Gonna agree with you for opposite reasons. The combat in the postgame dungeon, Costlemark I think. The one where you can’t use any healing items, it was a worthy challenge.

The other postgame dungeon, the platforming one was, was way better than many final fantasy challenges like jumping rope and dodging lighting.

Special mention for the incredible soundtrack, the Matoya’s Cave remix especially.

But ya everything before the postgame, the umm main game I guess, was ridiculously short. Imagine FFIV ending when you drill into the underworld, or FFVI ending when the the world breaks, that’s what the story in FF15 feels like. As soon as you depart to the next continent you get rug pulled by a time jump that takes you to the final boss 🫠

Xbox was so great when it launched. Thanks for bringing us decent length controller cables, hard drives, and Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay 👌

Nowadays, uhh thanks for making an unnecessary media center I guess 🤷‍♀️

The mediocrity as I understand was from the rift that developed in the team about the vision of the game being a sandbox vs a campaign.

However, I witnessed a new divide among the team which was less well-known; as more core game developers (such as myself) were recruited to help finish the game, a cultural gap emerged between the newer ‘gameplay’ team and the older ‘Sim’ team. The former group (which went on to spearhead Darkspore) was primarily concerned with how Spore played as a game. Were the mechanics engaging? Did the player’s choices matter? Was the game replayable? In contrast, the ‘Sim’ team carried the traditional Maxis DNA and was more comfortable with Spore as a toy box. Could the players express themselves? Was sharing one’s creations with other players meaningful? Did the game spark the imagination?

These cultural divides ruined Spore’s chances to be a focused, cohesive experience.

http://www.designer-notes.com/2013/09/

One of those nobodies I’ve heard of and at least has a good song 🤷‍♀️, bigger than kiss by teenage bottle rocket

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EtGIVp91Zy

Every time

Delivering this feature goes against everything I know to be right and true and I will sooner lay you into this barren earth than entertain your folly for a moment longer!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OnoxKotPQ

Amen, I am equally puzzled.

Truly some of the worst FF decisions all in the same game.

Why is the key to the postgame dungeon a piece of undifferentiated loot? Why did the game allow me to accidentally lock myself out of the postgame by selling it?

Why is the story is a low effort clone of Star Wars?

Why set FF12 in the world of FF:Tactics but make no reference to it?

Why, oh why, an all-women-race of playboy bunny girls in lingerie and heels?

That being said, programming your own teams’ AI is peak jrpg wish there was more of that. This baby got thrown out with all that dirty bath water unfortunately

Wow Really? I enjoy Phillip Glass but I had no idea. What can I search for to learn more? “14.4baud phillip glass” is giving me nothing 😔

Sage advice. In the meeting I will assume positive intent, like he’s protecting me from mummy’s curse.

Ya I will figure it out, it’s just another clown lording over an imaginary fief.

Can’t wait for code review lol.

RIP Escapist Magazine

They can be archived without being playable

You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling.

Imagine an archive for unreadable books, unwatchable films, and unplayable games too!

The schadenfreude here is delicious, alas the perils of being such a vehemently player-hostile game publisher 😂

Imagine you could sell $39.99 shovelware to almost every single kid that watches Jimmy Neutron, because you’re gonna drown that show in ads for it.

The child then grinds down the parents’ resolve and the money is eventually spent.

I totally didn’t witness this first hand when sculpting feces into nickelodeon-shaped games.

They had me for a hot second because I saw Into The Breach on the app store 🤩

But you can’t even run the game without logging in to a Netflix account 🤮

I mean I had one, but fuck that noise I’m not cosigning on that bullshit 😤

Nothing augurs success like hearing about the “incredible talent” that just went to “other teams at EA” 🙃

The original ending was a very “that’s it?” moment.

The actually added a new game-over condition, by allowing you to just shoot the annoying reaper child, to quell the frustrations people felt.

Even in the remaster is still feels like a choice between red, blue, or green color endings.

RIP Marauder Shields, the true final boss of ME3 🙏

That, to me, is the real tragedy of Mass Effect, looking back through this new lens. BioWare seems to have borrowed many concepts from Revelation Space, but very little of it is explored with any depth, and none of the ideas are given new twists that improve upon them.

Damn, didn’t expect a thoughtful analysis of Revelation Space and its impact on Mass Effect.

But since Mass Effect avoided most of the extra weird stuff, the ending of Mass Effect 3 never really had a chance to be good.

Ahh, can’t talk about ME without addressing the elephant in the room the controversial ending.

Good read 👍

As one who played every Dragon Age game, this expresses much of how I feel as well.

After such a long wait I wanted another Origins or Inquisition, but I got something else and it was a fine, forgettable, C+ entry. A game that wants you to wave a giant foam finger instead have thoughtful choices, but at least it delivered an ending.