snuronのブログ

Halo killer, Pokemon killer...wut? (Palworld)

Random people have been claiming these things in the past, and Palworld got the attention of Pokemon with guns in mid January this year.I didn't buy their narratives that it was made by an AI bots, according to Twitter's users. Even though, it was made by around 70 people working on Palword.And the fact that people panicked about AI, even though the character designs were introduced in a trailer that was released years ago before generative AI could have even been capable of making anything close to resembling them.The entire controversy is nonsense.I know that Saints Row took Grand Theft Auto's inspiration and was it a GTA killer? Nah.Or was it Haze a Halo killer? (according to some media sources.) Nah.I mean, Overwatch didn't kill Team Fortress 2 and people still play it to this day.There were a number of examples of the next "Pokemon" thing in the past that Digimon, Monster Rancher, Temtem, etc. would become popular.I didn't have high expectations of those games.As for Palworld, the "Pokemon with guns" game is still early access and it's pretty nice and I'm having fun at the time I'm writing this post.Sure, there might be a few Pal designs that look like a few Pokemons, IF Nintendo would sue Pocket Pair to redo them.Most Pal designs are pretty much derivative, that I've played derivative games in the past. I adore them and other derivative games I hate. xPThe next question is...will I be obsessed with like Apex Legends? Maybe.Will this clone game be remembered? I don't know, art is subjective to every individual.Minecraft, ARK: Survival Evolved, Project Zomboid, Rust......it's fair to say I'm not a fan of survival games.I'll keep playing Palworld.

スターフィールドは私を落ち込ませた

NFS Unbound BGM... [英語]

I've been mentioning that the reveal soundtrack of Unbound was not my thing in November, last year.It's December today, where this game was released in the same month last year.I've played this game for 318 hours on Xbox Series. I've already finished the story mode andI spent most of time on the online multiplayer PvP. It's fun at times. If only there was a way to play Ostinato track 3 times, that'd be nice. xPAnyway, I doubled-check the licensed songs from the game a few times and......it's still not my thing.Having said that:Tkay Maidza's Where is my Mind?Abir Obe's Wish You WellDiplo's Worry No More (feat. Lil Yachty and Santigold)Lous and The Yakuza's Je ne sais paisMura Masa / slowthai's Deal Wiv itRozzma's HoutTerror Jr's FunThese songs slap.And the rest of the songs, especially A$AP ROCKY's, didn't click me. It's only of what's trendy atm.Not even the techno ones have been interesting like UMEK, Alison Wonderland or Pepe.Such a shame.I don't blame the one who made the decision to add those songs because of hip-hop identity. Or was it Steve Schnur? idk. I'm not an employee of EA....turn it off.I can't keep it up without EA Trax.==or listen toSpotify and make my own playlist.https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tP8jX82QfduGrSe4qzK8A?si=daf76147daa147fehttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/68uSFJ7gFQr3HytyeiRILU?si=cd5a9397a4434d66

Random game subject #4 Apex Legends [英語]

My Honest Thoughts On The State Of Apex LegendsMe basically complaining I don't like making content on apex currently part 57socials:https://www.twitch.tv/kaselloshttps://discord.gg/yk6sggc#apex #apexlege...www.youtube.comI saw this video and he's got some reasonable things to say Apex, at least for content creators. He's been playing it for 8k (8000) hours, he's there for gunplay and movement.I've been playing this game for 1700 hours and I can relate to the things he said.I play Apex Legends forpersonality andthe characters when each character you play has a banter to other players/Legends.Gunplay is still more fun to play mouse and keyboard. Movement is still a part of it, but I'm not a fan of it, but I play it.The LTMs like Three Strikes, Revenant Uprising, Shadow Royale andWinter Expressare pretty good. Themixtape (TDM, Gun Run and Control)are nice addition to play for a while.This game is still my current obsession,but as long as the servers are still up thanks to the playerbase and the microtransactions, it won't "die".Some random user said it best.@jasonlimweizen:SBMM makes the game too hard.There needs to be a balance.We should get 2/10 sweat, 3/10 average, 5/10 bot lobbies,also we gotta understand that casuals don't really care about it though,they will camp, get 1 or 2 kills per game, win and they will be happy.But in terms of content, getting high kill games, to be quite honest,bot lobbies are content creator's best friend.I used to play Warzone and I remember people used to complain."oh, his VPN is to bot lobbies",but little did they know, these people would play for 8 to 10 hours,and get 1-3 youtube games.It's just how it is, and also, people have to understand that the more aggressive you play,you put yourself at more risk of being killed, but to get high kills games, or content,we have to play aggro, but the game, or any battle royale just never rewards that.Battle Royale games are designed for people to win, not to get high kills.Say what you want, but that is just how it is.Honestly, in a way, it's good. Or else, it would be too easy,and good or high kill games wouldn't be of any value.There are things that they can do right now that will actually revive the game,nerf aim assist, nerf console to 0.5, PC to 0.3, fix audio, not hearing footstepswhen we dont get UAV like in Warzone or we can build and create cover in Fortnite.It is just cringe, fix SBMM, add a new legend and new gun every season,12 tick servers gotta go.This is just like Warzone, they were super popular the first 1 or 2 years on release.They took the bag and then from there, they don't care anymore, because no matterhow shit the game becomes, the casuals will still play,but all the content creators that made the game known, that are still making content,stuff 'em, who cares about them, they are too far in to quit the game.To be honest, I think Respawn and those companies just don't care.They have bagged the money, they don't need it anymore.Money change people, man.Seriously, if The Finals pop off, I'm all for it.

