Kemuri07

@sethmode: Man I think I'm in the same boat. I've tried plenty of times to get into it (I mean I have it for free on Ps4) and I can never get past the prologue. The combination of the gameplay as well as the way the game looks (like I can't be the only one who finds the child version of the main character to look hideously disfigured, right?).

A Brief History of NeoLiberalism by David Harvey - one of my professors mentioned this one to me so I've been slowly going through it. Provides an overview of the concepts regarding Neoliberalism, how its a modified form of capitalism whose main goal was shifting wealth back to the elite, as post WW2 gave rise to a stronger working party as well as socialism popping up around the world. Helps to know this stuff as it provides insight to a lot of things going on in the world, particularly whats going on in the video game industry. If you want to know what toxicity is allowed to persist--execs only responsibility is making profits for their shareholders. That's it.

Trainspotting by Irvin Welsh - the book is infamous for the heavy dialect that persists throughout, as well as the many, many characters that populate not only this one but also Welsh's other novels. But I think you get used to it after awhile, and so far its a pretty engaging ride into drug addiction during the 90s

@ll_exile_ll: I honestly think this is the bigger issue, because all of these things are no where near as bad as people claim it is. The Vaulting feels like a non-starter: When you go into base, there's a computer that is literally there to hold old campaign levels. It's clearly obvious that that's where they're going to dump old campaigns for you to go back to at your leisure.

The lack of transparency that goes into how Destiny is made is a problem, because there's a misunderstanding on how these games are made. Which leads to a public to assume the worse and causes a fucking headache for all involved. Because I get why they're doing it--they're just not doing a good job of saying those reasons.

@gtxforza: That's why I always think its weird when people try to dog Nintendo on this.

Like yeah, I get how frustrating it is that Nintendo doesn't make these games cheaper, but they do it because they can: people will pay for it. It's been proven again and again that Nintendo doesn't need to compete with agressive pricing because they're the only ones on the block that gives people what they want. See: Why Mario Kart can still print money after all these years. Therefore they control the pricing. There's nothing evil about it, it's just supply and demand.

Nier Replicant: This is very much the "Kiwami 1" to Nier Automata's Yakuza 0. It's what it says on the box: an HD update of a 10+ year old game. Where as Automata feels current which went a long way as to why Automata was the one that put the franchise into the mainstream, Replicant feels exactly like a game from 2010--warts and all. It's not bad; it still features the series' fantastic soundtrack, the combat is fun, and the VA really does good work on selling some of the more ridiculous moments, but the story, especially in comparison to Automata feels particularly clunky. I'm also not a fan of having to replay entire sections of the game. I know this is a thing with the Drakengard and Nier series to get the full ending, but Automata at least makes it worth your while to get the ending. I'm on my second playthrough and it's a chore having to sit through the same cutscenes and perform the same quests despite having done them already.

The little bits of new dialogue and content meant to provide certain context to situations isn't really enough to distract that I'm fighting the same bosses again.

Asobi Asobase ED

Less on its own and more on the context of the anime itself. For clarification, heres the opening for Asobi Asobase:

A bunch of cute moe blobs singing about love and playing!

That is not what that show is. Asobi Asobase might be closest an anime has ever gotten to to replicating the comedy of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Basically it's about three girls (one a rich girl who nevertheless is so jealous of anyone's happiness that she routinely goes on rants about how girls have to be sluts in order to land a boy, another is such a misandryst that despises men, and the other is a foreigner who hides that she can speak Japanese in order to use people) and how they basically make the lives of those around them miserable. Ending is the reality: A heavy metal track in which the lead girls rant about popular girls.

Honestly I think an extra year of development (and getting rid of those last gen ports) would have done wonders for the game. I don't know if it'd mean it would become one of the greatest RPGs. Because while I appreciate that the story is a lot more singular than I thought it would be, I found it nowhere near as involving as it could have been considering the themes its trying to explore.

Basically I think Cyberpunk was always doomed to be a disappointment.

@tactless:

Absolutely agreed. Remember how horrifying it was to see that giant Anayami/Shinji's mom? You were right there with Shinji. But in 3.0+1.0, the visuals are so fucking ludicrous (how could you not laugh at bug-eyed, 3d Anayami) that it becomes over the top. That includes the Mo-capped suits, or Shinji and Gendo battling their way through out the entirety of NGE. It's, I get what it's doing, but it feels less inspired and more like fanservice for people who have been through the entirety of the series.

@clagnaught:that's not a bad point. Again..."How disgusting" is aptly put. Shinji is doomed to make the same mistake (and is more than implied that that's exactly what happens) because he's stuck in this cycle. This is what trauma is. And it's such a strong note to end the series on.

But I think REBUILD is more of Anno trying to find his own way out rather than build a more satisfying conclusion to the franchise.

I figure that a lot of what is going on is intentional. And I think you make a good point that it's in line with the third act no longer being about the "text" but instead the meta-text surrounding the franchise. So breaking these things down to simply two mocapped dudes is in line with recognizing that NGE is a television show. It reminds me of a point in comic books, largely Heroes in Crisis (yes I know that one is just as controversial) in which a bunch of heroes reveal how the constant problems in the comic book world has caused psychological trauma in its characters. But it also serves as one long meta-criticism of the fictional world at large: These characters suffer for our entertainment. In order to get our attention, comic book creators have to invest in event style storytelling featuring tragedy and deaths that no real person could ever deal with. NGE can only exist if Shinji Ikari never learns from his mistakes. No one wants Happy Shinji because then there's no tension in NGE. So the only way that Shinji can have his ending is if the show no longer exists anymore. Hence the final shot being the real life Japanese city: The story is done, over with, now we have to move on to our own golden ending.

But ilke I said, I appreciate what it's doing more than actually liking the execution. And the problem lies with trying to marry big budget blockbuster action with the subversives of an art film. And I found that a lot of the imagery the film tries to settle on, takes away from the major points the movie trying to make rather than add to it. It's basically EoE cranked up to 11. But it loses a lot of what made that movie so nightmarish.

@nicksmi56: eh I'd say watch the movie. The movie certainly does not let Shinji off the hook. Especially the first half of the film where he's basically catatonic after the events of the last film. It's more that Shinji ultimately recognizes that he is doomed to do this over and over again and so he actually does the one thing he's good at--he walks away.

Daily Lives of Highschool Boys is pretty great. I definitely see Asobo Asobase as the female version of that one.

Though it's a bit more darker in which the main protagonists are each revealed to be pretty awful. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia but with anime girls.

But holy shit that ending theme fucking slaps.