bugarup

All that talk of Lost brought back a memory of this

I know bloody damn well why I don't enjoy things. I liked science fiction-y, or at least sci-fi adjacent feel of the majority of seasons (it appears my memory helpfully erased the story of two color-coded twąts stranded on the island, so that saccharine religion fusion at the end, while still the worst thing, isn't the only bad thing). And why I hate "It's magic, OK?!" aka "A wizard did it" type of ending -- especially after flirting with science fiction for so long -- is because it is lazy, cheap-ass, boring cousin of Deus Ex Machina that no self-respecting writer should ever use. Not even in pure fantasy settings. Does reminded me of Fortitude quite a bit, fortunately that one wrapped up first season in a way that didn't poke my suspension of disbelief much before going into magical properties of deer piss in season 2.

Watched to the end, the ending (that fcking cloying afterlife bullsh!t, not Jack expiring in Smokey's embrace) was such a travesty it ruined all the show for me.

I didn't stop, and since then my unit of "Utterly failed to stick the landing" is Lost. E.g. "KOTOR2's unmodded ending is 20 miliLosts". Dark had the same problem, so I was quite OK when their next "Wtf-is-happening" show 1899 got canceled, because open for speculations end is better than fåck-up end.

I don't think tag line has to be scrupulously accurate because obviously a non-documentary series would sacrifice some elements of accuracy for drama and someone who embellishes or, well, "lies" with the tag line absolutely can call out those elephantine lies that were the primary building material of Sovietistan. Like, I knew the bridge was fictional but it was both concise and hauntingly beautiful way to show how poorly informed people were. I didn't quite like how they done Dyatlov dirty because IRL he was nothing like that, but maybe they cast Paul Ritter and then went "Hey, he will make an excellent villain"? Of authenticity, interiors were recreated with incredible accuracy, the power plant who "played" in the series was the sister of Chernobyl's, and exteriors were more or less accurate though much cleaner. I still rewatch episode one regularly, it's one of my favorite horror films. That reactor maw is scarier than any Lovecraftian monstrosity.

Sigh. Day of the Jackal is one of my favoritest books and I will never understand why such an un-cinematographic book, essentially about two nondescript people methodically trekking towards each of their goals through tedium of hard work, gets regular adaptations. Well OK, the assassin's research and then execution is sometimes flashy, but police work, while captivating to read, is totally not for visual medium. I thought the old seventies movie was OK, Bruce Willis version was a joke, and this one I read is padded out with sappy family stuff? Not to mention someone looking as peculiar as Redmayne would stand out wherever he goes.

I was more about recent-ish general atmosphere regarding woman characters, because it seems there's now a vocal minority of baboons who start howling and throwing sh†t whenever there's a woman in a game who does something, anything else than boob jiggle physic. Maybe my youtube algorithm is broken and thinks that whenever I mute yet another "WOMEN BAD" offer it means I want a different flavor. I wish it was the case, but I suspect it ain't. Not wanting Ciri for a protag I agree is nothing special, for a large number of people it's just that they want their Geralt back just like they wanted their Shepard, Warden Commander or any other Charname back. People growing attached to things is the most normal thing ever.

But seriously, what's with all this incel rennaissance? Nobody gave a sh†t Shepard could be a woman, Lara Croft's a woman, all party based RPGs let you play as a woman or even full party of them since forever, why NOW it's a problem?

Obligatory note to self to finish Witcher 2 so that I can finally play 3 because there's almost 4. If only gameplay weren't so...so Here's hoping I won't need any more expensive dentistry any time because I'll really want a nice desktop for, like, year 2026 or 7, when all this stuff goes on sale.

We were told not to eat mushrooms too (through the grapevine, because officially In USSR Bad Things NEVER Happen!), but there were levels, like "It's your liver" and "Definitely not these". It also birthed a joke - "Q: Can you eat mushrooms from Chernobyl? A: Sure, if you can catch them".

I always liked how Obs handled diversity in Deadfire, i.e. they just put it there along with world building for it to make sense, no fanfares or shining a spotlight on it.

I view it as a cenotaph to Bioware as it was at its peak. Here's hoping it stays for a long, long time so I could come and pay annual respects.

Damn, will have to log in then, really don't want to lose my Darths Continentia, Halitosis and Bertie Wooster, my bounty hunter Payme, Jedi Knight Izno Goud, Cathar trooper Gary Kittenberg...

Seriously, never encountered "Do not want" meme before? Or never was interested how it came into existence?

My very first Shepard looked very much like lady who owned craft beer store on my that time home-work route. Very nice lady, was fun to chat a little while shopping at hers. My one true Shepard forever.

I kinda feel now how Romans were when Caligula made his horse a senator.

Yeah, with the world's name Thedas (aka The Dragon Age Setting), one of the towns named Lothering etc. it does look more like something that evolved from D&D session that took 4 years. Thing is, the world made sense and had enough verisimilitude so that if I had questions of how and why something happened, it was easy to find explanations without breaking game's inner logic and it was fun to play (still is). Second game had this too if you squinted at the story through tacked-on decisions like "We need boss fight either way!" or "No time for too different branches", but it was buried under the pile of stupid. By the third game pile of stupid turned into mountain of stupid, and from what I read about the last one they pretty much threw everything away and now's it just generic high fantasy.

And some of us dye transmogs in Bozo the Clown colours.

Attractive is fine, but judging by screenshots and often discourse itself a lot of people equal "attractive woman" with "woman wearing beach/bordello attire when game does not take place in either", meanwhile dudes always dress sensibly. I'm all for equality that goes both directions, so if your game dresses ladies in brothelcore, gimme a dude I can send into battle wearing purple polka dot thong and nipple clamps.

Oh well. The lesson all other countries should take from this is never, ever neglect your education systems.

Hey, maybe Bioware's execs let EA's execs write Veilguard out of gratitude, judging by general opinion on its story Anyway. All this talk of DA made me reinstall Origins, which I don't think I need to spend more time with, since it's one of very few games I collected 100% cheevos for, but here I am. I love how things make sense in it. It's also less brown than I remember it.

If it allows me to kick those Pixary twee bobbleheads into a well King Leonidas style I'm good with it. Won't even need a ~*snarky*~ quip afterwards.

I agree that it was never dark fantasy, just plain old heroic fantasy with darkish curtains. But when compared side to side with this safe and fluffy amalgamation of Fortnite and Disney, I can see how in retrospect DA:O might look pitch-black. P.S.: Speaking of Fortnite, maaaaybe in a few years I could slip this DAV as a gateway drug into RPGs to my nephew, who is currently Fortnite-loving eight-year old.

I skipped Anthem no problem, this one also looks skippable. Especially with scathingly dismissive reviews like this: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/with-the-veilguard-dragon-age-has-forgotten-its-dark-fantasy-roots-and-become-biowares-avengers/

So because of some youtuber you wasted money that would have bought you lots and lots of beer on something you don't need or want?