2023's albums [英語]

Here are the albums I've been listening to. I've been into darkwave sinceApril of this year.2023's albums I like:Hallows - A Quieter LifeShad Shadows - AssaultSaigon Blue Rain - OkoMareux - Lovers from the Past-Iggy Pop - Every LoserCaroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn into YouLuke Vibert - Machine FunkKelela - Raven Mitski - The Land is Inhospitable and So are weSpiritbox - The Fear of FearGunship - UnicornMega Drive - 200XAD-Ambient:Alva Noto - HYbr:ID IIField Lines Cartographer - Phases of This and Other MoonsHinako Omori - stillness, softness...Polypores - Multizonal MindscrambleItal Tek - TimeproofAugustus Muller/Boy Harsher - Cellulosed BodiesMidnight Smoke - Retronoir / Empty Floors EPWarrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan - The Nation's Most Central LocationCarbon Based Lifeforms - SeekerHonorable mentions:Katatonia - Sky Void of StarsHEALTH - RAT WARSKorine - TearNuovo Testamento - Love LinesVeil of Light - SundancingPearly Drops - A Little DisasterBattle Tapes - TextureRebecca Black - Let Her BurnTkay Maidza - Sweet JusticeSun June - Bad Dreams JaguarJonn Serrie - Elysian LightshipsYves Tumor - Praise a Lord Who Chews, But Does Not Consume...Yves Malone - Kill the Copy in your HeadBiosphere - Inland DeltaBibio - Sunbursting EPEartheater - Powders Fragrance - Dust & DisordersDominic Fike - SunburnOlivia Rodrigo - GutsSleep Token - Take Me back to EdenDanger (not the French one) - Blade EPAlison Goldfrapp - The Love InventionIn Flames - ForegoneClark - Sus DogOval - RomantiqSaya Gray - QWERTY EPSophie Ellis-Bextor - HANASpeakers Corner Quartet - Further Out Than The EdgeThe Ongoing Concept - AgainEllie Goulding - Higher than HeavenMiley Cyrus - Endless Summer VacationTrevor Something - Letting out My DemonsA Certain Ratio - 1982Glen Hansard - All That was East is West of Me NowFireworks - Higher Lonely PowerCicada - Seeking the Sources of StreamsJames Holden - Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All PossibilitiesAndrea - Due in ColorEnslaved - HeimdalSkrillex - Quest for FireOrbital - Optical DelusionKimbra - A Reckoning GLTNurnberg - AhidaMary Lattimore - Goodbye, Hotel ArkadaJulie Byrne With Laugh Cry Laugh EPPeter Gabriel - i/oNot Waving - The Place I've been MissingBen Howard - Is It?Slowdive - Everything is AliveStimming - ElderberrySpangle call Lilli line - AmpersandRuby Haunt - Between HeavensAnberlin - ConvincedAmir Obe - after.Soft Vein - Pressed in GlassGhost - PhantomineKaelan Mikla - Undir Koldum NordurljosumStrange Ranger - Pure MusicDisclosure - AlchemyCarly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest TimeArt School Girlfriend - Soft LandingCrosses - Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.David Eugene Edwards - Hyacinth

CS2 is not clicking me. [英語]

so, CS2 has finally released on September 27 atSteam. I’ve played it for a few hours and I wasn’t excited.I’ve played a shitload of hours on CSGO, Source and even 1.6 in internet cafe way back in mid 2000s.I’m not a CS addict, which I’ve ended up to play some FPS games like Quake 2, Titanfall 2, ULTRAKILL,Apex Legends, etc in my life.I let people enjoy that game.It’s alright.It’s just notfor me.

Darkwave/ダークウェーブ [英語]

10/19/2023My interest of darkwave took me longer to get into it that not many people have told me in the past.For those who don't know what darkwave is, it's dark synthpop that doesn't progress to be popular in mainstream media. From the information I've read, it began with Clan of Xymox in the 80s and kudos to it that I've listened to their full discography and loved them.The songs have no hooks from pop/rock/hip-hop musicians. It's listening to a score to get the vibe of it or "my soundtrack playlist" that nowadays people are listening to like Taylor Swift or A$AP Rocky. (Link)Basically, it's the vibe music.Before darkwave, I heard Sisters of Mercy's Floodland in 2016 and I loved it, but I've never been a nerd of it. Synthwave took me over in that year, thanks to Perturbator's Dangerous Days (heard of it in 2015), GUNSHIP, John Carpenter and Hotline Miami OSTs. I still listen to synthwave but I've been least active of that genre since it's kinda ubiquitous at this point.I heard of a few darkwave albums in the past like Drab Majesty or Boy Harsher's Country Girl EP in 2018, yet that genre didn't grasp me fully. I love Perturbator's Lustful Sacraments.That is until I heard of Mareux's The Perfect Girl (The Cure cover) in February of this year, thanks to Zoolander's meme I saw. I loved that song. How come no one suggested me this song before? ehh...Darkwave hooked me with Mareux's music in April this year and I've been enamored of searching for more bands like Mareux and so far, I've found plenty of bands I love and some didn't click me. Hopefully they'll keep making one darkwave album per year or tops. No pressure.The unanswered question is how long do I keep listening to it. I don't know. The genres I heard like punk (The Stooges), pop-punk (Fall Out Boy/Yellowcard), hard rock (Led Zeppelin's third album or AC/DC), alternative rock (Story of the Year orFilter),industrial (Nine Inch Nails or Contagion), heavy metal (Judas Priest), metalcore (Bullet For My Valentine), ambient (Plastikman's Consumed), thrash metal (Megadethor Slayer), grindcore (Terrorizer or Anal Cunt), death metal (Carcass or Death) and black metal (Burzum's Hvis Lyset Tat Oss or Blut Aus Nord) are heard in my brain. I'm not enthusiastic of discovering new bands (Spiritbox or Sleep Token) of an existing genre. People will find a niche to a particular band or a number of bands in one way or another.Will another genre get me addictive in the future? K-pop or noise music? Maybe. Or I'm just apathetic to hook me in a derivative music world.Whatever. I'm listening to Hante. - Morning Tsunami.今日はここまでです。

