Video Gaming Critical Discussion

[Unending Powerhouse Match]

What you've described about ER definitely resonates with me, and is something I am starting to hate with modern games, the fact they they're so damn long and don't seem to respect your time. It's even worse when they have endless cutscences and exposition like Starfield, it's almost arrogant for a video game developer to think they can create stories on par with movie or television writers.

I know the market is partly to blame for some of these trends, because low-iq gamers insist that longer games are "better bang for your buck". This is obviously incorrect because it doesn't factor in quality over quantity let alone the replay value of games that can be shorter. The reason shorter games have higher replay value is that they aren't such a massive commitment of your time and energy, and can be beaten in less than a week, or perhaps even a single weekend. Most modern games have too much pointless padding, time wasting, and grinding mechanics while often lacking in soul or polish. I'm much more in favor of shorter, linear games which are very much out of fashion, but I think of games like Metro 2033 or Metroid Fusion, which are 100% linear but have insanely high replay value and are immensely enjoyable prove otherwise. Shorter, linear games don't feel like such a grind and don't make you constantly have to stress out about keeping track of all the side quests and areas you need to keep track of, instead letting you fully immerse yourself in the gameplay and the world in a directed experience that polishes and controls every single experience you have.

This isn't to say the open world format is bad, Metro Exodus and Stalker are great examples. But I think if you're going for this long, open ended format it needs to be top-tier quality without padding or excessive grinding, which 99% of modern games fail to do.

Agreed. Games these days try their best to be something like a second life for people to completely escape to for insane amounts of time. MMORPGs especially get really crazy and you truly do have to treat them like a part time job or else you're not welcome in most clans/guilds.

The modern videogame is the polar opposite of the classic arcade format, which prioritized extremely polished, short and sweet gameplay. Compare, for example, Genshin Impact and its insufferable 15+ minute unskippable cutscenes and hundreds of hours of "content" (mostly padding, grinding and time wasting like you said) with something like Metal Slug. It's night and day.

 

[Batman]

Agreed. Games these days try their best to be something like a second life for people to completely escape to for insane amounts of time. MMORPGs especially get really crazy and you truly do have to treat them like a part time job or else you're not welcome in most clans/guilds.

The modern videogame is the polar opposite of the classic arcade format, which prioritized extremely polished, short and sweet gameplay. Compare, for example, Genshin Impact and its insufferable 15+ minute unskippable cutscenes and hundreds of hours of "content" (mostly padding, grinding and time wasting like you said) with something like Metal Slug. It's night and day.

Interesting analogy with arcade games. Though a trend seen in games from the 80s and 90s was making games absurdly difficult to artifically increase the length, which is equally annoying, though not all games did this.

Also I noticed your comment about "anime mobile games" and I definitely think those are a cancer. The old Fire Emblem games cannot even compare to many of the newer ones, which were completely revamped to appeal to a mainstream (see: coomer/weebo) audience by sexualizing everything, removing strategy, and turning it full weeb. The older games had none of these qualities and were quite wholesome. If you like turned based strategies with only light JRPG elements, Fire Emblem 5, 7, 9, and 10 are all incredible games, and this is coming from someone who hates JRPGs and RPGs in general.

 

[Gazeebo]

Interesting analogy with arcade games. Though a trend seen in games from the 80s and 90s was making games absurdly difficult to artifically increase the length, which is equally annoying, though not all games did this.

Also I noticed your comment about "anime mobile games" and I definitely think those are a cancer. The old Fire Emblem games cannot even compare to many of the newer ones, which were completely revamped to appeal to a mainstream (see: coomer/weebo) audience by sexualizing everything, removing strategy, and turning it full weeb. The older games had none of these qualities and were quite wholesome. If you like turned based strategies with only light JRPG elements, Fire Emblem 5, 7, 9, and 10 are all incredible games, and this is coming from someone who hates JRPGs and RPGs in general.

Played Fire Emblem Three Houses. Agreed with all you said. Game got to a point where my main character had a sword that longer range than long bow, hit twice every turn, and dealt attacked on the enemy's weakness only and healed for every attack. It was a silly game and ruined my liking to try another recent FE game for probably ever.

 

[Batman]

Played Fire Emblem Three Houses. Agreed with all you said. Game got to a point where my main character had a sword that longer range than long bow, hit twice every turn, and dealt attacked on the enemy's weakness only and healed for every attack. It was a silly game and ruined my liking to try another recent FE game for probably ever.

I remember seeing the trailer for Three Houses years ago and thinking it looked horrible and being disappointed. Then I saw all the excitement and praise for the game and realized there's a huge divide between the old and the new fans of the series, which is quite odd. One reason for this trend may be because modern gamers are scrubs and don't like hard games.

