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[Eel O'Brian]

direct download - http://media.libsyn.com/media/borecast/Borecast38.mp3

Segment One: Stop Kicking My Ass

We explore the various ways in which games beat the hell out of us.

Segment Two: Playlist

(51:40) Final Fantasy 13

(1:22:00) Divinity II

(1:29:00) Mytran Wars

(1:34:40) Battle of Algiers (1966)

(1:41:00) Battlefield Bad Company 2

(1:53:20) Blur Multiplayer Beta

Mini-Indefensible (1:59:40)

 

[Stop It]

Interesting, I bought Divinity II the other day (£8 from GAME, couldn't resist), so I may well give this a listen.

 

[Fragamemnon]

I was irascible and exhausted throughout the episode. I think our discussion was still pretty good.

A couple of more links :

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...uture_Of_Rewarding_Players_For_Dull_Tasks.php (interesting discussion on intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards)

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-03-15-daylight-saving-time-doesnt-save-energy/

(As it turns out, Daylight Savings time, a relic of a period before modern climate control amenities were common in homes, doesn't save that much energy at all. Increased AC usage offsets the power savings from decreased lighting usage).

 

[Doytch]

(As it turns out, Daylight Savings time, a relic of a period before modern climate control amenities were common in homes, doesn't save that much energy at all. Increased AC usage offsets the power savings from decreased lighting usage).

But I feel happier when I leave work so the hell with the logic!

 

[Fragamemnon]

BTW, Soldak released a playable demo of Din's Curse, mentioned (and praised!) by Drinky a couple of episodes ago:

http://www.soldak.com/Dins-Curse/Demo.html

 

[Drinky Crow]

i have gone from enjoying divinity 2 with serious reservations to out-and-out despising it. two nights ago, i uninstalled and chucked the disc into the master bathroom. it is an abomination in the eyes of Our Lord of Level Balancing and Difficulty Pacing.

 

[Ashitaka]

i have gone from enjoying divinity 2 with serious reservations to out-and-out despising it. two nights ago, i uninstalled and chucked the disc into the master bathroom. it is an abomination in the eyes of Our Lord of Level Balancing and Difficulty Pacing.

Is the master bathroom where games go when they're bad?

 

[Fragamemnon]

Is the master bathroom where games go when they're bad?

It's where the poopy goes, both literally and figuratively!

 

[Hitokage]

That or it gets involved in one of Doug's strange fetishes.

EDIT: The game that instantly comes to mind when I think of inappropriate cutscenes I want to skip is Gradius V. What the fuck.

 

[Drinky Crow]

it's the bathroom attached to the master bedroom, dorks!

 

[Eel O'Brian]

I usually just cram mine into an envelope and make an ebay listing, which is sort of like the sewage treatment system of the internet when you think about it. Except you get cash for your turds.

 

[Kevtones]

Did you guys ever check out Silent Hill Wii? Last week when you guys were comparing Deadly Premonition's lighthearted approach to Heavy Rain's OMGORSHSERIOUS one, it reminded me of Shattered Memories because it's one of the few games with a serious story that hits all the right notes. Also, like HR, it has virtually no gameplay but luckily has great Wii remote implementation and it rarely gets tedious.

 

[Drinky Crow]

how good is the psp version? i would buy the wii version, but i have a five year old daughter and i don't think it's really an appropriate game for her to watch.

 

[Kevtones]

I hear it controls pretty well. It doesn't have the nifty Wii-flashlight mechanics but overall, I've heard good things.

It's actually a pretty tame Silent Hill in terms of gore/imagery but it would probably still shake a 5 year old. The game isn't particularly creepy or scary, it's just effective and has a really exceptional ending/last hour (even if you predict the twist).

 

[Drinky Crow]

well, it can't be worse than homecoming!

Spoiler

or the original :teehee

 

[HK-47]

Please go over the XIII story. Both for awesome criticism and hilarious suffering.

 

[Gattsu25]

well, it can't be worse than homecoming!

Spoiler

or the original :teehee

Or SH3

 

[Odious Tea]

I usually just cram mine into an envelope and make an ebay listing, which is sort of like the sewage treatment system of the internet when you think about it. Except you get cash for your turds.

I've been looking for a way to properly describe ebay for years. And here it is. Pure like a baby diamond.

 

[Alex Connolly]

Great episode, fellows. Very interesting discussion on game difficulty! Line of the episode goes to Frag, upon hearing Doug's preferences in difficulty levels.

"...well, personally I find that revolting."

...or something along those lines. Brilliant!

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Great episode!

Will listen to again. Was hard to hear some of the design discussion over the wailing of my cat as I forced it in the slop sink.

Drinky: Did you ever play SRW:EF? I recently started finally, thanks, and I was wondering what your thoughts on it were.