Random game subject #3 [リブログ、英語]

Anonymous: What game franchise is the most overrated and why?Raycevick: Destiny. Diablo. Borderlands.Put any loot-based game on a board and throw of the dart.I understand the core-gameplay is meant to be the bridge from exciting item to exciting item, the problem for me, is both are often anti-climatic, and I much prefer core gameplay to have unique context.I much prefer a Half Life to a Far Cry, a Titanfall 2 to a Warframe, etc.Even in Multiplayer, lots of my favorite games often facilitate context. Halo 2 in Big Team Battle is radically different than Hardcore 4v4s. Siege's claustrophobic quick kill atmosphere is unique from Deathmatch havens of other Military Games.I just can't play a game based around looting for the amount their fans seem too. Even something like Mass Effect 3, didn't keep me hooked because of the drops, it was the universe. It was finally being able to see this world Bioware created ages ago, be taken to new extremes in ways a campaign could simply never achieve. Like a defected Cerberus officer with whips smacking biotics alongside a Krogan Vanguard, helping the unpossessed Collector mow down waves of Geth, assisted by a Geth.Playing games because you want something to engage while also conversating, I get, but for that I go to TF2, Halo, or Call of Duty, not games that require so much more time to maximize the fun out of.

Random game subject #2, DRIV3R... [英語]

Looking back in my time of playing video games on PS2 in mid 2000s, I played some good games such as NFS Underground 1, GTA3, GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, Gran Turismo 4, Resident Evil 4, Burnout 3, etc.I also remember I played games I didn't like such as:The Italian Job, The Getaway, Warhammer 40K Fire Warrior,50 Cent Bulletproof, 187 Ride or Die, etc.And then, I've played...DRIV3R.Oh boi...I played it for many hours. At that time,I didn't know why I kept playing it for more like a year and I felt like a moron that I shouldn't play it for extra hours, but I did.I didn't pay attention to the internet a lot of the bad thingsand I didn't get why GameSpot gave 5.4 out of 10 score on PS2.I was stupid back then.Then I remember the things of why this game was bad and that GameSpot score made sense:1) If you go inside the bar, just staying in the middle of the corridor, open the door, you see two dudes inside of the bar but you don't get inside of the bar, but the crosshair indicates with red color aiming at them as enemy AI.I shot them with my default unlimited ammo pistol and they didn't fire me back.So, in short, the enemy AI was piss-poor in various moments.2) The car physics are questionable often. Wrecked cars are visible if you hit an obstacle or take damage. I like that.3) Characters' animation are stiff that they barely felt alive.4) I've encountered some small bugs here and there. Like the game was rushed.5) Hiring some well-known actors/actresses didn't cut it in DRIV3R. (Michael Madsen, Mickey Rourke, Michelle Rodriguez, Ving Rhames and Iggy Pop are some examples. I have no disrespect to them)6) I didn't like the story. The characters are pretty much stale as hell, that I forgot their names. The ending was tasteless.7) The "realistic" graphics didn't click me and the environment's texture was mediocre. So I felt apathetic.andlast but not least...well, I do like the licensed soundtrack on the cutscenes and themain menu, except when you free roam in three cities alone.So, what did I do after the story mode (Undercover) is over?I took a ride for a shitload of hours.I was pretending to be kind to the NPCs in three cities, then I was killing one of those Tom----Timmy Vermicelli, finding secret cars,race a track on Go-kart for some odd reason, and so on...It wasimmersive at the time.That was the reason I spent the majority of hours on DRIV3R. It was the fun thing I had.So, I stopped to play it and I moved on to...Years later, I played Driver Parallel Lines.The 70s funk/rock music, 2006 Era music, New York City, The Kid, crime,Circuit Races, Street Races, the day to night cycle, Side-jobs...The story? Ehh, I thought it was serviceable, but it's there.But, man. This was so much better than DRIV3R.It's not magnificent, but I like it.

What were you thinking, Bioware? [リブログ、英語]