Anyway, yeah the newer games are just trash; Radiant Dawn from 2007 is the last great game in the series (and one of the hardest), but it sold poorly which is among the reasons they haven't returned to form. Maybe the series needs to take a nosedive like Resident Evil did for them to return to their roots.

Which of the older ones have you played? I will say, Path of Radiance was fairly easy as well but the story and dialogue/character writing was more than enough to make up for it, imo.

 

[Tippy]

Interesting analogy with arcade games. Though a trend seen in games from the 80s and 90s was making games absurdly difficult to artifically increase the length, which is equally annoying, though not all games did this.

Also I noticed your comment about "anime mobile games" and I definitely think those are a cancer. The old Fire Emblem games cannot even compare to many of the newer ones, which were completely revamped to appeal to a mainstream (see: coomer/weebo) audience by sexualizing everything, removing strategy, and turning it full weeb. The older games had none of these qualities and were quite wholesome. If you like turned based strategies with only light JRPG elements, Fire Emblem 5, 7, 9, and 10 are all incredible games, and this is coming from someone who hates JRPGs and RPGs in general.

How would you rate the 3DS fire emblem games?

 

[Batman]

How would you rate the 3DS fire emblem games?

I haven't played them due to not owning a 3DS and since I really hate the 3DS as a platform. Nintendo insisted on making all their games fully 3D which would have been fine if the hardware wasn't a joke (unlike the PSP, which still holds up), so pretty much every game on the platform looked like ass.

 

[Gazeebo]

I remember seeing the trailer for Three Houses years ago and thinking it looked horrible and being disappointed. Then I saw all the excitement and praise for the game and realized there's a huge divide between the old and the new fans of the series, which is quite odd. One reason for this trend may be because modern gamers are scrubs and don't like hard games.

Anyway, yeah the newer games are just trash; Radiant Dawn from 2007 is the last great game in the series (and one of the hardest), but it sold poorly which is among the reasons they haven't returned to form. Maybe the series needs to take a nosedive like Resident Evil did for them to return to their roots.

Which of the older ones have you played? I will say, Path of Radiance was fairly easy as well but the story and dialogue/character writing was more than enough to make up for it, imo.

I remember getting the GBA Fire Emblem for my birthday in 2003 and I could not stop playing it. It was painfully difficult but I enjoyed that. I have also played Path of Radiance which I enjoyed. I also have played Sacred Stones which was pretty good too.
I own also own Radiant Dawn but never played it.

I know they have 3ds remakes of the original game out. But I imagine it's extremely expensive.

 

[Tippy]

I haven't played them due to not owning a 3DS and since I really hate the 3DS as a platform. Nintendo insisted on making all their games fully 3D which would have been fine if the hardware wasn't a joke (unlike the PSP, which still holds up), so pretty much every game on the platform looked like ass.

I have a 2DS.

In terms of titles released it might be one of the best.

 

[Unending Powerhouse Match]

I haven't played them due to not owning a 3DS and since I really hate the 3DS as a platform. Nintendo insisted on making all their games fully 3D which would have been fine if the hardware wasn't a joke (unlike the PSP, which still holds up), so pretty much every game on the platform looked like ass.

The 3DS was released back when there was a big craze around 3D movies and 3D TVs, so it's understandable that Nintendo wanted to do something with that technology. I think it's worth clarifying that the 3D mode on the 3DS was always totally optional, having a physical toggle.

Even if you had it on, not that many games actually implemented anything 3D. Most people kept 3D toggled off permanently, and you really didn't miss out on anything if you kept it off. Years later, when 3D technology had gone extinct for very good reasons, Nintendo released the 2DS, which is just a 3DS but without the useless 3D mode.

It was very solid for a portable console and it had a really good library of available games. I personally consider it one of the best consoles of all time.

 

[Tippy]

The 3DS was released back when there was a big craze around 3D movies and 3D TVs, so it's understandable that Nintendo wanted to do something with that technology. I think it's worth clarifying that the 3D mode on the 3DS was always totally optional, having a physical toggle.

Even if you had it on, not that many games actually implemented anything 3D. Most people kept 3D toggled off permanently, and you really didn't miss out on anything if you kept it off. Years later, when 3D technology had gone extinct for very good reasons, Nintendo released the 2DS, which is just a 3DS but without the useless 3D mode.

It was very solid for a portable console and it had a really good library of available games. I personally consider it one of the best consoles of all time.

Yep plus you can quite easily mod it and get 8/16/32 bit title Roms on emulator. Adding that element makes it even more impressive. I have a library of SNES games, Genesis stuff. NES and GBA games. It's just awesome.

 

[Gazeebo]

Yep plus you can quite easily mod it and get 8/16/32 bit title Roms on emulator. Adding that element makes it even more impressive. I have a library of SNES games, Genesis stuff. NES and GBA games. It's just awesome.