I'm finding it rather engaging, the game / combat; despite the harem animu horse shit and bold faced LIES about robots. Maybe if you're one of those sissies that likes your robots with tits and robo-twats instead of ROCKET PUNCHING and lots of scary geometry (conversely: looking like a bunch of radical oatmeal cans stacked in a humanoid form). >:|

 

[Hitokage]

I completely understand wanting to feel awesome in a game, but just like how action without tension in a movie is just noise, it's just not the same without my blood pumping and the feeling that through talent, skill, and grit I'm maintaining a level of performance that prevents the game from kicking my ass.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

oh nice. will listen later

 

[Drinky Crow]

ttob: i did, but i only got about 3/4s of the way through before the featureless mazes, backtracking, and repetitive combat/animations mae me drop it for something else. also JYAKI-GUN DISCO!!!!!111 x 1000000

 

[Eel O'Brian]

I completely understand wanting to feel awesome in a game, but just like how action without tension in a movie is just noise, it's just not the same without my blood pumping and the feeling that through talent, skill, and grit I'm maintaining a level of performance that prevents the game from kicking my ass.

I get that from multiplayer, for single player I just want the WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

ttob: i did, but i only got about 3/4s of the way through before the featureless mazes, backtracking, and repetitive combat/animations mae me drop it for something else. also JYAKI-GUN DISCO!!!!!111 x 1000000

Yeah, that sad realization is hitting me now as I'm slogging my way BACK OUT of the Humpty Dumpty castle. Dammit! Every senior citizen should have Life Alert!

I mean, every RPG should have some contrivance where I can warp the fuck out of a castle after burying myself several levels down the fuckin' thing. And kicking the bosses ass out his mouth.

Don't tell me there's an item to do that, because I'm too miserly to spend money in games. If only that tendency translated to the real world.

Anyhow, I'm somewhat inclined to play this through to the end hopefully as I haven't played an RPG through to completion since about High School.

Yeah, Jyaki-Gun Disco is about the only super robot porn you're going to get amidst a sea of titties and underaged girls. D:

 

[Hitokage]

I get that from multiplayer, for single player I just want the WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Nothing really wrong with that, and there's certainly nothing wrong with limiting higher expectations to specific kinds of games or modes of play.

Just mentioning the value of actually being awesome at something, whatever it is.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

I can't agree with Drinky enough about flow interruption in action games with shitty Capcom puzzles! That was the point when I gave up on DMC3, where I couldn't progress because I didn't randomly talk to a fucking stained glass window. FUCK YOOOOOOU AND YOUR STUPID SHIT!

I already have enough of a bitch with the constant loading / segment loadings between rooms.

 

[Brobzoid]

I started Uncharted 2 on normal, bumped it down to easy on the helicopter/train bit, then bumped it further down to babby easy when I got on to the avatar set. NO SHAME. Then again I completed Shinobi PS2 so I'm still hardcore to the maxx.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

I started Uncharted 2 on normal, bumped it down to easy on the helicopter/train bit, then bumped it further down to babby easy when I got on to the avatar set. NO SHAME. Then again I completed Shinobi PS2 so I'm still hardcore to the maxx.

yeah, so many games recently just have completely uninteresting and annoying/obnoxious difficulty. not a challenge, just a waste of time

 

[rollingstart]

yeah, so many games recently just have completely uninteresting and annoying/obnoxious difficulty. not a challenge, just a waste of time

Completely agree. Some games just treat difficult as "more enemy health, less helath for you, enemies react quicker" which just means "you will be sitting behind cover for 90% of this game". Resistance 2 is an example of how bad it can be. Increasing the difficulty should just get you more involved in it. Mass Effect 2 on normal could just be played by shooting enemies like any third person shooter, but on harder difficulties you needed to breakdown their defenses using various powers/ammo types.

Best difficulty systems I think are Crysis and God Hand. Crysis still has enemies react quicker to your actions and slows down your health/armor recharge rate, but it mostly decreases the handicap you get. On normal, enemies have a glowing red outline to help you see them in the jungle, they speak in English, when you get in vehicles you're able to control the turret while driving, etc. On hard, you have to start spotting enemies for yourself, jump into the turret if you wanted to fire, etc. On Delta (very hard), you don't have a crosshair anymore, you don't get a grenade warning indicator, enemies start speaking in Korean now. I actually find the game easier on the harder difficulties because it changes how you play. It's a slower experience and more satisfying.

God Hand has a dynamic difficulty gauge that increases as you start taking out enemies without getting hit and generally get better. It constantly is keeping you engaged because you never feel like you're just taking out scrub enemies. If it ever gets overwhelming and you start taking too much damage, the gauge drops back down so you don't get too frustrated. And since you can raise the gauge quickly, you never have that long ramp up period before the game gets into its groove again.

