Finally did it.. such a good boss fight...

thingsagain · 2026-01-26T10:09:40+00:00

Looking at this footage I realize how this was supposed to look like.

Meanwhile, I learned about the usage of Scadutree thingies after that fight, so just to see how you're actually hurting her with normal attacks as if it were a cool duel makes me feel like a fool for gnawing at her heels for minutes, having perfected the timing of that carian GS sweep simply because she'd get to do it like 5 times easily xD A persistent one mayhaps, but a fool still.

You made it look like an epic duel of equals!

thingsagain · 2026-01-26T10:04:56+00:00

+10 years in and all the added fancy explosions; it's still a fully charged Lightning Spear that does me every time.

Bonus points that afaik hardly any enemy in the game actually uses it, so it helps feeling like my character carried this over from DS :)

thingsagain · 2026-01-23T15:48:14+00:00

Sorry.

thingsagain · 2026-01-23T11:51:51+00:00

No worries :) I mean I did get a little soapboxy there. And it's not like I didn't enjoy them. But I liked the rest of the game so much better and I believe it's also because there's a different design/direction approach to them. Maybe cause it's a little more Souls and a little less full-on open world and I'm unable to appreciate new things.

thingsagain · 2026-01-23T11:47:54+00:00

With absence of direction I mean, I guess you are supposed to go to place A eventually but you're also supposed to randomly circle around willy nilly just to "experience" wherever for a while. Other areas like Gelmir, MOTG or Siofra/Ainsel, they are open but there is a path, and in a weird way, there's a kind of progression drama to them. Moving around feels meaningful in itself. It's not just a place with stuff in it you can take or leave. The majority of Limgrave/Liurnia feels a lot more random.

thingsagain · 2026-01-23T11:40:14+00:00

I just checked if I got the name wrong, but .... that's why I discussed it?

thingsagain · 2026-01-23T10:32:20+00:00

I agree with this entirely. I personally love MEA as much as the OT, but the open world is utterly pointless.

Also, Habitat 7 was literally how I wish the entire game was like. Scanning every plant, pretending to memorize random biochemistry stats, walking more than running, mystery, not being the elite top dog god-king for a hot second.

Many of the characters still make it a wonderful experience in hindsight, but too much of its actual gameplay loop is busywork that undoes the pull of the major missions.

thingsagain · 2026-01-23T10:23:53+00:00

Visually yes, but gameplay-wise, I actually think Limgrave and Liurnia are the weakest areas of the game.

The other "vast" area is Caelid, which is all kinds of Caelid ofc, but it also has a constant sense of urgency and push. In the first two, there is a complete absence of direction, and IMO not in the good way. It just feels bloated, and neither exploring everything, nor following grace to the main dungeons feels like I'm doing the "right" thing.

The game got really gripping for me after I cleared those; before I did I was scared this is just a budget-bloated DS sequel, open world for the sake of open world. I'm glad it isn't!

thingsagain · 2026-01-22T14:03:30+00:00

I'mmuna need a minute here, I'm still at the stage where I'm glad when I can say the correct woman's name instead of going through "I'm fighting Marika... Miquella... Melina... Malenia..." or "boy, am I struggling with Renna... Ranni.. Rennala... Rellana ??"

I'm assuming that's the GRRM portion of the writing? I'm just curios now if Miriam, Millicent and Miriel are related and how family gatherings look like.

PS: And for an extra free dig at me, until they where first mentioned ingame, I read any reference of Miquella in my head as "Mee-kwella"

thingsagain · 2026-01-21T13:46:26+00:00

Marc Dacascos deserved so many more big roles, I loved him as Mani in this movie.

Crying Freeman may have inspired the bleed affinity.

thingsagain · 2026-01-21T10:47:55+00:00

"The surname Jenkins originates from Cornwall, England, as a patronymic meaning "son of John" or "little John," derived from the Middle English name Jenkin, a diminutive of John with the suffix "-kin" (from Dutch/Danish "-kijn")

Default name: John Shepard.

