Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@JohnnyShoulder Just the lack of trophies putting me off then, as I say Elden Ring vanilla is a very long/huge game!

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Yeah I had an 18 month break from when I finished the main game, so was ready to jump back in when the dlc arrived.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN first of all, it’s great hearing from you again. I’ve missed the conversations a lot so it’s good that you’re back and we can speak again.

Second, I have to echo the sentiments by our good bud, @Jimmer-jammer . I obviously love Miyazaki, and I can extend the sentiment you’ve expressed particularly with his contemporaries, but I wouldn’t go as far as to comfortably say games have been ruined. Perhaps it’s better to frame the DS trilogy as a one-of-a-king experience not in the sense it does particular things in a way that’s inherently superior to most other works of arts, but rather does it in such a unique and particular way that you can’t quite seek it elsewhere and have good luck finding something that replicates that specific experience and replicates it successfully at that. Simply put, there’s just nothing like Dark Souls’ brand of immersive world-building, exploration and addictive character building and storytelling.

I’ve also come to see that I’m not someone who seeks out one type of experience. Gaming is beautiful so many games scratch specific itches, and there’s nothing wrong with only that one particular series having one specific charm that can’t be duplicated. It makes it special, more than anything. I love GTA’s gameplay of driving around with radio and satirical takes on culture, I love musous’ blend of historical accuracy and anime shenanigans and I love Ratchet & Clank’s simple gunplay and satirical mockery of consumerism. Games provide specific experiences and that’s awesome.

Thirdly, that RotR comparison is a rather good one, and I’d say that it sorta ties back into how Miyazaki-san’s brand of gameplay and world building hasn’t been properly emulated in other contemporaries, hence my dissatisfaction with these games despite acknowledging them as doing their own thing. I do believe Jimmy expressed something similar in a broader sense, at least in a small exchange we had in a soulslike article comment section. A sentiment also extended by @colonelkilgore based on continuous conversations.

Once again, it was nice hearing from you again.

@Pastellioli It is good to see you here, old bud. You are welcome to share an exchange of words any time. If you need an earpiece, I’m here as always, but not constantly checking so a Ping wouldn’t hurt me at All. I hope you enjoy your time here.

@Yousef- so it’s a nuanced topic for sure as while I’m totally with you in so far as saying that nobody does it quite like From Soft… I still enjoy the hell out of non-From Soft souls-likes also. Nioh 2 for instance rocked my world when I played it earlier this year. I actually like tasting the different variations that other devs bring to the formula… but always consider From Soft souls-likes the blue-ribbon/gold standard.

@Yousef- Thank you! I saw that Push Square had a chit-chat thread so I thought I’d come. I’m the least active on here, since I don’t have a PlayStation 4 anymore 😅 so ill just be the most active on the threads than comment sections related to PlayStation news.

@colonelkilgore you’re not wrong, I am bit rigid although not by choice since I always welcome different interpretations irregardless of how much they’d resonate with me.

If there’s one beacon of hope, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight has demonstrated that I can not only resonate with a Miyazaki-like work not made by the man himself, but that it can also evolve to being something I can potentially elevate even above that to some degree (bearing in mind they have different goals, of course).

Nioh 2 is something I’ve missed out on actually. It’s possible I didn’t give it a chance. I disliked both Wo Long and Stranger of Paradise, so I thought Nioh wouldn’t be for me but everyone says it’s simply Team Ninja’s magnum opus mechanics-wise. I’m not actually someone who seeks mechanical complexion in soulslikes, not even in character-actions. I tend to prefer simple combat with mechanical depth rather than something that takes hours to even grasp, not to insinuate that that’s what Nioh 2 is, of course.

@Pastellioli Not to worry. Cross-platform games will likely guarantee you’ll stumble across a few conversations you can participate in. Not to mention, threads that “Switch OT”, “Xbox Thread”, “Games you recently beat” and “What non-ps4 games are you playing?” Will guarantee that you’ll have something to contribute.

@Yousef- Hello again, it's good to speak to you too. Hope all is well.

I think that I probably will just stick to FromSoft games and Soulslikes that I can actually play and fully enjoy actually, but, yeah, it's nice to get another perspective. Thanks for your input.

