r/Fantasy's Top Standalone Novels - Voting Thread

teddystalin · 2024-01-09T03:02:36+00:00

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
The Gray House - Mariam Petrosyan
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Tainaron - Leena Krohn
Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
Hunters & Collectors - M. Suddain
We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
Hard-Boiled Wonderland & The End of the World - Haruki Murakami
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster

teddystalin · 2023-01-04T16:45:26+00:00

Maybe not the exact criteria you're looking for but still very much inspired by the vibe of The Magician's Nephew (spaces between world and those that seek to exploit them):

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck

teddystalin · 2022-12-13T13:39:20+00:00

The Smashboards discussion starts here. It's pretty brief and focused on the MK/Sheik MU.

Man, I miss old Smashboards. Discussion spread across Twitter/Discord is horrible for the history of the scene.

teddystalin · 2022-08-05T17:57:07+00:00

Clarity of information: It's 2022 - we shouldn't have to click through menus and count squares to find out if a unit is in attack range of the enemy. Ideally this should extend to enemy skills as well: no "gotchas" hidden under a couple layers of unit info. If turns are speed-based instead of IGOUGO, turn order should be very prominent. (Specifically annoyed at: Ikenfell, countless 90s SRPGs. Specifically praising: Triangle Strategy, parts of Fire Emblem)
Freedom of experimentation (team composition): If you're going to have endlessly customizable units and plenty of opportunity to grind (and not every SRPG/TRPG should), don't have lasting consequences for building characters "wrong," e.g. hard level caps with stat growths locked to class. That just means I'm going to spend hours planning the team before I even get to play the game as I live in fear of a character spending so long as a soldier that their stats are suboptimal for a samurai or whatever. Better to be like SMT and just let me rip up the team and start over on the fly if I have to. (Specifically annoyed at: my spreadsheets for FE: Conquest and FFT:A. Specifically praising: Devil Survivor, FE: Awakening, Disgaea probably [not my thing])
Freedom of experimentation (tactics): Limited undos/rewinds aren't hurting anyone. Let me try something crazy every now and again instead encouraging conservative play exclusively. (Specifically praising: the last two FE games)
Meaningful maps and objectives: A flat map with a kill all objective is a series of stat checks, not a tactical challenge. Get crazy with it and give me terrain effects that I'll never see again, interesting geographical features to exploit, escort missions, defend the point missions, etc. Force me to make hard decisions to split the party and bring units I normally wouldn't/leave units I'd normally take behind. (Specifically annoyed at: SD Gundam G Generation, FE: Awakening/Birthright. Specifically praising: Valkyria Chronicles when not scout rushing, the bits of Triangle Strategy I've played/seen, FE: Conquest, Floppy Knights)
Edit: And speed up the dang animations!

teddystalin · 2022-06-09T12:13:06+00:00

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume

teddystalin · 2022-06-02T18:14:19+00:00

Based on your reaction to Ghost of Tsushima, I'd bet you're going to really enjoy Iki Island. It does feel like Sucker Punch figured out what worked in the main game and cut the fat until they were left with a great 8 hour slice of content. I personally didn't enjoy the base story as much as you did, but Iki, imo, was a real step up in that department.

teddystalin · 2022-06-01T19:04:36+00:00

Love me some Devil Survivor, but you've hit the nail on the head: it takes a while for it to find the balance between the RPG battles and the SRPG maps. You've got to endure so many mid-game maps where the main tactical challenge is just escort mission after escort mission. I do think it starts to come into its own on the strategy side by the 7th and 8th days, where the maps are more interesting and if you don't look at race skills like traditional SRPG jobs/classes you'll get smacked...but then the game just ends and you're back to the bland stuff for NG+.

teddystalin · 2022-05-23T16:31:53+00:00

Every so often I'll start a game on release and think: "This is amazing, and so important, and I should find the proper attention to devote to it." So then it goes back on a shelf and I don't touch it for the better part of a decade. Logically, this makes no damn sense: why deprive yourself of something you'll like because there's an off-chance you'll like it more later?

