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Video Games General

Say, any of ya'll played Ys: IX yet? I haven't so I was wondering how it was. I 'member reading somewhere that it had more references to previous games in the series and such which is unusual for Ys. Most of them you could kinda pick up and not really be lost, especially VII and VIII.
 
So I have really gotten into Mass Effect these past few months. I really love the series-space opera military sci fi.

I have done multiple play throughs. Usually play as close to 100% paragon as possible.

Aspects I like:
Amazing score
Stunning vistas and worlds.
Generally interesting characters.
Shooter aspect is passable

Aspects I'd criticize:
Unclear worldbuilding-Cerberus is a different organization every game.
The Reapers-I don't mind the organic-synthetic conflict. It is something that that is present throughout the trilogy. And I do like the aspect of the Leviathans and the whole Milky Way as an experiment. But their aims and portrayal are different again in every game.

Unpopular ME opinions-I like Ashley, and choose the Synthesis Ending-its transformatively utopian. I find the criticisms of Synthesis bizarre and they seem to be based on just ignoring what it actually is.

Also, I'm a Liaramancer. (I have read a lot that the game "pushes" Liara on you)-but it...doesn't? If your in a relationship with another character Liara wants to...remain in contact after the war. And she's outright aloof when you do romance her at the beginning of the game. (Or carry it over-even do you do the lair of the shadow broker).
 
Lord Invictus said:
Also, I'm a Liaramancer. (I have read a lot that the game "pushes" Liara on you)-but it...doesn't? If your in a relationship with another character Liara wants to...remain in contact after the war. And she's outright aloof when you do romance her at the beginning of the game. (Or carry it over-even do you do the lair of the shadow broker).
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People get the impression because, with ME2 onwards, alot of important story threads tend to run through her. How do you find Thane and Samara? Well, Liara just so happens to be an Information Broker, on that exact planet of all places, and offers the intel for free. Who gets a whole DLC centered around her? Liara, the Shadow Broker DLC.

Then in ME3, who is there when Shepard is struggling with nightmares? Liara. Not Kaidan or Ash checking on their Commander and friend, just Liara.
Who came up with that memory core in case the Reaper War was lost, and had one-on-one time with Shepard, a moment my brother even called "romantic"? Liara.
Who has that god-awful "Embrace Eternity" bit shortly before the last battle? Liara.
Who has multiple missions where you are forced to take her along, something no other Character, outside of their recruitment missions, has? Liara.
Who is arguably treated as Shepard's best friend if you don't Romance them? Liara.

There might be more that I missed, but it seems that the writers had a "Canon" Romance in mind, and it sure as hell were neither Tali nor Garrus. Not helped by the fact that, unlike any other Companion in Mass Effect, she even managed to worm her way into Andromeda in a recording, with the implication that she was among the people responsible to get the Andromeda Project off the ground.

There is no question that she, out of all available side Characters and Companions, receives the most focus. And that really makes it come across as if the writers were trying to shove her onto the Player.

No contest on your other points though. Especially Cerberus was egregious. First game they were a Black Ops/Section 31-esque organization, second they were apparently a cabal of independent cells overseen and directed by TIM, and third they somehow had a fully-equipped Fleet and Army at the ready, capable of taking over the Citadel, and assault an STG base, both of which are heavily fortified and defended, as well as occupy an entire colony.
 
ShogunTrooper said:
People get the impression because, with ME2 onwards, alot of important story threads tend to run through her. How do you find Thane and Samara? Well, Liara just so happens to be an Information Broker, on that exact planet of all places, and offers the intel for free. Who gets a whole DLC centered around her? Liara, the Shadow Broker DLC.

