Yeah, I believe that began as a sort of Streisand effect-esque phrase, where if you want the internet to forget, it won’t, but of course other things that most people are not paying any mind to will disappear

That’s a good example. You simply can’t grasp optimal choices or know possible events and outcomes before going through it a great deal of times, and it’s likely that you’ll get killed too fast to experience much if you start on normal. You definitely end up switching to normal as you improve, learn, and unlock, but it really benefits and smoothens the learning curve to start easier.

Playing on easy doesn’t mean you don’t want to play. Or at least, that’s not my personal experience when I put games on easy, which is not always.

I’ll throw out two examples. Age of Empires 2. I suck ass at real time strategy, so I put the bots on easiest. What this gives me is the experience and feeling of building up my faction, gathering resources, making upgrades, feeling later like those upgrades were smart (which I wouldn’t get on harder difficulties as my actual poor choices would backfire and punish me), and then I get to conquer my enemies with my large army.

I still got to build something up from nothing, create a satisfying army, utilize what I made to conquer. I got something out of it that I wouldn’t have if I played on normal. I would’ve struggled and likely lost. I might’ve just as likely actually risen above the challenge and came away with a more satisfying, but hard fought win, but I have challenging and hard fought wins at work every day. I don’t need that in a genre I’m only a tourist in at home. I have Monster Hunter for that.

I put Gundam Breaker 4 on easy, the combat is satisfying on a surface level, but too precise and finicky as the challenge rises. I enjoy the combat still, on a smaller scale, but I moreso enjoy acquiring gear and making a Gundam that looks a certain way. The things I enjoy more about the game are facilitated by easier combat, I can get to those parts more easily, but still enjoy the combat.

It’s really the kind of game that either requires a significant in-game tutorial and very long ramp up (and you’re right, even with all the info in the current tutorial it’s not all inclusive) or it requires someone to bounce questions off of, which is the far superior way to learn, even though it’s far less accessible.

Once you’ve learned it, though, I actually don’t think it’s all that complicated, it’s just such its own beast that someone coming from nothing would have a hard time wrapping their head around the whole loop and all of the systems, but once you do one time it’s like riding a bike.

The pause menu in Rise is if you press start, it’s the bottom option on one of the menu tabs, it’ll only show mid mission, so trying to find it in the village is pointless. But if you found a workaround that works too.

Also, yes, the free game breaking gear with no clear indicators is fucking stupid. I understand why it exists, but it trivializes the experience for so many new players due to the way its implemented that I think it should never have been created. I get wanting to get to end game fast if you’ve done it before, but the consequences are absurd.

I love this series. First played 4 Golden on the Vita, and it was really something that connected with me. I loved the combination slice of life and intriguing mystery, and the characters and voice acting really drew me in. It took me years to actually finish that game, and I’m about halfway through 3 Reload and 5 Royal as well.

However, biggest thing we need to mention here? The soundtracks. Holy fucking shit, these games have the best OSTs I ever damn heard, as someone who plays bass and loves acid jazz and other adjacent music every game hits the spot in different ways.

Dead Cells released in a state that felt pretty complete to me, so I just appreciate all the extra content, especially the free updates. It’s a game that’s so good I’m glad it got such loving support, because the core is so fantastic that I really did just want some more levels and items to increase replayability.

I think it’s okay for it to end now. I’d also think it was okay if the devs kept going, but it’s in a place where it’s got enough content that it can end here and I’m okay with that.

Been playing Melvor Idle, really great one that replicates old school runescape’s Skilling experience as an idle game. I also enjoy Impossible Dungeon quite a bit as well, top down auto dungeon crawler where you earn points to upgrade and customize a party for getting as far down a dungeon as you can and competing with other players in tournaments and dailies.

What’s the the unhelpful hostile attitude? Is it still 1996 where it’s cool to shit on people for not knowing everything about what they’re doing and call them “noobs”?

It’s hard to outrun that kind of human interaction anywhere that there are enough users and the anonymity of usernames, I do think it’s not as bad on the Fediverse still, I hope it stays that way

The hilarious thing about My house.wad is that if you go in without knowing anything about it there’s a relatively high chance you just complete the level normally and think “that’s it? weird that had so much hype”

Nothing about Lemmy would suggest people would like Epic anymore than any other place on the internet. Their exclusivity deals have the potential to upset anybody regardless of what website they post on, so while there’s absolutely a degree of hivemind hatred, it’s rooted in understandable reasons.

That being said, it’s disingenuous of that person to imply that Epic never gives any good reasons to use the platform, the biggest being the waves of free games they put on “sale” from time to time, though you could go down another rabbit hole of whether thats really something that would make gamers want to use the platform, or if it’s just a nice bonus people pop in to claim while still spending their money on Steam when it comes to actual purchases.

Was it like that when the game was fresh and you were getting into it in the beginning, or just after youd put the hours into it, and the novelty wore off?

It’s funnily enough part of why I continue to return to it. Competitive games as a service are too much, I dislike having to keep up with an ever inflating hero pool and a constantly changing Meta. I can just enjoy the gameplay polished to a sheen and the natural depth

For me, Fallout 3’s setting and atmosphere is more interesting to me. Plus nostalgia plays a much heavier aspect since it was my first Bethesda Fallout and the premise and mechanics of the world were more novel.

Gameplay wise 4 blows both of the others out of the water for me due to the addicting loop of collecting salvage and modifying equipment, along with the shooting finally becoming enjoyable in its own right.

Playing Heroes of the Storm vs AI, the Hitman WoA trilogy, Left 4 Dead 2, and Diablo 3 Hardcore. I can always chill on this stuff and know it’ll be a good time

Ooh, that’d have to be Monster Hunter for me. For a while it’s fun, then it becomes pain

Such a shame, I would’ve been more interested in this game, but the similarities to both Breath of the Wild and AC Odyssey meant the itches it scratched were already taken care of for me, and partially by the same publisher, too.

I’m so ready for the next Doot of Cally

Been playing through Borderlands 3. I always loved the pretense and style of the older ones, but the shooting just never felt good enough moment to moment to stick it out. This one’s finally got it and I’ve been enjoying my time, even though the characters and dialogue are funny at rare times, and mostly pretty terrible.

It’s more the tone, it’s respectable to say “it’s a bit outdated, but I’m not quite done using this phone yet, so I’m trying to explore other options for YouTube without a full upgrade”, a little less to say “… For a fuckin app bro, christ”.

The other person did have a pretty flat tone that you could interpret as blunt and uncaring, so as the internet tone police, I say everybody is going to jail here!

SWAT 4 is still an excellent tactical shooter the likes of which we don’t see anymore, short of Ready or Not, or Doorkickers, if you count that.

Vanquish, best “cover” shooter that I’ve ever played, really wish it’d get a Switch port and that Platinum would revisit it.

Sliding around on jets, going into slo mo to hit weak points, vaulting cover and initiating slomo, it’s all so fucking fun and visceral.

If you’re cool with visual novels, Doki Doki Literature Club is an incredibly interesting game, not very long. It really stuck with me.