by Raycevick2023I don't like Destiny.I don't like Left 4 Dead.I don't like Nazi Zombies.I don't like Killing Floor.I don't like Risk of Rain.I liked Payday.But not its sequel...When it comes to coop shooters, whether it's about progressing through a linear stage, or progressing through a linear stage for loot, I'm just not really into it.Even horde based games like Call of Duty and Killing Floor isn't something that I could go to for hours and hours, just a handful of sessions before I'd want to play something else.These days, I don't really play those games at all.And yet...every once in a while, for some weird reason, get a little inkling to boot up Mass Effect 3's Coop; when I think back on it, I played that game more than Destiny, Left 4 Dead, Nazi Zombies, Killing Floor, Risk of Rain, and Payday combined, and judging from just the little short I uploaded to YT, I'm not the only one.I'm going to quickly ask this question, and follow it up with a much longer one.Why did I play this game so much?Well, I'm an admitted Mass Effect Fanboy, and as discussed in "I'm Jealous of Warhammer", a big part of this game's appeal was being able to play as characters and races with weapons and abilities that weren't available in Shepard's lone journey.However, I'm not sure quite how powerful that reason actually is, considering that Mass Effect Andromeda also had Multiplayer, very similar Multiplayer, and I barely touched it?Really, I think it's because Mass Effect 3 accidentally stumbled upon a phenomenal gameplay formula which unlike Destiny, Left 4 Dead, Naz- you get the point, never overstayed its welcome.Matches, even intense ones, were only 15-20 minutes. They were bite-sized, and as a result, could be something you just played one round of to pop some heads with a Black Widow, or binged for 4-5 hours with friends, swapping between its vast selection of characters, weapons, and builds.The dead airwas between matches, not in the middle of a boring mission or wave like in most coop-horde shooters, and getting bad loot, while annoying, wasn't as annoying as other games, being that it only took 15-20 minutes to boot up another game.Plus, the higher the difficulty, the more you got.So the better you were at the game, the more money you made.Here's the real question however, the real reason I'm writing this, it hit me when someone in the comments of said YT Short, said "why didn't Bioware make a Destiny type-game if they hit such gold with ME3 MP?" and someone said "They did, it was called Anthem, and it flopped."What hit me?Okay... Bioware Montreal, the support studio behind Mass Effect 3's Mutliplayer, on their first attempt, made a game that was addicting, rewarding, and well-supported by both fans and themselves the developer, going as far as to update the game extensively every Tuesday for a year (even on PS3/360 through their certification process).So what does Bioware Montreal make next?Mass Effect: Andromeda.Bioware Edmonton, the main studio behind Mass Effect 3 itself, and previous two games along with the Dragon Age series, made a game that was addicting, rewarding, and well-supported by both fans (endings aside) and themselves the developer, going as far as to end the trilogy on one of the biggest and most personal expansions ever made in Mass Effect 3's Citadel.So what does Bioware Edmonton make next?Anthem.The support studio whose previous work is a Multiplayer Wave-Based Loot-Game, makes the next Singleplayer Story-Driven RPG.The main studio whose previous is a Singleplayer Story-Driven RPG, makes the next Multiplayer Wave-Based Loot-Game......This is madness!Bioware and Montreal were part of the same company, they were working within the same franchises, they were working underneath the same corporate overlords...so why were they assigned the opposite of their experience?...Why?

Beta Protocol [リブログ、英語]

By Raycevick2020So I've finally enjoyed The Outer Worlds, Obsidian's latest RPG romp meant to rekindle the magic of Interplay's Fallout 1&2 in tone and... it does a decent job. I think the reason the game didn't click with me at first is because like most RPGs, the introduction is kinda dull, you're uber limited on items, equipment, and weapons, and you're just fighting sentry turrets.Having by passed the initial worlds though, coming back I found myself binging the game.And that's probably because it's the complete opposite of Alpha Protocol. Obsidian's Espionage RPG might very well be a game I adore, but it's also exhausting. Seeing level after level break is funny, but like a two hour comedy special, there's only so many jokes I can take before being mentally numbed. After steeping my head into that sea for three months, The Outer World's comparative polish feels like more than just coming up for air.Combat might very well be dated but the weapon variety is great, most of them are actually satisfying to use, and the Fallout equivalent mechanics such Tactical Time (V.A.T.S.), are just as if not more satisfying.Most importantly though, unlike what I played of Bethesda's Fallout 4, this game feels smooth. The animations, textures, worlds, and engine all feel clean, optimized, and organized. Having been conditioned by Obsidian's previous work to expect something as basic as a walking animation to break, it's made my time with The Outer Worlds a good contrast.That contrast however doesn't start and end with combat and exploration. It appears in its dialogue, quests, and interactions, which is where this game starts to draw the short end of the stick.What makes Alpha Protocol a gem is how much of an RPG it is, while forgoing so many of the RPG hurtles that we've become accustomed too. Looped conversations, stiff NPCs, anti-climatic quests, etc.All of those come back with a vengeance in The Outer Worlds.Characters that you've done personal side-missions for, build a reputation with, and potentially find yourself on the opposite side of a morally-grey war over, die in gameplay without a single line from you, them, or anybody in your crew.Dialogue trees will end a conversation after you've started one quest, forcing you to speak with the person you just end the conversation with to ask them a question, like how much is their fish?And the awkward pauses with textures popping in with each cut are an absolute constant.These things don't make The Outer Worlds a bad game, if it did, I wouldn't keep playing it, but it does make The Outer Worlds decidedly... standard. And I find myself at a real crossroads. Because Alpha Protocol is a game I could binge, and be exhausted by the end. The Outer Worlds I can binge, and feel just as content as I did when I first entered.But I suspect one is going to have a much greater takeaway.In Alpha Protocol, when I found out that Conrad can be killed in Rome, and that Michael can confirm to Conrad's boss that he bombed a Crusade's exhibit both to cause a terrorist attack, and send a message to the US Government branch that betrayed him, I was giggling like a caffeinated child.The Outer Worlds... I've chuckled at some of my character's dialogue options, Ellie and Parvati are likable, and the art-style is gorgeous but, there's been nothing like those highs from Alpha Protocol, nor its lows, and I can't decide which one I prefer.But I know which one will be more memorable, and that likely, answers my own question.The Outer Worldsis this.Alpha Protocolis this.

