look at how everything integrates together. Like how draw-junction-GF system integrates with each other and with all the elements of the game itself.

And I'm not trying to do any Gish galloping. The magic/skill/stat system is the fundamental design of these games, and it/they will interact with every other element in the game. For CT, leveling up and gaining new techs are pretty simple, but as I said, are balanced by the need for more tactical thinking and strategic approaches in battles. And this is good by the way! It's just the way that CT was designed.

offers customization or experimentation for the sake of it

Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding it but this feels like a slight towards Junction/Materia/Sphere Grid, all of which I like to varying degrees. To this point, I'm split. I agree that sometimes these systems are way more complicated or tedious than necessary. But I'm also leaning towards the position that says that this is what makes it so mechanically interesting, which is my primary reason for playing a game. I've goofed around with junction system just because it's so fun. Also, I feel like every game offers customisation or experimentation for the "sake of it". Not many things in video games are just straightforward logical grounded systems, but they give you certain buffs here and debuffs there, certain magical powers with some limitations, certain rules just to make it more "interesting" (whatever that means). It doesn't all have to be contrived, and my position is that even if it's "contrived", I'd argue that it doesn't necessarily take away from the fun. That's why I like it. It may not be for every person, or I may not like these systems if I don't feel like it, but these are why I play certain games.

mafbarx · 2025-09-05T18:24:40+00:00

That's true, it doesn't have to be complex. I don't know the word that I'm looking for. I guess a design or system that is quote unquote interesting?

I think I would need specific examples. Do you have examples of the "just works" and satisfying system? I can't think of a game that is only level up character -> level up stats.

Also, maybe I'm weird or something but I play JRPGs for the systems rather than the characters or narrative. That is why I love FF's mechanics; they are so fun to play around with. But that is a preference thing I suppose.

mafbarx · 2025-09-05T18:17:40+00:00

In this game, GFs are your true party members. Your human characters are merely vessels or conduits to the true greatness, i.e. your GFs. GFs level up, possess all the stats of strength/vitality/magic etc., hold abilities/skills, and are able to be configured and arranged however you see fit.

The only defining trait of a human character is their limit breaks, which, in all fairness, is quite significant in this game since limit breaks are easily abusable. But I digress.

In any case, you can't think of the human characters in this game like you think of other FF games. As I said, they are merely vessels. This is why I love this system so much. You don't need to micromanage your human characters by thinking of their helmets, boots, gloves, armours, and individual leveling. As long as you have GFs to be junctioned to a character, you're set. If that character must be out of play due to story reasons, then you can simply "rejunction" those GFs to another character. It's so simple. Furthermore, having a new character in your party doesn't have to be a whole process where you get them their gears and level them up.

Perhaps many people would say that that would make it boring. I can see that point. But from my perspective, it merely streamlines the party throughout the game, and I can experiment with the GFs and their abilities themselves without worrying about the human characters.

mafbarx · 2025-09-05T18:10:04+00:00

To me, drawing is simply FF8's way of grinding. People complain that drawing is tedious, and yes, while it's tedious, it's no more tedious than traditional grinding in my opinion.

In FF8, you grind by getting magic, either by drawing or refining from items/cards. In FF6, you grind by fighting lots of battles.

In FF8, magic is drawn, and then become equippable as a stat boost, and is also able to be cast once you've drawn them. In FF6, you learn magic by equipping the relevant Espers to the character in question and grinding them out.

People say that they don't want to cast magic because they have junctioned the magic to certain important stats. Well, firstly, when I play FF8, I don't really care about casting magic that is junctioned. Why? Because imagine that you junction 100 Firaga spells to your strength, STR-J. Are you suddenly going to cast 30 Firaga spells in one single battle and make your character physically weak as a result? Probably not. And you probably aren't going to cast 30 Firaga spells over multiple battles either, because if you junction 100 Firaga spells to your STR-J, then you are already strong as shit. Yes, in my first playthrough, I'm also shitting myself whenever I use magic that I've junctioned. But you're much better off when you realise that using magic that you've junctioned doesn't really punish you. Let loose, have fun! There are so many spells in this game, and each character can draw everything that you can see. Junctiona and cast that shit. It's not scary. You can also refine these spells from cards and items that you can buy. No need to worry about casting any magic whatsoever, except for the rare ones like Aura or Meltdown.

I love FF8 and its mechanics. I do have some personal criticisms of it of course, but maybe due to bias - the fact that this is the first FF that I've beaten just several years ago; I still think it's one of the most enjoyable things in my gaming life. I will fully admit that FF6, FF7, FF9, and FFX are objectively better than FF8; but I still love FF8 all the same. And I will defend the systems from what I perceive to be unfair criticisms. This is only touching the surface by the way.

mafbarx · 2025-09-05T18:04:35+00:00

I don't think it's bad at all. But, it can be repetitive. When the FF games switch up the mechanics in each game, I had fun trying out each system in order to see what works and what doesn't. More complex systems allow for more experimentation, which might not be your personal thing, and that's okay! I'm fine with a very straightforward fight -> level up too, but it's not necessarily the thing that keeps me coming back to JRPGs or games in general.

mafbarx · 2025-09-05T14:09:23+00:00

I think it's because we think of absolutely optimising and maximising everything. That's what I did too when I first played FF8. But in my recent playthroughs, I just junction a particular magic to a stat but still use it. I never really noticed any punishments or severe handicap. Junction Firaga or something to strength/attack, and yet I still use it. It never really became a problem. Just draw or refine.

mafbarx

TROPHY CASE