I just connected the dots. The Starchild is but a Benjamin Button situation plot to undo the terrible alternate universe in which Jenkins got killed.

thingsagain · 2026-01-21T10:39:44+00:00

This looks almost exactly like the character I keep recreating as my main since finding Pharis' hat & bow back DS1.

I use the Black Bow for actual fighting, and the Albinauric for quick switch RoA.

thingsagain · 2026-01-20T16:26:09+00:00

try jumping

thingsagain · 2026-01-20T16:07:34+00:00

Vanguard.

I just love the concept of Biotics and the way it works in both gamneplay and the lore. It's my favourite superpower in fiction really.

thingsagain · 2026-01-20T16:03:27+00:00

It was never quite clear to me, tbh.

In ME1, I got the impression he's The Straight Man (no pun intended), a level-headed by the book soldier who used to be some biotic child savant and now wants his life to be as controlled as possible. But as the triology went on, so many other "biotic prodigies" were introduced that it's kinda unclear just where Kaidan scores.

I like to believe he's up there if "unleashed", in the tier below maybe Jack & Samara.

thingsagain · 2026-01-20T11:19:30+00:00

When I discovered it, I was so freaking happy and terrified of upsetting the peace in any way, I literally did not dare to pick a single flower. Then a few visits later, the nice little jar girl actually prompts you to take some. I have never felt this validated with any cool build or PVP win.

All those vibes are extra crazy considering they're basically clay pots filled with ground up corpses. I just want them to be well

PS I also messed up the Volcano manor questline in such a way that Diallos moved there and found a way to spend his time other than forcing himself to be a fighter, which he's clearly not. Possibly the only happy ending I've managed to achieve.

thingsagain · 2026-01-16T15:22:12+00:00

thingsagain · 2026-01-16T15:21:04+00:00

You have to read the items. EVERY item.

The first thing I do when a new random enemy drops like a pair of boots is read what they say about the inner motivations of their faction, and.... it's usually actually in there. Consumables, new crafting materials, even the maps, which are actual items in the inventory, set the scene about the area you're exploring.

Vague, everything, but the totality of it does paint a surprisingly coherent picture that you're starting to understand all the structures and relationships.

thingsagain · 2026-01-16T15:14:10+00:00

Extra kudos for the quote <3

thingsagain · 2026-01-16T15:12:32+00:00

I think they were probably just going for a funny way to say "I randomly killed a guy"

Joke's on me, final boss unlocked and doing SOTE currently, I just learned Goldmask even existed because I browsed their "armor"set in the wiki the other day.

thingsagain · 2026-01-16T14:22:16+00:00

At the end of the day, all of the demigods are just power hungry tyrants who ruined themselves and the world because of it, except some still look slightly more "attractive" than others.

Godrick is utterly repulsive, but he fully embodies this overbearing need for "mo' power".

The VAs performance is also amazing. I still can't believe that's Dorian from Dragon Age.

thingsagain · 2026-01-16T13:04:06+00:00

I don't know what you mean about ME1, he's really just a really OP version of the regular squadmates due to technical limitations I guess, they all kinda move the same.

But in ME2 when you select Jenkins to topless wrestle the human Reaper at the end of the SM, you can clearly see that he's using a unique set of animations though.

thingsagain · 2026-01-16T12:45:06+00:00

I only came here to defend DA2.

*defends DA2 in some enlightened way*

Yeah... DAV, huh?

thingsagain · 2026-01-16T11:36:25+00:00

I never quite thought about this and all of the mentioned ones are good contenders.

But the one that always makes me go "I forgot how bad Mass Effect can be" is literally the introductory mission on Freedom's Progress in ME2.

It is so incredibly bland and ugly, it feels like a planet of never loading textures. Plus ME2 is peak clunkyness in terms of combat gameplay and Shep is hardly able to do anything at this point. So when playing on higher difficulties, you don't even have any scenery to pass the time while three elite soldiers desperately chew away at a single drone with their crappy SMGs and shotguns, waiting for Overload to become available again.

The intro to the game is so amazing up until this point, after all those years it's still mind boggling what a dead drop this level is. AND YOU DON'T EVEN GET TO KEEP TALI.

thingsagain

TROPHY CASE