Then in ME3, who is there when Shepard is struggling with nightmares? Liara. Not Kaidan or Ash checking on their Commander and friend, just Liara.
Who came up with that memory core in case the Reaper War was lost, and had one-on-one time with Shepard, a moment my brother even called "romantic"? Liara.
Who has that god-awful "Embrace Eternity" bit shortly before the last battle? Liara.
Who has multiple missions where you are forced to take her along, something no other Character, outside of their recruitment missions, has? Liara.
Who is arguably treated as Shepard's best friend if you don't Romance them? Liara.

There might be more that I missed, but it seems that the writers had a "Canon" Romance in mind, and it sure as hell were neither Tali nor Garrus. Not helped by the fact that, unlike any other Companion in Mass Effect, she even managed to worm her way into Andromeda in a recording, with the implication that she was among the people responsible to get the Andromeda Project off the ground.

There is no question that she, out of all available side Characters and Companions, receives the most focus. And that really makes it come across as if the writers were trying to shove her onto the Player.
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My personal interpretation is that Liara very much wants to be involved with Shepard, which is why she reacts so negatively when he is unfaithful(or she, though as Femshep I've romanced Thane, Garrus, and Kaidan).

I like the embrace eternity scene at the end TBH. It's really touching and has a nice mystical feel to it. Regardless of whether she's your LI or not.

The VS is out of commission until after Citadel II. If I recall. Liara checks on you...at least twice? One of the times when they aren't there.

As for Samara, Liara has contacts in the Asari government who know(presumably-Aethyta does) she's the shadow broker. So they have her bring the Ardat-Yakshi matter to Shepard. If you mean ME2-she's an information broker. Pointing Shepard in the direction of certain people is the most she can do(besides dropping everything and joining his suicide mission).

As for the capsule-it makes sense Liara would be the one most invested in that. Given her archaeological background and her knowledge of the Protheans.

I do agree the VS is given short shrift in ME3. Pretty much regardless of any other choices you make.

The only missions where Liara is taken along-Mars, Thessia, and...I'm forgetting?

Anyway, I would agree she is a very important character-arguably the deuteroprotagonist of the game. And if there is a canon-it's definitely romancing Liara.

That said, Liara herself doesn't really actively try to engage Shepard on a romantic level, in ME3 unless they are already involved and even then I found her somewhat cold and aloof at first. If she had been making passes or trying to tempt/seduce Shepard away from whoever else-then I'd think differently.

All that said, I do like Liara as a character. Her ME1 character more than ME2. (When they make her into a little too much a hard ass).
 
Lord Invictus said:
I like the embrace eternity scene at the end TBH. It's really touching and has a nice mystical feel to it. Regardless of whether she's your LI or not.
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Considering that is how Asari have sex, and I never even once romanced her, I don't think it's sweet in any way, shape or form. It seems forced. In ME1, it at least had a justification because Shepard needed a witness for the Prothean vision, but in ME3? Right before the last battle? It seems forced.

Lord Invictus said:
As for Samara, Liara has contacts in the Asari government who know(presumably-Aethyta does) she's the shadow broker. So they have her bring the Ardat-Yakshi matter to Shepard. If you mean ME2-she's an information broker. Pointing Shepard in the direction of certain people is the most she can do(besides dropping everything and joining his suicide mission).
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I was referring to her in ME2. There is also the fact that she, nobody else, was the one that recovered Shepard's body. Cerberus didn't do that themselves, no, Liara of all people found it, kickstarting the story of ME2. Now take that, and add to her conveniently being in the right place, at the right time, to point Shepard towards Samara and Thane.

Lord Invictus said:
As for the capsule-it makes sense Liara would be the one most invested in that. Given her archaeological background and her knowledge of the Protheans.
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It's not the capsule itself, I got no problem with that. It's the whole setup of the scene. If you romanced her, you wouldn't see it, but if you didn't it comes across as a bit weird.

Lord Invictus said:
The only missions where Liara is taken along-Mars, Thessia, and...I'm forgetting?
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In the games she has four in total, counting DLCs, which is more than double of any other Squadmate. In ME3 she has three, Mars, Eden Prime (the one where you get Javik), and Thessia.
I was putting that one in the ME3 section since the majority of those are in ME3.

