Games You Played Today ##RELOAD

I think the combat was as sophisticated as a it should be for a short Zelda 1-y game.

I’d agree with the inverse – the game didn’t get too long for the sophistication of the combat. It was definitely smart producerin’.

I wouldn’t agree with that at all – I stopped playing somewhere in the middle precisely because it was boring mechanically, despite liking the art and music.

I actually think Zelda 1 has better combat too!

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transistor is better is almost every conceivable way (despite being significantly different), so if you dug bastion, you’ll surely dig transistor

it replaces the worst part of bastion with something much more interesting (combat)

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started playing dragon’s dogma again whoops

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Yea that Bastion game’s combat felt like a flash game to me and the novelty of a narrator talking as you play seemed like an unnecessary flourish. Also, wasn’t Greg Kasavin creative director for Bastion? Further proof it’s probably a waste of time to finish it.

me toooooo! literally as i started reading this post hi5

it’s in lieu of being able to afford nuZelda + Switch

i keep thinking about shovel knight

the first time i played cave story, i noticed all the influences and borrowings and ancestry and yet was captivated regardless. it felt earnest and earned

when i play shovel knight i get no character or charm, just cobbled together shit. something akin to “focus-tested design”

the DLCs look very mechanically solid, and the level design seems good in general, but the actual aesthetic and design sensibilities at large are a vicious turn off

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There’s a thin line between synthesizing the media you love, and appreciate, and that influenced you in ways that you want to pay homage to, and in simply pandering to a pre-made audience. It’s a line that i can see that Shovel Knight blurs, having played more hours of it since we had this conversation a few weeks ago. It’s a line i struggle with a lot, because a lot of the new media i love blurs it too, and because a lot of the ideas i have for media i want to create myself likely does. All i can say is that SK falls on the “good, OK” side of the line, for me, and if it didn’t for you, meauxdal, or anyone else, OK. I’d love to have more of an articulation why it didn’t, for my own purposes, but i respect your feelings regardless of any disagreement i might summon for them.

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I think the crux may be that Shovel Knight’s visual aesthetics are warmed over 8-bittishness but that the level/mechanical design comes from a place of love. The professionalism of the production probably blurs that line even more. You’re both right, but focused on different sides of the game.

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Well it sure looks like, and oft plays like, a beautiful Mega Man romhack. i like that about it, but seeing as it doesn’t present itself explicitly as a beautiful Mega Man romhack, i couldn’t argue with someone who didn’t.

sure if you hate fun video games I could see that. PEW PEW PEW.

Actually, I think there’s a lot to Bastion and how the different weapons, abilities, enemies, and difficulty options collect into a cohesive whole.

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I’m deliberately avoiding the SK discussion now because it’s starting to sound like comparing how color looks between people. I don’t want to accidentally turn into an asshole and claim there’s any objectivity to SK, is what I’m saying. No offense to those who are enjoying the discourse.

On another, unabashedly assholish note, I’m glad to walk in here tonight and see I’m not the only one who didn’t resonate with Bastion. Great music, pretty aesthetics, neat dynamic narrator gimmick, but…just kinda boring? Not my thing. Also it’s got some weird perspectives on genocide, uh. One day I’ll play Transistor.

In other other news I sat around feeling empty today and watched my sister play Fallout 4. That is certainly FO3 with mods!

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Just an FYI, dunno how long you’ve been lurking, but Starseed Pilgrim was actually created by an sb poster.

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I didn’t fuckin know this! Now I want to try it again, but it super went over my head last time.

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but which one?

He’s a dude from Toronto, I’ve met him a couple times but I forget his username and also didn’t realize he posted here

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droqen iirc

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I did not, nice. It’s not at all surprising, really, when you consider such a wealth of knowledge and ideas coming from this community. But hey, it’s a nice bit of trivia that adds to the legacy of this place.

Rad stuff.

You are correct.

SB invented videogames.

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