I’m finally forcing myself through Fire Emblem (after deciding my new year resolution was to go through Metal Gear Solid. figures). I played through a few skirmishes on the Famicom original for the quaint aesthetic before switching over to Shadow Dragon on the DS. It’s much snappier but oh man I can’t go one battle without resetting multiple times, usually because “oh so I needed to bring this character to recruit that character”. I usually have to take a break after each battle, due to how involved each one is. You can tell I don’t play strategy very often.
As much as I sneered at the concept of casual mode in the newer ones, it seems entirely possible I’ll use it just to save time.
Going through Magicka coop and it is a roaring good time and it feels like I’m still figuring out new tactics 10 hours in, much less stressful than coop Helldivers
I have only heard great things about it so I would legit play it with you if I can figure out if PlayStation Now is viable on my Internet connection as I don’t have a PS3 lying around anymore, nor do I have the desire to deal with Windows
This is interesting because “constantly bombarded with stressful interactions you have no control over, one after another” is exactly why I dislike random encounters. Also it fucks up the soundtrack’s flow
Thanks for posting that. I work retail and have to deal with all kinds of random crazy on any given day and goddamn it sometimes I just wanna turn my brain off and watch my numbers go up.
This is why I’ve put countless hours into Skrim and haven’t gotten around to better, smarter games in my collection.
In the Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics framework this is referred to as the aesthetic of Submission or Abnegation; wanting to be idly entertained. They don’t bother defining it further.
My company’s Kool-Aid is a framework emphasizing three human goals in life and games:
Autonomy (I have freedom to do what I want)
** Interpreted as push to open-world goal choice, systemic play
Relatedness (This connects me with others)
** Obviously multiplayer but also expressed through talking with others; random/interesting quests in Red Dead (or for us, Yakuza) creating share moments
Competence (I express mastery)
So in this framework, RPG grinding is an easy fix to your needs for autonomy (slight) and competence (high) after stressful work lacking in those aspects.
My working day is jam fucking packed with autonomy, relatedness and competence. These days I mostly play games for the same reason I watch movies. Which is why mostly I watch other people play games.
I thought the boat was good, but people are complaining about it. I don’t really know why - unoriginal? The whole game is. The boat is a big area filled with stuff to investigate with very little to interrupt you. Sure the story at that time was getting especially bland, but there’s about 90 minutes of you just wandering the boat where that stuff isn’t present. I enjoyed starting with nothing as Mia and gradually getting all the weapons and items. Ethan also is shit so I was pleased to be rid of him for a while.
My problem with the third act is that it’s visually boring, the map layout uninspired and no new mechanics are introduced. But yeah, Mia, her knife, the remote bombs and the terrible machine gun are pretty cool. Kind of want RE 7 Mercs because of her and the upcoming Redfield: Agent of Umbrella DLC.