Timing [リブログ、英語]

By Raycevick2022So Ubisoft has finally released a new Rainbow Six game...Not that you'd instantly guess that based on screenshots.The latest entry Rainbow Six Extraction is built off of the well-received Outbreak mode in Rainbow Six Siege, which took the small scale destruction based PVP military shooter, and turned it into a linear co-op infection/zombie shooter.It obviously had tons of effort poured into it, from the gorgeously rendered cutscenes that gave fans their first real peek to seeing these characters as people, unique enemy designs of various types in both gameplay and visuals, and a gameplay loop that while not revolutionary, wasn't the same Left 4 Dead formula we've grown accustomed to.All for a mode that lasted a total of four weeks...Sounds kind of stupid when you put it like that.That's where Extraction comes in. Taking the concept, and realizing it bigger and better than it ever was, and…I haven't played it.Genuinely, while I can't say I was ever hyped for this game, I am actually curious to play it, just haven't gotten around to it, but based on what I've seen, it seems like a solid weekend romp with friends, and perhaps will grow into something more.It's also a nice departure for Ubisoft. In recent years, they've invested into two types of games. Small Scale PVP, or Large Open Worlds. It's why there hasn't been a new Splinter Cell, or Prince of Persia, they couldn't easily fit into either category, not at least without major backlash.Trackmania I wouldn’t really count as a departure for Ubisoft because not only is it by a studio they acquired years ago, that franchise, for as much as I love it, hasn't really changed its formula at all since its inception.So Extraction is on paper a nice change of pace for the company.So why did I title this article "timing"? Well, because I think Extraction is the example of a game which has come at a time when I think the Tom Clancy brand is calling for the exact opposite of what it's doing.The brand has become increasingly meaningless as time's progressed, starting with Splinter Cell allowing Sam Fisher to survive a couple rounds, to removing planning stages in Rainbow Six 3 for Xbox, and adding regenerating health in Rainbow Six Vegas, all those now seem like a documentary compared to the likes of The Division, Xdefiant, and now Extraction.Not to mention that while a co-op infection game might be a unique entry for Ubisoft, it's not unique in the gaming space, especially during this brawl for someone to reclaim Left 4 Dead's throne. Back 4 Blood, World War Z, GTFO, The Anacrusis, Alien Fireteam Elite; there's no shortage of these games in premise right now.And...I feel kinda bad, because that's in a way, unfair to Extraction.While it's sometimes fun to dunk on Ubisoft and their infuriating lack of originality, they can be one of the companies that'll occasionally do things no other big publisher does. I mean...could you really imagine EA turning one of their premiere franchises into a game set in 10,000 BC?Or releasing tons of DLC for a Melee Combat 3D Infantry Fighter Thing? I still don’t really know what genre to put For Honor in...and I kind of love that.From what I've seen, Extraction, like Outbreak before it, does have a gameplay that it owns, and will be an enjoyable game for those who sink their teeth into it...but because of the state of Ubisoft, Tom Clancy, and the Genre it occupies, I don't thinka lot of people will appreciate it's qualities long after it's faded.This happens quite a lot in art, and I don't know if there really is a solution.When it comes to how your game will be judged, no matter how much power you have as a developer, you can't control that.

Humbling of Battlefield [リブログ、英語]

By Raycevick2021I've theorized for the past three years that the only way DICE could rekindle hype for a new Battlefield title was announce Bad Company 3. Battlefield V's a game whose reputation seems to change with every rotation of the Earth, but one thing's for certain, it was the most controversial title in the series to date.I've stick by this belief with the assumption that Bad Company 2's had enough time to pass for it to become nostalgic. It's a game before microtransactions were the norm; before Kinect & PlayStation Move, let alone Discord. It's a game so attached to what the game's have become and yet, is different in so many ways. It's graphics are ever so slightly cartoony, compared to the franchise's push for photo-realism, and boundary pushing technology. It's gameplay and level-design was built around Rush rather than the long standing Conquest, relegated to five control points tops on the largest map released months after launch. Matches were designed for 24 players, 32 on PC as a bonus. Simply put, Bad Company 2 is unique even to this day, rather than fundamentally dated like many earlier entries are in a franchise. However, I've got a personal bias.Bad Company 2's one of my all time favorite games. I've got memories of its Beta, Demo, Launch, DLC, and Expansion. I remember buying a $3 PS3 Beta Code off of Ebay just to give it a try, and falling in love. I remember trying to convince my friends to give it ago who were unimpressed with Bad Company 1, only for us to play the Demo for a solid week consecutively. I remember how upset we got whenever the servers would crash mid-session, because so many people were playing at once. I remember reviving a friend 20+ times as a Medic because an enemy sniper would kill him before he could move after I revived. I remember driving jeeps through the forests of Vietnam and crashing through the walls into an enemy base. I'm certainly not alone in having memories like these, many will speak of Bad Company 2 with this sort of reverence and retrospect. However, Battlefield 3 is only a year and a half older. That group of friends I played with were disappointed by the comparative lack of a destruction, the heavier emphasis on infantry combat, the arguably inferior map design, etc. However, Battlefield 3 was the Battlefield 2 of its generation for millions. It was the Crysis of its generation for millions. It was many people's first foray into online gaming, or at least, of large scale warfare. I've got fond memories of Battlefield 3 as well, but not as many as Bad Company 2, due to playing it less overall, partly due to not having a great computer at the time. Thing is, those sorts of memories I described, people hold for Battlefield 3, perhaps even more so with its 15 million copies sold, and surprisingly, that kind of experience hasn't really been enhanced since... Modern Warfare's Ground War might replicate the Battlefield experience, but I don't think many would argue it's built upon. People seemed to appreciate having a setting and gameplay with a similar backdrop, but it was a push for Call of Duty, not Battlefield. Since Battlefield 3, the franchise hadn't really pushed itself either, more tweaked and fiddled with the formula. Battlefield 4 vastly expanded the sandbox, Battlefield 1 changed the setting, and Battlefield V attempted to reinvent how people navigated the core-gameplay, but player count, map-design, types of encounters, those had all remained relatively the same, even Battlefield: Hardline (which I enjoyed) was overly familiar. What I realize looking back upon the idea of a Bad Company 3, is while that may be what the franchise needs in the future, it's not what it needs now. DICE absolutely made the right call in striking people's nostalgia for Battlefield 3, and embracing all of the ridiculous gameplay that only it could provide, with the promise to build upon exactly that, with wingsuits, weather, and tomorrow's world technology. If there was somebody in DICE's meetings echoing my original desires, I'm glad they lost.