Lord Invictus said:
Anyway, I would agree she is a very important character-arguably the deuteroprotagonist of the game. And if there is a canon-it's definitely romancing Liara.
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Over that, we can argue. In my eyes, she is a character who the writers just have at the right place, in the right time, to keep the story going, whether it would make sense for said character or not. I mean, she went from being an Archeologist to "Information-Selling Cold Bitch" (or so my brother called her) pretty much at the drop of a hat.

Also, the word is "Deuteragonist".

Lord Invictus said:
That said, Liara herself doesn't really actively try to engage Shepard on a romantic level, in ME3 unless they are already involved and even then I found her somewhat cold and aloof at first. If she had been making passes or trying to tempt/seduce Shepard away from whoever else-then I'd think differently.
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Liara doesn't shove herself onto the player, the Writers do. Taken in a vacuum, the vast majority of interactions Shepard and Liara have make it seem like they are in a relationship, whether they actually are or not.
 
ShogunTrooper said:
Considering that is how Asari have sex, and I never even once romanced her, I don't think it's sweet in any way, shape or form. It seems forced. In ME1, it at least had a justification because Shepard needed a witness for the Prothean vision, but in ME3? Right before the last battle? It seems forced.
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It's not sex though? It's more like a Vulcan mind meld? Or some sort of telepathic bond? Like, you could say she is trick raping Shepard to get his genes regardless or something so she can reproduce. But uh, Liara is not that Machiavellian.

(Got a bad gateway message).

I honestly find the whole backstory of who got Shepard's body convoluted. Cerberus wanted it, apparently the Geth were searching for him, and the collectors wanted it. (Meaning the reapers wanted it). So I wouldn't criticize Liara's role as much as the whole backstory is unnecessarily complex.

(For some reason I can't quote posts).

If you romanced her the scene fits. If not, then i think the interpretation of Liara very much wishing she was fits.

Part of that is ME3 takes the VS out of action for the first third of the game. Liara is the only squad mate you have before you get to Garrus. James Vega is new, and Javik isn't available until after Palaven.

She's definitely crucial to the plot. And I can see why that would come across as forcing on her the player. As for her coldness, it is jarring. Like when she lets her contact die, or her plotting revenge and not caring about the Broker's agents shooting through Ilium. I wonder, if that was done because Tali took over the "gentle somewhat awkward and nerdy waifu" in ME2. So they made Liara distinct. Also apparently-there's cut dialogue where she as the broker says "no more assassinations" when she takes over. Which makes me wonder exactly why the decision was made. That said, I do think Liara is still...mostly an empathetic and good person. If you want, you can interpret it as her playing the hard ass so she'll be respected. But I agree. Not often I get my words wrong. Thanks for correcting me.

Which is why, I think canon is Shepard/Liara. Other canon plots include saving the destiny ascension, and curing the genophage. That is-they're decisions/plot points the writers clearly want you to choose.
 
Holy shit, the music for PSO2's Easter themed quest is fucking E.G.G.M.A.N. That's amazing, Sega, I love it.


Edit: Also, here's Maneater DLC



G O D Z I L L A S H A R K
 
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So, PS4 apparently has a design flaw that will at some point make playing games on it impossible.



Edit: tl;dw When CMOS batter dies it resets a clock, which needs PSN connection or jailbreaking to fix
 
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heralding_bubble said:
So, PS4 apparently has a design flaw that will at some point make playing games on it impossible.



Edit: tl;dw When CMOS batter dies it resets a clock, which needs PSN connection or jailbreaking to fix
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Uh yeah guys it's a design flaw which will force you to upgrade at some point in the future.

Definitely just a silly accident, and not a deliberate decision we made.

But also we will be unable to alter it in any way.

(Except selling you a new one.)
 
So, they just put out (less than 5 hours ago) a Disgaea mobile game. Pretty standard so far, Disgaea flavor.