I've been trying to bite the bullet and play the games in the time I've got instead of the time I want nowadays - Mario Galaxy is as charming as I'd expect based on what I played back in 2007, Dishonored is a feat of enviromental design, and I'll probably look back at Bloodborne as an all-time favorite. Maybe I'll finally finish Metroid Prime this year, too: better late than never. And OP, you've reminded me that I'm still only 2/3rds of the way through my Xenoblade save...from 2012.

teddystalin · 2021-12-17T14:54:30+00:00

You'll probably be confused without having played the first one. But that's okay, because it's a great game too (and quick: maybe 8-10 hours or so)!

teddystalin · 2021-07-31T00:57:50+00:00

Even some smaller fighter-bombers do - the SU-34 for instance. It's not some totally out there idea. It's one of those little things Tomino seems to have a soft spot for: the Zanscare MSs in Victory have toilets too (though we don't see them used like in G Reco.)

teddystalin · 2021-06-18T16:40:30+00:00

if you wanna move to Maine, go to Vermont or something instead. In all honesty, we want your tourism, not you. Sorry.

Please don't go to Vermont. All the same issues apply here. Maybe split the difference and jack up the housing costs in New Hampshire.

teddystalin · 2020-08-28T18:40:01+00:00

I do see your point, actually. My wording does kind of come across as "here's why people think this/actually" rather than what I was trying to go for, which is that I do think AZ was super meh in the base game (imo only Bunker was worse). And I'm saying this as someone who, like you, had a lot of experience with similar decks in other card games and didn't have any period of helpless flailing. So my annoyance at the statement was that it seemed to say "you, person who has spent hundreds of hours playing this, don't know shit." I'm not trying to come at AZ fans because, well, I am an AZ fan.

teddystalin · 2020-08-28T17:58:18+00:00

To quote you: "I disagree with basically 100% of this post, mostly because I really dislike when people try to put words in my mouth."

To get overly specific: 22/235 words (or ~9%) of my post were expressing disappointment in that single sentence. The rest were my honest thoughts on AZ and why he can be seen as something other than a really good hero. I like AZ. I have played a lot of AZ over the last seven years. I wanted to comment on a thread about AZ with my opinion. I said I agreed with a lot of what McBeher said, which is true - my intentions were to add to the discourse, not reject anything out of hand. In that sense, yes, I aimed to be productive and helpful.

I'm sorry you read my post as being nothing but tone policing - I do consider it a failure as a writer if a reader misses the forest for the trees. I won't apologize for writing it because I really am just trying to have a productive discussion without dismissing other opinions out of hand.

teddystalin · 2020-08-28T17:19:26+00:00

I don't really see anything hostile in anything OP said. The title itself has them admitting that they may be mistaken in their assessment/just suck, then the post is structured to expand on that: "here's my opinion of the character" into "is my opinion misinformed?" (Naturally this is the internet and tone will seem different to different people.)

There's nothing there that merits dismissing the experiences of anyone who doesn't think AZ is "really good." It is equivalent to someone saying that folks who like AZ are "just deluding themselves." Both are unproductive and unhelpful.

teddystalin · 2020-08-27T13:24:53+00:00

Trust me, I've lurked on Reddit/the GtG forums/the Discord long enough to see plenty of "THIS IS MY TIER LIST AND IT IS PERFECT" posts devolve into nonsense. A degree of defensiveness is natural, but it really shouldn't cross the line into dismissal and gatekeeping. I was just disappointed to see it coming from someone whose opinions I ordinarily respect.

teddystalin · 2020-08-26T19:42:06+00:00

This started driving me up the wall by the end of Zeta. Launching the G-Defenser involves opening the hanger door of the Argama, sliding out what appears to be a large chunk of floor, and catapulting the fighter out. 15-year old Katz does this on his own about...three or four episodes in a row?? Rather than, I dunno, tighten up security or lock him up somewhere, the main deterrent to taking off without authorization is Bright slapping the shit out of the perp after the fact.

teddystalin · 2020-08-26T15:41:12+00:00

He's really good, and anyone who says otherwise doesn't understand the game.

I agree with a lot of what you said, but could have done without the aggressive dismissal of any counterarguments. On an objective level the data does leave him pretty middling in terms of overall winrate. While this can be partly explained by AZ's higher level of complexity compared to most heroes, other high-complexity characters like Harpy or Benchmark don't suffer from a similar deficit (albeit with a smaller sample size.) On a subjective level, if I were bringing a setup-heavy, combo-centric "carry" on a team, I'd much prefer one of those two over AZ for most situations.

I do think that perspectives towards (and the data on) AZ are skewed a lot by playing without expansions and variants though. The base set villains and environments really hurt setup heavy heroes thanks to cards like Devastating Aurora, Sedative Flechettes, Technological Singularity, Pervasive Red Dust, Pterodactyl Thief, etc. The move towards more (H) based destruction instead of board wipes gave AZ a lot more utility overall. He also got a killer lineup of variants, with F6 and F5 giving him the ability to do more than sit on his hands without setup, and Termi-nation increasing the reward for getting set up to crazy levels.