Losing [リブログ、英語]

by Raycevick2021Sometimes, I surprise myself in what I play. Most recently, that game has been Apex Legends. I'm not opposed to Battle Royale, but there's never been one that's truly hooked me since the idea became mainstream with PUBG's debut. Even then, there was an awful load to deal with in that game, technically and "artistically."What I find interesting however about the Battle Royale genre and in-turn Apex Legends, is how much they combat the idea that players need to win in-order to be enjoying themselves.By the very nature of Battle Royale games, where 60+ people jump into an arena, and only three are left standing (in the case of Apex Legends), the overwhelming majority of people are not going to be victorious in the overwhelming majority of games they play. Good players could potentially not have enough loot, be boxed in by a third party, or be lacking the experience with a character, area, or weapon not generally used.It's not like Halo where matches are generally 4v4 with the same weapons, spawns, and chokepoints. Matchmaking in-games like these are often made with the goal of matching people closely so they're never going for too long with lost matches, and even that spawns its own controversy online.People love to pub-stomp, they love dominating, and companies have been known to encourage certain behaviors. Activision most of all was caught red-handed with a patent made to put those who spent money on more powerful weapons, against those who did not.I bring all of this up, because it makes me ask the question, why then have I been binging Apex Legends despite not winning a single game since returning to it? I've come close multiple times, and have won in the past, but just haven't seemed to secure that Champion screen.Yet it doesn't bother me, if it did, I don't think I'd keep playing.There's two components I believe. For one thing, there's enough skill-based gameplay in Apex to feel like matches are in your reach, yet random enough, to dodge crippling responsibility.In Quake, when you lose, it's not because an unknown third-party jumped in when you were weak, or your experimenting with a different character, or your team just didn't click, it's because you're worse. Period. Not to mention the differences between an average player and a good player has the gap of an Ocean. The same-way Halo 1's a nightmare for anybody who doesn't know to immediately switch to the Pistol on spawn.Meanwhile, Apex, and other Battle Royals, give you the agency to engage through its mechanics, but not so much that loses fall entirely on your shoulders.Where Apex differs however (especially from PUBG) is its personality. There's top-level music during the initial phases, likable characters unique in-design, a gorgeous art-style straddling the line between plausible sci-fi and military shooter, heaps of endearing yet useful quips during gameplay.It's enough heart to charm you even when you're the first squad to bite the dust, and that's the task very few games have overcome. Entertain even during its lowest gameplay points.

Random subject #1 [英語]

If you're a student, focus on what's wildly important:1. Develop your skills and portfolio2. Build a network.3. ..............109. Your grades...?Not a single employer cares about your grades, and if the university pushes it, keep concentrate on achieving your desired result.

Random game subject #1 [英語]

For all the people out there, do you remember one of these video games in that image?Well, I used to play Super Monday Night Combat Battleborn, Hyper Scape, The Cycle Frontier, Gundam Evolution and a little a bit of Apex Legends Mobile. These games? The servers are shut down already.I don't know which one stuck to me the most. I know one artist missed Wildstar fully.Raycevick made a tweet mocking the video game crash's mythical panic, he happened to be in a call with a developer in the industry, one who had interviewed dozens of game companies.Not 20-30+.More 60-70+."Name them, I talked to them."And, every single one of them had said the exact same thing during these interviews..."Our next game is a live-service."But here's something to consider, that the concept of there being a limited amount of viewers, every minute of your video that's watched, are minutes of someone else's video being ignored.If enough viewers are watching a particular genre, should that genre become saturated, the quality of many individual creators in it becomes irrelevant. There is not enough time for all creators to grab the limited pool of viewers, no matter how good they are.At the same time, it's been theorized that all AAA CEOs have a fentanyl addiction.It's been a long time that I'm kinda exhausted of this live service game idea.So, it all goes back to the "unplayable" live service games' image I posted.Charging customers, maintenance costs don't work consistently.The Visceral's Star Wars game and some others are cancelled by the game companies of live service business models.=But what's not dead is the single-player games and people will talk about games in the upcoming days like:Baldur's Gate 3, RE4 Remake, Hi-Fi Rush, Street Fighter 6, LoZ Tears of the Kingdom, SWJedi Survivor, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty, Armored Core VI and what have you...The future is uncertain at the moment.I'll keep being an observer of this gaming world.