 

[Hitokage]

Listening to the second half right now, and caught Doug remarking that Valkyrie Profile 2 becomes a roller coaster when you get good enough at the battle system. Not if you're ten levels under what you probably should be, which isn't hard to do as nearly all battles can be avoided if you platform good enough while hunting for items. I tend to hate grinding, so I felt like VP2 was a gift to me. It made the fights I did engage in much more satisfying. I could scrape up wins in fights against monsters that would otherwise destroy me in two attacks solely through tactics, timing, skill/party config, and item use, not through running up the experience meter.

Although I do wish they had New Game Minus available from the beginning. The stat changes bump up the experience curve closer to what the average player experiences and not just someone with my tendency to run through a few dungeons without fighting anyone.

 

[Drinky Crow]

vp2 allowed you to really fuck up the dungeons with the orbs, which was awesome. if you wanted to turn the dungeon into a pure xp factory, make sure you had an orb that would really negate the enemy behaviors placed in it. things like that are why i forgive tri-ace their creepy porcelain lolis

 

[Hitokage]

A lot of those you had to grind really hard to use in other dungeons, which is something I wouldn't do. I always had 120% ATK going though and later on stuff like Lifeforce Blessing(doubles all healing) enabled limited invulnerability strats.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Crysis is a great example of difficultly done right. The game has easily noted differences at Delta, and allows the player to play through the game in a more demanding, thoughtful, and skill-intensive style. Very satisfying.

Hitokage is right about this:

Just mentioning the value of actually being awesome at something, whatever it is.

Exercising mastery over a game's systems-even if it is just a single player game-is satisfying in its own right. An elevated difficultly level such that it is required helps facilitate that kind of high level of play from the player.

edit: I'm going to check out that Super Robot Wars when I get some free time. Sounds like fun, and I don't have nearly the aversion to mecha cheesy as I do loli stuff.

 

[Kevtones]

well, it can't be worse than homecoming!

Spoiler

or the original :teehee

It's basically a streamlined SH without combat or even an inventory. You also don't have to check 573 different locked doors to find where you're going, which is a nice change of pace for the series...


The main complaint people seem to have is the somewhat monotonous chase scenes that have the only iffy/unresponsive motion controls in the game. I think playing it on PSP would definitely remedy this issue and save you some frustration. Personally, I liked the scenes because being chased by a group sexless midgets trying to gang bang me is an absolutely terrifying proposition.

 

[Eel O'Brian]

No show this week. Show next week. Good opportunity for new listeners to catch up on our haunting, lilting words of profundity from the past!

 

[Kevtones]

Where will I get my weekly dose of snark and Heavy Rain dissing?

 

[Hitokage]

Somehow, the rss page that makes podcasts work has become broken.

 

[Alex]

The last one was pretty great. Although for some reason I didn't really get wind of it until earlier, the auto update refuses to work for me. Strange.

Final Fantasy XIII is indeed a four year accumulation of engine and asset design with little else to show for it. For all the vapid nonsense, I usually enjoy this series, just about all of them really but XIII is just long gone, there's barely a game there to speak of.

When I first heard about all of the debate and disappointment I expected some nice evolution to FFX-2 that was just putting off the fans of the modern iterations who take the narrative in these games *far* too seriously and probably genuinely don't give a damn if there even IS gameplay, but I can't believe what a giant step back this is.

Although it takes about 25 hours for the game to entirely open and for the game to decide you're competent enough to have some control of your massive six character group and their full Paradigm layout (the non-defautls being so underpowered it's completely worthless though), I wish it was 7-8 hours to get going, but that would merely be bad pacing instead of catastrophic.

And the music sucks. I have no problem saying that, this is the worst sound assortment from this guy I've ever heard. At least for as giant of a turd Unlimited SaGa was, the soundtrack was quite bitchin'.

Tl;dr I wish I had pre-ordered Resonance of Fate for my March game to segue past my lack of Starcraft 2 beta and to April's Monster Hunter Tri.

I did want to buy Bad Company 2, Battlefield is one of the few shooters, especially multiplayer that I can just get any excitement for lately, but even then I'm still pretty fatigued from the cavalcade of junk I played towards the end of last year.

They took away the open single player and just stuffed in a janky Call of Duty styled one, that's kinda dissapointing. Honestly, the single player is probably just a waste in this series altogether but I couldnt hope but feel there was some potential as a mix of open world/arcadey design for Bad Company. It was so woefully underdesigned, but the concept I did like.

 

[Eel O'Brian]

Somehow, the rss page that makes podcasts work has become broken.

Yeah, and I have no idea how to fix it.

 

[Eel O'Brian]

Frag fixed it. Either the feed had gotten too big or I had screwed something up when I went in and deleted some spam comments from older posts the other day.