You can put roms on 3ds? Can you elaborate on the process. I know there is a switch cartridge that allows you to put many game on one switch cartridge. But I'm not sure how you could rom 3ds

 

[Unending Powerhouse Match]

You can put roms on 3ds? Can you elaborate on the process. I know there is a switch cartridge that allows you to put many game on one switch cartridge. But I'm not sure how you could rom 3ds

The 3DS has an SD card slot. Once you set up a custom firmware on your 3DS, which is not that hard to do, you can install 3DS roms in your SD card's storage and the console will treat them like games digitally purchased from the eShop. It doesn't need to be roms of actual 3DS games, it can be homebrew software like emulators.

 

[Tippy]

The 3DS has an SD card slot. Once you set up a custom firmware on your 3DS, which is not that hard to do, you can install 3DS roms in your SD card's storage and the console will treat them like games digitally purchased from the eShop. It doesn't need to be roms of actual 3DS games, it can be homebrew software like emulators.

Yeah dude. Is awesome.

So to answer my question considering all the fire emblem games (including new ones but any from SNES era or even GBA or DS) what's the best? Especially for someone who does not love RPGs beyond Pokemon.

 

[Batman]

I remember getting the GBA Fire Emblem for my birthday in 2003 and I could not stop playing it. It was painfully difficult but I enjoyed that. I have also played Path of Radiance which I enjoyed. I also have played Sacred Stones which was pretty good too.
I own also own Radiant Dawn but never played it.

I know they have 3ds remakes of the original game out. But I imagine it's extremely expensive.

Fire Emblem on the GBA was hugely popular when it came out. I remember being in middle school and it was easily the most popular handheld game since Pokemon. I remember a classmate always wanting to watch me play it on bus trips, and him begging me to promote Raven so he could see what a Hero class looked like but I was adament that I had to level him up to 20 first lol.

I have a 2DS.

In terms of titles released it might be one of the best.

I forgot the 2DS was a thing. Which game do you mean?

The 3DS was released back when there was a big craze around 3D movies and 3D TVs, so it's understandable that Nintendo wanted to do something with that technology. I think it's worth clarifying that the 3D mode on the 3DS was always totally optional, having a physical toggle.

Even if you had it on, not that many games actually implemented anything 3D. Most people kept 3D toggled off permanently, and you really didn't miss out on anything if you kept it off. Years later, when 3D technology had gone extinct for very good reasons, Nintendo released the 2DS, which is just a 3DS but without the useless 3D mode.

It was very solid for a portable console and it had a really good library of available games. I personally consider it one of the best consoles of all time.

When I say 3D, I mean literally 3D in-game polygon rendering instead of using sprites, ie what the Nintendo 64 era of games helped push, and in that case it was mostly done right. However I think handheld games really screwed up here and I don't see why they felt the need to abandon sprite-based graphics with unique pixel art.

Compare the old 2D Metroid games (such as Fusion) to Samus Returns, Pokemon Crystal to any newer game, or Fire Emblem 7 to Awakening - they abandoned that unique pixel art/sprite based style in favor of really generic, uninspired and quite frankly ugly 3d renderings... the hardware wasn't even good enough for high fidelity which made the bland style look even worse.

Yeah dude. Is awesome.

So to answer my question considering all the fire emblem games (including new ones but any from SNES era or even GBA or DS) what's the best? Especially for someone who does not love RPGs beyond Pokemon.

Personally, I think any from FE4-FE10 are worth playing, but most people would probably recommend FE7 as a good starting point just because it's the most accessible and most people have nothing bad to say about it.

FE9 (Path of Radiance) is my favorite in the series though, and there's a high-res texture pack for it in Dolphin that makes it look great. It's not too difficult to setup, and the game itself isn't too hard either.

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Too many zoomers only want to play videogames. They don't want to go to school. They don't want to work. They don't want to do anything. They just want to stay home forever and play videogames. It's disgusting.

Ever since videogaming became even more corporatized, the games are designed to be even more addictive, more money grabbing, more time-intensive. Pairing someone with no discipline (most children) with videogames designed to be casino-level addictive is a match made in hell.

 

[Unending Powerhouse Match]

Too many zoomers only want to play videogames. They don't want to go to school. They don't want to work. They don't want to do anything. They just want to stay home forever and play videogames. It's disgusting.

Look, I'm a zoomer and I work and study, but I cannot blame those who don't bother. It's really hard to display low time preference behavior when you would be willing to bet serious money that WWIII will start within 5 years, and when you are fully aware that the Jews can literally just flip a switch at any moment and reduce all your efforts to naught, as the economy is shut down and everyone around you turns on you and wants you literally sent to a concentration camp.

God gave me a very good head on my shoulders, and I have such a good job that it's very clearly divine providence. Despite that, I still can't help but feel like I'm kind of screwed. Most of my generation is nowhere near as fortunate as me.