Is it just me or are the reactions to anything in video games people dislike becoming more and more concerning as time goes on? Seems to be some huge overreactions, which are more and more common. I'm finding it quite disturbing.
The latest two things being Concord existing and people apparently glad the developers will lose their jobs over it, suggesting it's well deserved. Now the price point of this mid generation update for the ps5 pro has people behaving in a very peculiar manner. I get this feeling of there being constant anger and entitlement, it's really sad to see. I guess the old saying of, "Don't read the comments," is as wise as ever.

@LieutenantFatman I actually agree with you, and think that’s a valid take wholeheartedly. Let it be known that both criticism and sarcasm should be welcomed, but I absolutely do feel there’s some line being crossed when there’s so much collective vitriol that you can’t say something positive.
No, scratch that, you can’t even say something neutral. You MUST be negative. It’s quite toxic if I do say myself. Obviously each one of us is entitled to a view, but being entitled to an opinion shouldn’t be a license for toxicity. But that’s just my two pennies.

@LieutenantFatman True. Although I feel like it’s not necessarily isolated to video game fandom. It’s arguably worse in our gaming habitat with the console wars and overall tribal mentality, but I’m seeing the phenomenon throughout society. Perhaps I’m jaded because we are in the throes of an election season over here in the States and good grief - overreactions, constant anger and entitlement, and just general promotion of negativity is par for the course.

The easy target to blame is social media, but I don’t know. Societally there’s a shift toward near constant pessimism. Although, I do think life is less toxic in the offline world. I saw something recently about how as humans we are much more civil and able to reach common ground if we simply get together and ‘break bread’ face-to-face, as it were. That didn’t seem to apply last night through! 😅 Lots of name calling back and forth at the debate. It wasn’t long ago that debates were civil and opponents would frequently agree on some topics. Seems that never happens anymore. Not to get political, but I’m just speaking widely as a societal norm and we see it with gaming too.

@Yousef-
Thanks, I appreciate it. And I very much agree, if you risk going against the angry consensus in these comment sections, be prepared for people being determined to ruin your day. People politely disagreeing but respecting each other's point of view seems to be quite an alien concept now.

@Th3solution
Yes, I think the Internet and being able to speak anonymously does change behaviours, often for the worse. And as a society we come to use it more and more.

But yes, politics and religion are those two topics which are always very risky to bring up with friends and family, when opinions / beliefs don't tend to match. Just wondering how close behind video games will end up being, haha.

@LieutenantFatman 😂
Things not to discuss at family dinner:
1. Politics
2. Religion
3. Anything related to the video games industry

@Th3solution tbf 1 and 3 always overlap when talking to a certain crowd.

@Th3solution “dos damn bibeo games are ruining our kids!”

@Th3solution I would struggle to talk about number 3 with my family. Only a couple of gamers, and that is not including my dad who plays the same handeful of games repeatedly, so has the same old stories to tell lol.

@LieutenantFatman A big of a late response, but I definitely agree with that too.

I mean, I can understand all the frustration and disappointment with the PS5 Pro being priced a bit too much and I think that criticism and negative opinions are allowed, it’s fine to express how unsatisfied you are with something, but I have seen some comments on other sites and some people do seem to be adding a lot of exaggeration and overreactions to their responses, and not allowing other opinions in favor of the Pro to be allowed. I feel like if someone said online how happy they are with the Pro and that they were going to buy it, someone else could just come in and say trash about the other person and how wrong they are for liking it. That’s pretty much what happens when there is a super negative reception to something, arguably it’s worse with video games.

A lot of gaming communities online can be super negative and unwelcoming, they might allow only one opinion on one thing and not allow any others, or just get extremely offended over that; an echo chamber essentially. Luckily the games I am into don’t have big communities online, but the really popular ones are the ones that tend to have really bad and negative followings and a lot of arguing like “this game is better than that!” or “this game is the best in the series and all the other games are garbage. You can state a small unpopular opinion talking negatively or positively on something and then someone just comes in and insults you for daring to have a different opinion than everyone else. It stinks that is what most people just do and it just ruins gaming for everyone. I am sure console wars has something to do with that as well, and just so many people trying to troll and tick each other off for no good reason.

@Pastellioli
Very true. I think it's far too easy to find echo chambers that will back any idea, no matter how terrifying or awful it might be.

@LieutenantFatman Echo chambers are way too common with almost anything online unfortunately…

An affront to several cultures at once, and also my arteries. Pizza supper and curry sauce.