pearceshea

OK, so these are all huge spoilers, but this Kotaku UK article has, as far as I can tell, the most convincing and complete explanation of the game's story. Not sure if anyone is interested.

It's intriguing. I don't want to say too much because it feels like nearly everything could be a spoiler because of where I am in the game. In re, say, Demons Souls or Dark Souls 1, it's similarly subtle and similarly very deliberate. Miyazaki loves making things that encourage and reward protracted engagement. The Eurogamer review mentioned one instance of this where I was like, "oh wait, this all has a very specific meaning, it's not just meant to be creepy."

I'm about 3/4 of the way through (I think) and I think I've only burned through consumables when (a) it's early in the game and just hit an enemy I can't figure out and ( boss and NPC hunter fights. Later in the game, boss fights can still deplete my cache, but at that point, they're also very easy to farm. (Like, takes 5 minutes). I dunno, farming is definitely a thing you will have to do in this game, be it consumables or echoes. Oh and about progressing, I'm thinking that I may have borked certain storylines by moving too quickly through other content. So heads up on that. Also: Insight is maybe the coolest concept in this game.

Back a console generation ago, I used to spend a day a month driving from one game store and thrift shop to another, browsing the old games (ps1, ps2 mostly). I got all the SMTs, including the Japanese-only add on for persona 2. Those, plus all the King's Fields were the biggest finds as I actually played those (and obsessively). And like, the second printing of the original dungeons and dragons, avalon hill's titan, both of the realms of chaos books, and a number of old table top rpgs from back when they were "fantasy role playing" or FRPS rather than "rpgs."

Wow. That looks very diablo 1 esque... so that's awesome.

Friday nights are tricky for me as it's when I normally run games for the home group, but I could be an alternate.

I like a lot about this, but is it like... Japanese models pretending to be gangsters in the American midwest circa 1950 or so and then there are monsters? Is this like Pleasantville but like, what happens when Final Fantasy comea to Americana neverland? I think I like that. My gut reaction is like visceral bewilderment at the aesthetics.

I play mostly D&D. I run D&D and some Warhammer Fantasy 1e oneshots. I'm thinking about running some stuff online via Google hangouts. I can ping anyone in if spots open up (but I've not formalized time). Would run something that's maybe closest to D&D and dark souls mashed together. Here's my hacked up Moldvay Basic that I run in the fall/Halloween (or have three years now, though the first time it was in a somehwat different format) if anyone wants to try that out. http://gameswithothers.blogspot.com/2013/08/monsterparts-attribute-less-d.html Here's what I'm working on right now. http://gameswithothers.blogspot.com/2014/08/in-limbo-d-little-bit-of-spelljammer.html And yeah, 5e is good fun.

I'm torn on that mechanic: on the one hand, part of what makes Souls games great is the uncertainty/feeling exposed at all times, but on the other hand playing with friends makes most games better. It's kind of fascinating how far afield Souls goes from what seems like the conventional wisdom in re multiplayer. Also, fuck this looks good. When I was a kid playing Castlevania (or a teenager playing Symphony of the Night) this is pretty much what I imagined. Also, shades of Vampire Hunter D and all that.