i’m actually not sure. i think once i understand the “mood” i need to be in to get the most out of a piece of media (which is entirely personal; perhaps not even as intended by the creator!), i don’t have too much trouble assuming it once again. it may vary, though. if i were to memorise the maps for metroid ii it’s possible i would no longer be able to enjoy the same sensation of being lost, but i think i find the presentation in the moment compelling and engrossing enough that i’d be able to push such thoughts out of my mind if i found them to be detracting.
there was one ABDN review which opened on a bit about the insanity of “spoiler culture”, claiming that no great artistic work was ever diminished by foreknowledge, and that sentiment struck a chord with me i think. i’m certainly not a purist with regards to preserving a sense of surprise in media; however what can often bother me is when the “conversation” and opinions surrounding a work seep into and cloud my consciousness when trying to experience and develop my own thoughts around it. this is a personal failing, i feel - i probably shouldn’t let other viewpoints override my own before i even have one, but the desire to be “up to date” with the meta is too strong. i digress again, though.
to pick another complicated example, riven is a game i only gain deeper respect for the more i learn about it, but i can’t really “play” it again. i know what to do! since the friction provided by the overarching goal of figuring out how to progress is gone, it no longer serves its primary function (and in this case i am taking that from the horse’s mouth) of incentivising you to slow down, look around and pay attention. i find the artistry of the game enduringly sublime, but to engage with it now is more just “hanging out” in a necessarily self-directed way, without the same tugging at your imagination of possibilities of what might be
the riven example is interesting… obviously that game is wonderful, and i do think there’s lots of poetics to engage with structurally/visually/etc. on repeat plays beyond just “hanging out” (and likewise imo on a first playthrough there are other perceptual modes of “slowing down, looking around and paying attention” than what we call immersion). at the same time, though, it’s absolutely true that games put pressure on a lot of frameworks for extended artistic experience by sacrificing part of their aesthetic autonomy to incorporate instrumental/teleological goal-oriented problem solving as a local (though only local) source of aesthetic “friction,” as you describe it. but i think that’s much more of an issue for (non-pejoratively, seriously) “shallow” games like riven.
yes, i was 100% thinking about speedrunning as a beautiful example of that kind of prolonged, deep analysis-oriented engagement
i finally got a new computer that is not some budget piece of shit that barely works, so i’ve been catching up on like the last ten years of epic gaming that i’ve missed out on.
but most importantly, this thing can do dreamcast emulation. and after twenty goddamn years, i’m finally getting to play d2, and it’s awesome.
the pinacle of WARP, and the game that was supposed to travel all around SB after I ordered an extra copy from ebay before Toups absconded with it forever.
I’m totally willing to bet the second screenshot is also with Raiden
Raiden makes the game very easy, even on hard, and then you get to the final boss and quickly learn that any hit makes poor giant-ass-1/3rd-of-the-screen sprite Raiden drop the enemies he’s holding on top of the precise position you need to hit
anywho, fifth boss. lame it out and toss mooks into him or turtle (but don’t turtle too hard or he’ll walk up to you and throw you). or you could be aggressive as fuck but realize he can just instantly decide he doesn’t want to be hit anymore and be ready to turn and block since he’ll likely do the flying kick after a dodge. or, if you’re Raiden, you duck in the corner and smash that attack button until he dies because the crouching attack covers half the screen and just completely locks him out from approaching
Booted up F-Zero GX on my Wii again now that I’ve got a working GameCube memory card again, and it makes a fairly compelling argument that when you’ve got ridiculously good art direction and solid high frame rates, resolution doesn’t matter as much as we think it does
i bought the 50 game sega genesis collection on ps4 so i can play SHINING FORCE. im glad theres a fast forward so i can skip past the enemies moving around on the field
i forgot how good the menu icons are! the way they animate when you highlight them is charming as fuck. I KEEP FUCKING ACCIDENTALLY QUITTING THE GAME AFTER I SAVE BECAUSE CANCEL IS X WHICH IS NOT WHAT MY GIANT WESTERN HANDS’ MUSCLES HAVE MEMORIZED. so then i have to go back and restart the game and fuck this I’m using quicksaves next time
but yea every single menu option is cute and i should have used them as avatars back when i changed my avatar every other hour
the raise icon makes it look like you turn into a mermaid though when you highlight it
I LOVE HOW EVERYONE TALKS LIKE A WEIRD ALIEN. like when you check a space and nothing is there its like 'nothing is unusual" EXCEPT THAT SENTENCE IS UNUSUAL SO THATS A LIE
anyway everyone already likes this game
IF YOU KNOW ANY COOL SECRETS LEMME KNOW i already got the monk and washed up dwarf who yelled at me that everyone outside the town gates is a LIAR. but he hits hard so i deal with the rambling
EDIT I FORGOT THE WHOLE REASON I WANTED TO POST WAS TO SCREAM ABOUT THE DEEP BASS WHEN YOU SAVE HOLY SHIT it sounds like those springy things on the bottom of doors
Dolphin VR is branched from 3+ years ago, so it doesn’t have the ubershaders yet and I had to run it for a while to work the stutters out, but the only issue I saw was the ship select menu which rendered incorrectly. Otherwise, like several of the Gamcube games I’ve tried, it renders the HUD in a nice box in the center where my eyes can see them and fills rest of the scene up to the limits of culling; I can look all around but some objects aren’t being drawn because they think they’re off camera.
i have never played a yakuza game and i never got to even finish my shenmue playthrough (though i still have my dreamcast)
i bought yakuza 0 because holiday sale for like $6.50 and i’ve been loving it except for the part where it’s making me be a real estate agent
i don’t know why i like games where you play as a big himbo so much but it’s so videogames and it’s so good. every time i see my lesser yakuza opponents animate in unison my heart soars for the history and medium of videogames.
i caught two lizards in a ufo catcher, and a karaoke kappa, and an opa opa, and also weirdly i played space harrier for the first time in eons, which felt like playing it from the first time, though i have to assume it wasn’t my first time? i don’t know. game good and majima’s introduction was perfect
bought a bunch of cheap psn games and the supprise hit so far is Verlet Swing a vapor wave themed grappling hook game. very chill and fun. under 10 bux i think.
been playing code vein. it is about as close to dark souls as you can get. there’s even similar animations for crushing consumable items. the game is honestly pretty enjoyable though. there isn’t much in terms of builds as leveling increases your base stats only. the game has a job system where you can change classes at will. changing your classes changes what equipment and abilities you can use. the level design is kind of a mixed bag so far. there is a mysterious girl with huge boobs who is covered in bandages.