But they did one thing right.

You know how in a lot of gacha games, you have that first free pull, and people will put tons of effort into wiping their data over and over to get the right thing?

Disgaea: "Nah man. Reroll your first guaranteed 4* as many times as you want."

Wound up going with Adell after a dozen or so. Thought about a few who came before, or waiting for Laharl, but eh.

I got Flonne as an early adopter bonus, I think, and they're handing out a bunch of free Etnas (for rank up) right now.
 
Scygnus said:
So, they just put out (less than 5 hours ago) a Disgaea mobile game.
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If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's not a new game at all. In fact, if I'm correct, this is the mobile game that came way too close to killing Nippon Ichi Software a couple years back.

Although the "keep rerolling until you get a starter roll you like" thing is rather nice... and likely easier on the server, honestly.
 
Some PS3 games have had patch downloads unavailable ahead of store closure.
No mention if an error and/or if patches will actually be available after store closure.

 
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Scygnus said:
So, they just put out (less than 5 hours ago) a Disgaea mobile game. Pretty standard so far, Disgaea flavor.
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That would be nice to try... IF THE SERVERS WERE NOT BLOODY OVERLOADED.

It seems no new player can get in right now, getting communication errors because the servers are too busy.
 
Megaolix said:
That would be nice to try... IF THE SERVERS WERE NOT BLOODY OVERLOADED.

It seems no new player can get in right now, getting communication errors because the servers are too busy.
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And I can't download it cuz it won't save to my SD card like it's supposed to. Yaaaaaayyyy...
 
I don't know if this place is the right place to ask this but my dumb-ass can't figure this out, does anyone know how to use Citra and know how to install game patches to it?
Because I've been trying for the last 3 hour's and can't figure out how to do it.
 
Blake said:
I don't know if this place is the right place to ask this but my dumb-ass can't figure this out, does anyone know how to use Citra and know how to install game patches to it?
Because I've been trying for the last 3 hour's and can't figure out how to do it.
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I just use a jailbroken real 3DS, sorry.
 
Blake said:
I don't know if this place is the right place to ask this but my dumb-ass can't figure this out, does anyone know how to use Citra and know how to install game patches to it?
Because I've been trying for the last 3 hour's and can't figure out how to do it.
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Go to File->Install CIA, then select the file for the patch. It will apply automatically to the correct game.
 
This is a thing I just found out about. EDF except it's made out of Minecrafts.


MUST KILL SQUARE ANTS
 
For those interested, like myself, Shin Megami Tense IIIi: Nocturne is available for pre-order on the Switch.
 
Welp, I wasn't expecting this one. Dai Gyakuten Saiban, a pair of unlocalized 3DS games by Capcom in a series that is otherwise mostly localized (Gyakuten Kenji 2 being the other notable exception), is getting a complication release on PS4, Switch, and PC.

Thats not the amazing part.

They're being localized as The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, and coming out this year. Apparently they figured out how to deal with the fact that some characters are blatantly Japanese (Phoenix now officially has a Japanese ancestor), the fact that it largely takes place in late 1800s/early 1900s Britain (with all that implies for our Japanese MC), and... how to sidestep Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate (Sherlock Holmes is out, "Herlock Sholmes" is in).
 
Sometimes you're reminded how Halsey and ONI can be kind of cunts at times.




Edit: also his Project MJOLNIR seems p cool.

 
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Bit of game awards news, the 2020-21 DICE awards, the actual gaming version of the Oscars, just wrapped up and it is obvious where the real standards are compared to the Game Awards. TGA darling The Last of Us Part II took home only two awards; Animation and Story while the two big winners of the day were Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima winning 4 awards including Art direction, sound, original score and best Adventure Game and Super Giant's Hades, with Hades taking the Game of the Year Award along with the Best Action Game, Indi Achievement, Game Design and Best Director.

Full list of categories and winners here.
 
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