The state of relationships is a major source of despair as well. Zoomer women are truly horrible creatures, and the way the laws and the society are structured, they get to behave however they please, whenever they please, with no consequences at all. Marriage is a total pipe dream for me, as I am simply not willing to put up with all the cuntyness that I know I would need to put up with, and I am not willing to grovel and appease the way I know I would need to.

It all just makes you want to hole up in the safety of your room and retreat to the world of videogames. Totally understandable to want no part in this mess.

 

[Batman]

Look, I'm a zoomer and I work and study, but I cannot blame those who don't bother. It's really hard to display low time preference behavior when you would be willing to bet serious money that WWIII will start within 5 years, and when you are fully aware that the Jews can literally just flip a switch at any moment and reduce all your efforts to naught, as the economy is shut down and everyone around you turns on you and wants you literally sent to a concentration camp.

God gave me a very good head on my shoulders, and I have such a good job that it's very clearly divine providence. Despite that, I still can't help but feel like I'm kind of screwed. Most of my generation is nowhere near as fortunate as me.

The state of relationships is a major source of despair as well. Zoomer women are truly horrible creatures, and the way the laws and the society are structured, they get to behave however they please, whenever they please, with no consequences at all. Marriage is a total pipe dream for me, as I am simply not willing to put up with all the cuntyness that I know I would need to put up with, and I am not willing to grovel and appease the way I know I would need to.

It all just makes you want to hole up in the safety of your room and retreat to the world of videogames. Totally understandable to want no part in this mess.

I'm a late millenial and I can somewhat relate, but I think zoomers catastrophize things and worry too much about the external. Especially about "climate change" and WW3. People have been acting like WW3 is going to happen for most of my life, and that's just it, it hasn't happened. It's really not that different than insisting the climate is going to kill of humanity in 15 years (which we've been predicting since 1980), then continually moving the timeline and acting like this time it's real. Maybe we are at a boiling point and maybe something is inevitable but we have no idea how the future is going to unfold, and it's a problem I see with some parts of the right where they think they can see the future. No one knows what is going to happen, not even the deep state/elites.

On another note, funny thing is that even a small amount of wealth can let you thrive while the rest of the world burns. I swear there's a quote about this. In my case, I never want a family, and I'm minimalist, so I don't need much. I have very close friends that I could lean on if things were truly terrible. But I'd be remiss if I'm not partially motivated at the idea of building a successful business or something else like that which allows me to be independant and self sufficient while the economy and social/political landscape inevitably goes to hell.

 

[Unending Powerhouse Match]

I'm a late millenial and I can somewhat relate, but I think zoomers catastrophize things and worry too much about the external. Especially about "climate change" and WW3. People have been acting like WW3 is going to happen for most of my life, and that's just it, it hasn't happened. It's really not that different than insisting the climate is going to kill of humanity in 15 years (which we've been predicting since 1980), then continually moving the timeline and acting like this time it's real. Maybe we are at a boiling point and maybe something is inevitable but we have no idea how the future is going to unfold, and it's a problem I see with some parts of the right where they think they can see the future. No one knows what is going to happen, not even the deep state/elites.

On another note, funny thing is that even a small amount of wealth can let you thrive while the rest of the world burns. I swear there's a quote about this. In my case, I never want a family, and I'm minimalist, so I don't need much. I have very close friends that I could lean on if things were truly terrible. But I'd be remiss if I'm not partially motivated at the idea of building a successful business or something else like that which allows me to be independant and self sufficient while the economy and social/political landscape inevitably goes to hell.

I mean, the climate thing is literally made up wholecloth in the first place while WWIII is an actual thing that could actually conceivably happen in the real world (much unlike a cowfartpocalypse), so the comparison doesn't really make sense. The fact of the matter is, the likelihood of a third world war is significantly higher now than it ever was even during the cold war, for all kinds of reasons.

 

[Batman]

I mean, the climate thing is literally made up wholecloth in the first place while WWIII is an actual thing that could actually conceivably happen in the real world (much unlike a cowfartpocalypse), so the comparison doesn't really make sense. The fact of the matter is, the likelihood of a third world war is significantly higher now than it ever was even during the cold war, for all kinds of reasons.

That's a fair point on that analogy I made...but remember how everyone was so certain NK was going to start WWIII too? Never happened. Remember how everyone was utterly convinced the Cold War was going to end the human race as well? (and yes, I know it came close a couple times)

Not saying there's no such thing as a boiling point...but we really just don't know. Something could happen that completely changes the course of history in a way no one anticipated, like a solar flare. There's too much chaos in the world.

But I totally get not wanting to prep for the future and I do not do it either. For instance I think the idea of a 401k is asinine, yeah bro I'll just wait until i'm SIXTY FIVE to get all my money, what an absurd notion in this day and age.