Engagement ≠ Fun [リブログ、英語]

by Raycevick2023In the 2000s, everything was "fun".Silent Hill had bad gameplay added by a Western Developer, because video games are supposed to be...Fun.Call of Duty had an AC-130 gunship mission so alike the real thing it unnerved its own developers within the studio, because it's supposed to be...Fun.And Bioshock made you decide between rescuing traumatically abused little girls or liquefying them into paste for your steampunk super drugs, because that's...Fun?Speaking of liquid, I apologize for the sarcasm that's not so much dripping, as it is leaking through your screen.Point is, when I was a kid, video-games were still viewed under the lens of Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Donkey Kong-esque"FUN" and more mainstream video-games in the 90s and 2000s were starting to realize their potential to do more than just amuse kids and adults who are also kids.While most games were still akin to the Nintendo and SEGA ways of "fun", a lot more in the 2000s were trying to explore other methods of making a game compelling.Be it through scares like Silent Hill, high-stakes like Rainbow Six, or simulation like a whole host of racing, flight, and military Sims releasing during this era.Sure, there was lots of edge masquerading as maturity, but that was all part of the charm seemingly in retrospect.I mean...Who can't be entertained by Shadow The Hedgehog shotgun pumping an MP5?Perhaps we've gone too far though.Not in Shadow the Hedgehog influences...frankly, if we had more of that charm, I wouldn't complain.No, what I mean is that, there's a whole uproar of gamers in the last couple years complaining about how video-games aren't "fun anymore" and that there's nothing in the mainstream market appealing to them.Part of me does want to yell at them to play Indies and Middle-Market releases like everybody else on Twitter, but when you sit down and look at a whole host of the popular games on the market, you start to sense that maybe these whiners are actually onto something...My main-reference point is Rainbow Six Siege, but for a whole host of people these days, the game is Valorant, Destiny, Warzone, League, Dota, etc.And having been on both sides of the fence of games like these, there's fun to be had, but fun isn't the only mechanism keeping people hooked to these popular titles.When playing them, they're not paced like Halo 3, Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4, or a whole selection of games released during the 7th generation of consoles.Those games might've had a ranking system or XP bar, maybe even a daily challenge or two...but they didn't have...Months' worth of notifications.$100+ skin bundles.Limited time events.Randomized loot crates.Meta-altering characters.Overhauled core-gameplay mechanics.Things that don't really entail...Fun.Pressure.Commitment.Engagement.But not...Fun.Level designers would talk about making sure that a multiplayer map is going to fun for the hundredth, and the two-hundredth, and the thousandth time.Nowadays it's about setting up a goal for the player to achieve that's so engaging, they're going to play a level one hundred, two-hundred, or a thousand times to archive said goal, regardless if that journey is actually fun.For me, it's frustrating, because I don'twant games to just have "fun" be their only goal. It's not only extremely vague, it's also not suitable for every experience and franchise. Yet, if I have to pick between the developers old overused of "fun" versus their new overused term of "engagement", fun wins in a landslide.Halo should be engaging through its fun. Not "engaging" mechanisms through battle-passes and large time-commitments.Really, it doesn't seem that the problem are the words themselves. There's nothing wrong with Fun, or Engaging. There's a problem when the word stops meaning what it means."Fun" in the 2000s became "safe" and engaging has now become "addicting."

Why were Arena Shooters popular? [リブログ、英語]

by Raycevick2023Tom Clanc--- sorry, Ubisoft's Xdefiant released a closed beta recently, picking up from where the last test left off, only without the contentious branding nor the contentious elements of Activision's Call of Duty.It's reception has been… surprisingly positive.It was even making some rounds on social media after a couple big accounts were pitching the game as a real rival for COD; fast-paced clips of sliding and jumping to outmaneuver opponents were used to platform its potential.Those same clips led to many copying a line being pasted across Twitter when Modern Warafare 2 launched."The kids want Quake and don't even know it."The frustration is understandable…Believe me.Thing is, I find not only have online Arena Shooters been forgotten, the context they were released under is doubly so.Today, Fortnite players can join their friends on an Xbox Series X via their mobile phone. They can chat with said friends alongside potentially… hundreds of people on Discord. Regardless of which platform being used, all of those people have access to thousands of games, many of which don't require even an entry fee, an entry fee Discord and Crossplay don't have either.This could not be more opposite to years when Quake II was at the forefront. To start...This is more my current workstation in 1997 dollars, let alone adjusting for inflation, and these weren't multi-grand price-tags for Gold Button Monster Rigs you'd find in streamers house, but bog standard manufactures like Gateway and Dell.Don't worry though...we haven't gotten to the internet yet.Infamously, Joe Rogan - yes that Joe Rogan - used to be addicted to Quake, binging it for hours and hours during the time Fear Factor was on-air. Demanding zero lag from his internet provider for consistency, he ordered a T1 Internet Line charging up to $10,000 USD a month.iRacing, eat your heart out.Yes, these computers and internet connections weren't owned by the average consumer, but that's the thing, the average PC consumer was bought by a Dad to send Emails.To have a proper gaming PC back then, you needed to know about internal specifications, specifications that weren't read up about on an Amazon page, but hardware magazines.You needed to be able to hook up an internet connection in the first place, then download a dedicated message apps to communicate with friends, apply the correct patches to whichever game you were playing, and this is all assuming the game even actually has a proper server browser built in, which many at the time didn't.Most games required you to enter IP Addresses' independently, sometimes not even in the game's menus but its console commands.If you were willing to go through all of this goddamn effort just to play a video-game...You were likely okay with getting your ass beat for the first 5-10 hours of playing it.That doesn't exist anymore.Nowadays you can buy plug and play PCs with Wifi AC's that sometimes already have game-clients installed, ready to downloaded Counter Strike, League of Legends, Apex Legends, etc.People will often point to the difficulty of games like Counter Strike, but it's a point that doesn't hold up under scrutiny.Difficulty isn't something people are inherently against in games, if that's all it was, I don't think games would've gotten much of a start at all. What people are against is feeling useless.In Counter Strike, you can score a headshot by getting lucky with your AK spray. League of Legends grant abilities which can drain half of an enemy's health bar. Apex Legends, you can win by being a third party in each fight.None of those things exist in Arena Shooters.There's no randomization of weapons, no downtime between fights, no overpowering abilities to save your skin, and a time to kill that takes a couple seconds at best. You can't even win via powerups, as often in Quake, the best are deliberately placed in locations which require mastery of the movement mechanics to reach.The only possibility a Quake game could have of bringing in new players, is if its base were the size of Counter Strike, League of Legends, or Apex Legends, allowing enough new players to fight amongst each other and have fun...and even if that were to happen, then it has to hold onto it in this market of vast competition, constant updates, and seasonal support.Games far more approachable than Quake, have fallen under the weight of these tasks.*Cough*I adore Quake and all of its derivatives, and it's not nostalgia, as I didn't grow up with Arena Shooters. I was a kid who wasn't even allowed to play T-Rated games back when Quake III was dominating the broadband waves.The formula is just really, really fun.It's unlike almost any other game out there, nothing else has its intoxicating rush of complexity and flow. Nothing else is this balance of movement, speed, projectiles, aiming, timing, and resource management. However, I don't believe Quake's formula is one that accounts for the modern gaming market, one without the barrier to entry and commitment required before even launching the game. Not to mention, that after learning all of these unique mechanics, maps, and playstyles...You're playing Deathmatch.Or Capture the Flag.Or Duels.And you're not playing them to grind for new weapons, unique skins, humble brag badges, or materials.It's not exactly the sexiest pitch in gaming.I don't know what the solution is, but I think enough attempts have been made to show it's not simply making Quake's formula 5-10% less punishing, or pushing insta-kill modes like Diabotical.I think it's either addressing accessibility head-on, such as Counter Strike 2 having a crosshair which follows your weapon's recoil pattern, or, the much more drastic option...Make a new formula.

