Chris Posted April 1, 2015 Idle Thumbs 204:The Reader's PleasureHey, does that ladder have your blood echoes? Just checking. By the way, that reminds me of a dream I had. I think it was about cyborgs. Or lesbian dinosaur cyborgs. There were definitely cyborgs. But look—we all serve at the pleasure of the readers. Am I right or am I right?Things Discussed: Bloodborne, Cities: Skylines, Ori and the Blind Forest, Spirits of Xanadu, cyborg bloodsport Listen on the Episode Page Listen on Soundcloud Listen in iTunes Subscribe to the RSS Feed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tegan Posted April 1, 2015 Psst, Chris, wrong description. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blambo Posted April 1, 2015 I am idiot Hear me roar! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reyturner Posted April 2, 2015 Next Generation England England Voyager Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tberton Posted April 2, 2015 I like the Chris asked Danielle if she'd been to Disney World lately. I think it's been established that no matter when in the whole of the timestream you ask Danielle that question, the answer will be "yes." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tegan Posted April 2, 2015 I love that none of the Thumbs realized that Two Rooms And A Boom is a game that they had already played and talked about mere months ago. Oh, and regarding western religious imagery in Japanese pop culture: I'm sure that there's an interesting discussion to be had regarding western influence on Japan and the growth of Christianity in that region over the past half-century or so etc etc; but it is astonishing how much of that can be directly traced back to the massively influential 1995 anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, which was deliberately given extremely strong religious imagery solely because the director thought it looked cool. It's everywhere in that show and all of it is 100% meaningless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jenben Posted April 2, 2015 Oh, and regarding western religious imagery in Japanese pop culture: I'm sure that there's an interesting discussion to be had regarding western influence on Japan and the growth of Christianity in that region over the past half-century or so etc etc; but it is astonishing how much of that can be directly traced back to the massively influential 1995 anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, which was deliberately given extremely strong religious imagery solely because the director thought it looked cool. It's everywhere in that show and all of it is 100% meaningless. I watched Evangelion in high school and had SUCH a fun time coming up with BS theories on the symbology with my fellow nerd friends. When I found out, way later, that Anno and crew were using Christianity like Americans use Norse mythology, I thought it was hilarious. (Another symbol-heavy anime that was fun to give more credit than it deserved: Utena! I still love Utena.) Regarding Disneyland: LOVE. I grew up going once a year since my family lived about an hour away (and tickets weren't $100+ back then). Now I have an annual pass and mostly go to drink and wander around with friends. Also, I'm doing RunDisney's Infinity Gauntlet Challenge this year. I feel like I'm trying to be SoCal Danielle, only way less fit... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jake Posted April 2, 2015 I love that none of the Thumbs realized that Two Rooms And A Boom is a game that they had already played and talked about mere months ago. Oh, and regarding western religious imagery in Japanese pop culture: I'm sure that there's an interesting discussion to be had regarding western influence on Japan and the growth of Christianity in that region over the past half-century or so etc etc; but it is astonishing how much of that can be directly traced back to the massively influential 1995 anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, which was deliberately given extremely strong religious imagery solely because the director thought it looked cool. It's everywhere in that show and all of it is 100% meaningless. Only Sean and I played Two Rooms and a Boom. Twist! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyS Posted April 2, 2015 No Jake, strange . I will quit my job and make space dinosaur lesbian goes to Ed Hardys Disney World. Also I really agree with Chris's opinion about Bloodbornes visuals on this and the previous episode. I could barely finish watching the review footage because I found it looking so bland'ish. Really liked how demon souls and Dark Souls looked. But to be fair to Bloodborne I saw a really nice screenshot of a sunset desert thing so I guess I maybe just missed the pretty parts Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gritfish Posted April 2, 2015 I didn't get stuck to quite the extent that Chris did, but I definitely lost several hours exploring, farming and backtracking, because I didn't realise I could push a block to the left and stand on it to reach a thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nappi Posted April 2, 2015 Chris, did you get the critical path ability of swimming in Ori and the Blind Forest before you started grinding for the upgrade to breathe under water? I think that upgrade just takes your oxygen meter away. I agree that the Metroidvania aspect of Ori can be a bit aggravating at times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reyturner Posted April 2, 2015 No Jake, strange . I will quit my job and make space dinosaur lesbian goes to Ed Hardys Disney World. I want to make a game called "Steve's Office" and make tiny wario ware style micro games out of dreams I have. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
melmer Posted April 2, 2015 Yo Ori, I’m really happy for you, Imma let you finish but Bloodborne is one of the best video games of all time…one of the best video games of all time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
atte Posted April 2, 2015 Spaff has such a great voice, like a smoother and more British Steve Gaynor. The podcast has now so many cool regular hosts and guests that it's fun to think about how different combos would work. I think my nightmare dream episode would be just Nick and Steve together... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thefncrow Posted April 2, 2015 Regarding Ori, basically all the XP-based upgrades are quality of life improvements rather than actual abilities you have to have. The abilities that are used to gate your progress in that Metroidvania style are all handed out as you progress through the story and you can't really miss them. You just have to progress on the critical path. Chris, did you get the critical path ability of swimming in Ori and the Blind Forest before you started grinding for the upgrade to breathe under water? I think that upgrade just takes your oxygen meter away. I agree that the Metroidvania aspect of Ori can be a bit aggravating at times. It's not even a swimming ability. The waters in each area just remain dirty until you progress to a certain story event.But yeah, that upgrade does just take away the oxygen meter while swimming. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyS Posted April 2, 2015 I want to make a game called "Steve's Office" and make tiny wario ware style micro games out of dreams I have. I would play that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UglyWoods Posted April 2, 2015 Alternate Episode Title:I Have No Mouth and I Must Meme Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cordeos Posted April 2, 2015 The more I listen to Idle Thumbs the more I realize I have totally different taste in games than the hosts. The discussion of Ori really drove this home for me. I have never really liked platformers, but the story of getting stuck and trying every little thing to advance sounds terrible to me. When listening I just kept thinking that it sounds like a game design problem, not a player misunderstanding problem. The basic difference seems to stem from my desire to relax when playing games. I find platformers and super unforgiving games like the early Ghost Recon's and Dark Souls to be really frustrating. As the amount of time I have to game has decreased and my ability to buy more games has increased, I have found myself gravitating towards the lowest difficulty level in games. I have a giant pile of unplayed games and don't want to get stuck on some fiddly bit of a game and waste a bunch of time. The only games I have really enjoyed the highest difficulty on were the Rainbow Six Vegas games and the Ace Combat series, I have no idea why these are the games I love the highest difficulty on. This is totally not a criticism and I actually think it is a strength of Idle Thumbs that I don't care about a lot of the games discussed, but still love to listen every week. P.S. This article made me so happy because it let me know I wasn't alone: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/03/24/easy-mode-guilt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zerofiftyone Posted April 2, 2015 Alternate Episode Title: I Have No Mouth and I Must Meme Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reyturner Posted April 2, 2015 When I heard Chris talking about that Besiege gif, I realized we were very different people. I'm assuming it was this one: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nelsormensch Posted April 2, 2015 If anyone was curious after the mention on the cast, behold Nelsorton: http://imgur.com/a/MiZay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
