Lewyn
I am at the center of everything that happens to me
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User ID: 214
Lewyn
I am at the center of everything that happens to me
20d ago
The original Michael Bay Transformers is exactly this type of period piece. It encapsulated everything about that era of early-2000s American culture; military dudebro Call of Duty aesthetics, jingoistic patriotism, frat boy humor, etc. That type of theming was dead and buried by the 2010s, but is maybe making a resurgence now. I remember hating it at the time, but it does feel nostalgic to see now with how different everything became.
Lewyn
I am at the center of everything that happens to me
22d ago
I haven't played Silksong and probably won't for a few years, so I'm taking Hollow Knight as a standalone text in my view of the Pale King. The games were released 8 years apart, and teams change, priorities change, and the gameplay need to have a new play area will also require the writers to carve out new reasons for it to exist. Once I get around to playing it, I'll see how I feel about everything.
My impression was that some of the bugs had sapience, like the mantises and moths, but not most or all. I think the gameplay is evidence for the Pale King's continued presence being important. He was there once, and there was a thriving civilization. He is gone now, and 90% of the creatures you meet are now feral beasts who attack on sight. I had also thought that the general claim of bugs gaining sapience after coming to Hallownest to be true, which implies there must be a sizeable population of insects who were not already higher-minded who benefited from being uplifted. Most of the bugs shambling about Hallownest who meet your nail would probably prefer if the Radiance had never shown up and the Pale King had continued to rule.
Lewyn
I am at the center of everything that happens to me
22d ago
This is fair when it comes to using jumping as a defensive option. The game doesn't tell you that it makes the bottom half of your body covered in I frames, or that it recovers faster than rolling, and both of these things are non-intuitive. Elden Ring doesn't want you to only dodge, but it doesn't want to tell you that outright... The obtuseness these games have in terms of how basic mechanics work is a fair criticism to make. I will say at least in its defense that many things are opaque on purpose to get you to ask for help from someone who knows how they work, whether that's from a friend you know who is a veteran or people online. Collaboration with fellow travelers passing by to untangle something seemingly impossible was a large theme of the first Dark Souls, and it's held out through the series.
For attacking though, at least from watching my new friends play, I think most people playing will feel out a correlation between using heavy attacks/jump heavies and how quickly enemies get their guard broken to allow for the incredibly-important critical attacks. In this case, I genuinely think someone who doesn't already have preconceived notions of how these games play (thinking light attacks are god and heavy attacks are worthless because that's how it works in Dark Souls) is going to have a better time. A lot of newcomers seem to have less of an ego about using magic or powerful Ashes of War as well.
Lewyn
I am at the center of everything that happens to me
22d ago
Having to mess with the camera in combat is annoying, but in DS1 and 2, enemies move and attack slowly enough where this is doable while still being able to react to attacks coming in. Additionally, you can free aim the direction of your attacks while they're winding up to hit groups of enemies without having to rely on the cursor tech you mentioned. And since your stamina regenerates so painfully slowly in 2, having uninhibited movement directions to allow you to execute walk/run based evasion more reliably becomes that much important.
Once you get to DS3 and Elden Ring, enemies are definitely too fast and relentless to not have lock on activated unless you're executing a specific type of dodge or magic attack that calls for unhooked camera.
Lewyn
I am at the center of everything that happens to me
23d ago
I’m of the opinion that the Pale King Did Nothing Wrong. He gave the gift of sapience to the insects of Hallownest, and the extreme measures he took to save it were understandable given the gravity of the Radiance sickness. That the mountain of corpses and the in the void and the Hollow Knight doomed to suffer were his children and not someone else’s counts for something too. The Hollow Knight arguably failed in its job because the Pale King raised it as his son before sealing it in the egg.
He is most definitely vain, and self-interested. But so are many of us, and he does more to justify those traits than most. And worship is a more than fair expectation in exchange for sapience. I would make that trade happily if the alternative were being a mindless beast.
Lewyn
I am at the center of everything that happens to me
23d ago
Dark Souls 2 has a reputation for being very unfair because people try to play it with the camera lock on, a mechanic that restricts your movement when activated, and predictably get bodied by the mass of enemies that jump them. If you learn to play with the camera unlocked and dodge without rolling, it’s a whole different experience. Unfortunately, the game’s tutorial teaches you to lock on, so it’s not really an unaware’s player's fault for having this happen to them.
Dark Souls 3 is most definitely rollslop. Dodge roll and light attack spam is optimal for 99% of the game. Elden Ring imo is not; jumping is a vastly superior option to evade attacks in many situations, as is running, strafing, horse iframes, etc. Roll is a now a tool in your kit, not the whole arsenal. Your offensive options are not nearly as restricted either, as heavy attacking and jump attacking are now very powerful options. I believe, but can’t prove, that a lot of Elden Ring’s difficulty complaints come from DS3 veterans who refuse to do anything but dodge roll and light attack and don’t engage with the new mechanics.
I mostly agree regarding female benders, but in the episode OP is referring to, the warriors who humiliate Sokka are Suki and her Kyoshi warriors - all non-benders.
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