@distinct@mastodon.social
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distinct

@distinct@mastodon.social

Edmonton Resident. Photographer. Enthusiastic Amateur Cook. He. Him.

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glassbottommeg, (edited ) to random
@glassbottommeg@peoplemaking.games avatar

Hold up, Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart is hitting Epic Store later this month? (EDIT: oh AND on Steam too! nice!)

But that was their system-defining exclusive! "you can't possibly do this on any other machine!" and such.

I mean it's nice to no longer need to buy a Playstation but, I did think they'd at least hold some of these back, heh.

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg hmm, I only recall Insomniac saying that it wasn't possible on PS4 due to the massive gulf in I/O throughput between the two generations. I imagine the PC requirements are going to have a high SSD minimum or there will be flat out hitches during portals (or both! modern PC dev is a mess)

glassbottommeg, to random
@glassbottommeg@peoplemaking.games avatar

Something I don't get with FF7 Remake is:

How are you supposed to apply strategy to combat?

At any given time, I can't even tell if our attacks are effective, let alone guessing at what moves or attacks might do better.

Am I really supposed to weld an Assess Materia to someone and do that first? Even that does nothing but maybe give me an elemental weakness, but the difference in damage always seems minimal.

The only "strategy" is take control of Barret if there's turrets because everyone is rock fucking stupid, and cycle who I'm controlling because otherwise ATB charge is glacial. Which both seem like incredibly arbitrary design.

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg As somebody who played through the game and then again through most of it in hard mode, I've come to appreciate FF7R's battle system as maybe the best RPG combat system I've ever played that somehow threads the needle of being visceral/exciting but also tactical.

If I were to give some tips that may help it click:

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg

  1. Treat the ATB actions as your primary verbs, not your attack button. Philosophically FF7R's combat system basically IS the classic system it's just that you don't buy filled ATB bars (primary combat verbs) with time, you buy them with low level strikes and some strategic physical positioning*.
distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg

  1. Assess is fairly essential but you only need to use it once per enemy (levelled up it'll also scan an entire group of mixed type enemies in one go) and then the info can be pulled up in a pause screen in battle any time or between battles in your combat menu.

  2. Effectiveness & status is frequently signalled by visual cues like shield/manawall effects as well as little status icons or 'critical'/'reduced'. As somebody else said: abuse bullet time--that's what it's there for

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg

  1. each character has a specialty and you're meant to constantly be switching between them during relevant moments against relevant enemies and states. You don't even need to switch to them as a controllable character, in bullet time you can use shoulder buttons to quickly access their verb menus to trigger something and get back to what you werre originally doing
distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg

  1. Unlike most RPGs, all your characters' old weapons level up and all your weapons are viable choices through the whole game instead of being useless trash, spec-wise, a few hours into the campaign. So do check back in with a character's older weapons from time to time and see what stats/abilities you can unlock.
distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg

  1. Tifa's a beast at DPS but also is great at pressuring enemies into stagger. Stagger is important for EVERY ENEMY above the basest. Note which characters have verbs that are especially good at stagger. Also enemies will have 'pressured' as a label under their stagger gauge when you're doing things they're susceptible to being staggered with. It's worth noting what you're doing that caused that label and occasionally cross referencing their assessment info in the pause screen.
distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg

  1. I said basic attacks/realtime positioning didn't matter that much other than earning gauge for 'real' verbs but that's not strictly true especially as the game progresses. Cloud has a counterattack skill linked with punisher mode that is extremely useful. And some of the high end Tifa builds are Devil May Cry realtime bananas (watch a youtube video if you're curious). It's just very important not to be precious with ATB bars. Don't sit on them for special occasions. Use em!
distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg

FINAL THOUGHTS: Although I think the combat system is great, I truly think it has TERRIBLE onboarding and combined with the decision that if a player is not efficiently engaging with the system, they don't hit a progress wall; enemies just take a long boring time to defeat, I feel that really does some negative PR for its perception. But honestly once it clicked for me I found it a joy to play and am even now jonesing to finish my Hard Mode run.

Apologies for the post deluge.

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@glassbottommeg really glad it helped! I've been playing FF16 which isn't bad but its solution to making it actiony/exciting is to diminish/remove more traditional RPG aspects like party management, character development, equipment, etc which is fine but makes me respect what a 'having its cake and eating it too' achievement FF7R pulled off.

But yeah, they're conservative with tutorials and the onboarding doesn't do a full job so it's totally worth it/no shame to read some strat writeups.

mcc, to random
@mcc@mastodon.social avatar

Analogue absolutely promised that my Pocket would be shipped this year but the year is now half over so you better get on the ball, Analogue

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@mcc ordered late last summer. Still waiting. The pain is real.

senanthic, to random
@senanthic@mstdn.ca avatar

today is an iNaturalist day, and I've uploaded some insect/snake/foliage images. I should do more. next time I go to Astotin Lake I'm taking pictures of the leeches

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@senanthic always meant to ask what your setup was.

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@senanthic do you have a particular lighting array/modifier?

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@senanthic @ned my backup theory!

mcc, to random
@mcc@mastodon.social avatar

I do believe I now qualify as a "Zeiram Superfan"

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@mcc it was worth it for the digital liner notes alone.

bhansmeyer, to random
@bhansmeyer@mastodon.social avatar

Is there any reason I’d need to keep support for iOS 15? All of the same devices can upgrade to 16, right?

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@bhansmeyer the iphone 6S and 7 series are dropped as per https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/iphone/iphe3fa5df43/16.0/ios/16.0

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@mackuba @bhansmeyer loved the handfeel of that phone

mathowie, to random
@mathowie@xoxo.zone avatar

this is legitimately the most useful new feature I’ve seen in AppleTV: a reminder when you power down that your remote needs charging.

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@msh @kkarhan @mathowie they've had a battery low onscreen message for over a decade? The new aspect here is a specific shutdown reminder going "hey, since you're very likely done with your remote for a while, here's a fresh reminder to charge it."

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@msh Indeed and so did apple tv (although not when it was being used mid-session as the popup would get quickly obnoxious) @kkarhan @mathowie

timbray, to random
@timbray@cosocial.ca avatar

Having poked around at passkeys, I guess I can buy that they’re more good than bad.

Except for: Passkeys need Bluetooth to work, to work. Maybe I’m just weird but my experience is that Bluetooth often just doesn’t work. So… worried.

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@vitriolix @timbray that's probably one reason they did not, actually.

Bluetooth CAN be used as a method to determine physical proximity to the device you secure your credentials with and the device you're using to sign in but doesn't have to (Apple uses QR codes)

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@vitriolix @timbray My apologies, I'm actually not sure on this point. the FIDO Client-to-Authenticator Protocol lists USB and NFC as supported transports next to Bluetooth Low Energy but I can't definitively get information on whether they're supported for cross-device authentication in the specific passkeys spec. I also didn't realize the QR approach was hybrid so I withdraw my statements.

paul, to random
@paul@tapbots.social avatar

I need to temporarily disable sleep on a Mac, obviously the place to do this is, checks notes, Advanced section of the Displays tab…

Mad Looney Tunes GIF by MOODMAN

distinct,
@distinct@mastodon.social avatar

@drahardja @Gte @drdrang in-line caffeinate is my favourite trick.

emilygorcenski, to random

deleted_by_author

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    distinct,
    @distinct@mastodon.social avatar

    @emilygorcenski total agree. VFX artists hated it (partially because it was tough to shoot the physical model with that kind of shape) and it's now considered kind of passe but I love it. Iconic. 10/10.

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