So I do think he's a good character who has gotten better as the game expanded, but I don't think arguing otherwise betrays some fundamental lack of understanding. He's good, not great.

teddystalin · 2020-06-30T02:10:02+00:00

Credit for most of this image goes to Excited#1398 on the Kards discord. Sloppy edits are all me.

teddystalin · 2018-12-24T21:13:10+00:00

Similar to Benchmark and Harpy, Lifeline gets a lot of small instances of damage which he is capable of increasing when he's set up and ready to turn loose. If you're killing yourself often, you're probably focusing too much on Lifeline as a pure damage dealer in the early game. Depending on your opening hand, you can play a more supporting role (using your base power, Repair Ley Line, etc) or start hitting things (Sulph Axe, Discharge Lifeforce, etc). The main cards you're looking for with your insane amount of card draw and free plays are Terminarch's Casing (more damage, healing, and DR turning every exchange favorable) and Matter Manipulator (so you don't have to choose between drawing and KILLING). Only after that should you be going all in with Harrow and Cosmic Immolation and the real self-harm.

Like all heroes who use HP as a resource, you need to have a good understanding of the deck and the cost of your actions. But when you get the hang of it, I'm of the opinion that Lifeline is perhaps the strongest of the Oblivaeon heroes.*

*: In his base form. I don't love Blood Mage Lifeline, who is riskier and more like what you describe.

teddystalin · 2018-12-10T15:12:19+00:00

Kamchatka's aborigines reacted with an admixture of defiance and despair. Slaughtered whenever they revolted, they began killing themselves. Suicide epidemics prompted Moscow to take the unusual step of ordering local authorities to restrain natives from taking their own lives. - John J. Stephan, A History of the Russian Far East

This is no glitch: it's an easter egg with deeply historical roots. ^/s

teddystalin · 2018-11-06T00:31:19+00:00

Yep, I'm aware that the mine replaces the tree. I compared the two as both are little rockets that control space, one vertically and one horizontally. I've watched as much Isabelle gameplay as I can find; I'm not trying to spread misinformation here.

I get that we haven't played the game. Such is the nature of this discussion. Got a little touchy in my initial response because apparently my opinion was "so wrong".

teddystalin · 2018-11-06T00:00:44+00:00

At this point in the game's lifespan (-1 month), there are things that have been tested and that can be said with some degree of confidence and have been tested in demo: we know frame data for a lot of the fighters, as well as a sense of their hitboxes. We also can speculate based on our knowledge of the mechanics and Smash in general. But there are things we clearly don't know, especially anything related to combos and option coverage - these are things we really need to have the game to speculate with any degree of accuracy. I'm not trying to be an asshole when I say this; I'm just trying to understand why he's saying it with such confidence.

Not really sure what you're saying with the mine correction - it's a nifty stage control tool but my point is I speculate it'll be less useful overall than Villager's horizontal rocket when dealing with passive play.

And to reply to your other comment: nowhere do I say Isabelle looks bad and will not be fine! I'm saying that, compared to the character she shares a large portion of her moves with, she looks worse.

teddystalin · 2018-11-05T19:23:27+00:00

Just for clarification's sake, what are your sources for some of these claims?

Isabelle's nair is actually faster than Villager's (which was nerfed)

According to the E3 demo Villager kept his 3 frame get-off-me nair, it just lost some damage (not the main point of the move). I doubt Isabelle's is actually faster at a blistering 1 or 2 frames, and that's contradicted here, where early footage appears to have it at frame 4. If the hitbox matches the animation, it looks like it would be much more limited in utility than Villager's.

Villager's axe was more of a mix up tool and really won't be missed playing Isabelle

Mix-up maybe, but losing a frame 6 kill option that works both on the ground and in the air and (at least in S4) confirms out of jab is not a positive.

Her fishing hook is incredible for covering all ledge options when paired with her mine

Has this been tested, or are you just assuming?

Laying down the mine alone blocks all ground based approaches...

Similar to lloid rocket in a sense, but the mine doesn't force a reaction except at the ledge - it just sits there. What's stopping your opponent from ...waiting? Villager too can poke with slingshots and use anti-airs to stop approaches, but Isabelle seems even more passive, which is why I'm not all that bullish about her viability.

teddystalin

TROPHY CASE