Quality isn't what we need [リブログ、英語]

by Raycevick 2021It's pretty common for people to say they prefer quality over quantity. Often it's said because it even sounds nice. It sounds "proper" to wait for a gourmet meal than shoveling down another Big Mac, but there's a component to this bullshit food analogy which many ignore.Look how much better the latter is doing than the former.Transferring the topic to video-games, with the release of Elden Ring, I've seen a lot people pointing to it and saying "See!? If you just make a good product, it will do well."The issue isn't that Elden Ring secretly isn't a great game, I've not played it, I've got no opinion of it as of right now, but I do know even without playing that summarizing its success with "because its good" is to distort reality.According to the NDP Group, the two bestselling games in the US of 2021 where Call of Duty Vanguard… and Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War. The third place game was Madden. The fifth place game was Battlefield 2042.If games just need to be quality to be successful, why do so many unpolished and broken releases garner more success?Lots would say, it's because consumers are stupid, with the tacit implication they're smarter.Lots of these people also have Doritos for breakfast.There's a much better explanation I think.Couple weeks ago, I was venting to my therapist, about how frustrated I was that I couldn't pick up and maintain the same amount of motivation to work as I did before. That even though, I know the steps to making videos, completing chores, and taking care of personal health, I (like I did last month) find myself just sitting around, even though I get angry when I sit there and don't do anything.She said, that lazy side is giving something you need.We sleep in, because we need rest. We eat Ice Cream, because we need comfort. We punch a bag, because we need to exert our rage. For many people, playing video-games is going to have a similar motivation. Whether it's relaxing from work, catching up with friends, being powerful, or a million other causes, we play video-games to satisfy some part of us, and that part rarely has anything to do with quality. From where I'm setting, Elden Ring is a quality game that happens to satisfy several other things that people are looking for. Whether it's exploring a new world, given a challenge, or just being a part of a much bigger conversation and community, there's several player motivations which combine to it successful.

When game developers have to lie [リブログ、英語]

Written by RaycevickApex Legends.It happens every couple of months, it's virtually the only liveservice game I come back to every couple of months, and for lots of reasons.One, I think it's still easily the best game to ever iterate the Battle Royale formula.The speed, guns, movement, maps, abilities, squads, battles, comms, interactions, characters; it's all appealing for me.I'll chuckle at Revenant's edgy dialogue before flying a couple Football fields to Shotgun somebody's armor off with a perfect charged shot.It gives such a precise balance between a grounded world and over the top gameplay that I find, most other games just don't satisfy like Apex does.However, this piece isn't about praising a game that pisses people off, it's instead about the circumstances that can lead to developers themselves being put into a bind.It just happens to be that Apex is the game where I heard an example of this.Most probably know about Apex Legends' Divetrails, colored smoke that follows each player and squad as they descend the map. Now for years, those who participate in ranked matches earn unique Divetrails based on their rank… but for just as many years, players have been trolled based upon trails, IE, a high ranked player can potentially have everybody gang up on them at the start of a match, purely because of the negative connotations of your Skydive trail.To resolve this Respawn did...Nothing.So when in August of this year, Respawn said the reason they'd be removing ranked Divetrails was "due to the trails leading to toxic behaviors from others players, who would hunt down and specifically target players with trails when landing at the start of a match..."That's a lie.That, or your communications team is suffering a four year delay.Now, why would they have to lie?Take a guess....Thing is, I don't fault Respawn, and highly doubt this was even their decision, or at the very least, not a team decision, and because of their business relation with EA, there's absolutely no way they could possibly come out and tell their audience…"We're removing smoke trails to make them a monetized element of the game to boost Apex's profit margins so EA doesn't kill our game like they already did with Apex Mobile."So they have to lie.