A lot of reviews and comments (in general, not here) went with a very surface level "critique" about the game without diving into what failed compared to previous titles.
For me personally, the new game missed a lot of what made the previous games special writing wise - characters are barely that, story is way more contrived and bland. Gameplay and activities are nowhere near what we had before as well. It's just a weaker game with a nicer coat of paint.
I know that might be a tough sell, but I feel like this video by Tehsnakerer gives a really good look into what went wrong while avoiding (and even calling out) some of the most common complaints. It's a good watch but it's also 2.5h long and not everyone has time or interest in that. If that's the case I might write a short summary when I have some time.
That said I already had some problems with SR3 and 4, doesn't mean I'm going to try and force people to hate them. If you had fun with the new one that's the important part.
Man, I haven't read BL since "The Wired Red Wild Card" arc and boy it's good to be back.
Really like the new girl so far, though both how happy everyone is and those new ambitious musings Rock's been spewing this chapter make me a little worried. I hope I'm just paranoid.
Eh, I don't think it's that big of a deal. We have plenty of comedy based on serious topics, in manga and other media - that doesn't make them any less serious or important.
Personally, I'd be more worried about a concentrated push of topics/narrative made by corporations or governments than one relatively unknown manga.
Let's not get crazy and treat everything seriously all the time. Hell, sometimes it feels like people who've been through really bad stuff are more willing to laugh about it than those who didn't. Respect and thoughtfulness are important, yes, but so is humor - humans can find it in the worst of times, that's our strength.
As for manga itself, it's funny enough. Not really my type of thing long term but I didn't really find anything wrong with it. Never been to a prison though.
That wasn't meant as a negative, I love long form content!
It was a fun read and I'm glad I could learn a bit more about the game. Shame about their over ambition but at least they gave it a shot - having all the processes figured out can cause a bit of blandness these days, more so with high-budget titles.
Fun fact, I actually managed to score with the basketball on my first try when I played the game last year. Didn't try again, decided to take my win while I could.
I feel like Trespasser would be an interesting project to try and recreate for VR - the basic gameplay is already there after all.
Also, RIP Neverhood. Don't think I ever finished it but it was a fun one.
I got an urge to reread BIBLIOMANIA.
It's a short (12 chapters), creepy story about a girl named Alice stuck in an empty room. It has supernatural horror and post-apocalypse elements as well as some really cool, imaginative and freaky art. One of my favorites.
As for ongoing series, two I follow updated this week:
It was one of the more "serious" scenes in a while, wasn't it? Like, I'm not really worried about anything happening to Hana for example. Although... maybe her scene (and possible intervention of Michiru's sister) will be the twist this time.
Yeah, it's definitely not for everyone nor for every game but it can be really fun and relaxing as long as you don't care about constant action or lots of progress.
That's pretty much me with most (open world) games.
I always treated games as a different worlds to get immersed in and that's how I approach them to this day.
I'm also a weirdo who likes to makes games more difficult and realistic/tedious for myself which means stuff like limiting the amount of carried items, not using fast travel, acting like an actual part of the world, turning off the UI if possible and choosing fashion over min maxing.
I don't think I ever did any kind of "gimmick" challenges. Probably because it kind of contradicts with my usual way of play.
It is however always interesting to read up on them - it amazes me what some people come up with to spice up their playthrough.
The former seems to be quite a bit easier than I remember it being, but not to a point where it would affect my fun (I'm also realitively early into the game).
Pangya is really growing on me as well. Just finished episode 1 with the first character and got about half-way with char #2. I really like it and I'm surprised I didn't know about this game for so long.
Lastly, I replaced Minecraft with The Sims 2. I was planning to install it just to see how it works through WINE and suddenly realized I've been building for like 6 hours. Boy those games are scary...
A Useless Idol and the Only Fan in the World
All hail Urumin. We're slowly getting close to the end of pre-serialization parts and I can't wait to see how things expand from there.
Power Antoinette
Story about a buff Marie Antoinette who escapes her execution and bashes her way through Paris. It's silly, it's fun, it's only 4 chapters long (translation that is, original version is on volume 2).
Not a huge fan of muscles being a temporary buff (even if they're active for most of story so far) but it is what it is.
Like many people I'm not particularly surprised by this news but it doesn't make it any less unfortunate.
Good luck to all the people losing their jobs and rip SR2 patch. I just hope we'll get another good game from one of their series some day.