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What's the worst example of an anime fumbling the story?
  • I don't watch a lot of anime, but how about the original Evangellion? My understanding is that the last few episodes were deeply confusing and disliked when they came out, to the point that the movies were created partly to "fix" the ending.

  • Any advice for trying to get back into music after 20 years?

    From 3rd grade(ish) up through senior year of high school, I was fairly into music. I was in both band and orchestra, and played numerous instruments as well as piano. I was never really great, but was proficient enough and played in a few community orchestras as well for fun. When I went off the college, I kind of dropped it and haven't touched an instrument in a long time.

    By chance recently, I acquired a free upright piano. I thought it would be nice to have around for the kids (since fooling around on a piano is what got me into music myself when I was young). Side note: this plan is somewhat succeeding.

    Anyway, it's pretty apparent to me that I literally forgot everything I knew. I used to know a few pieces from memory, but that's just like gone from my brain. I tried pulling out my viola, but my hands don't seem to remember where they go to the point that I probably need finger tape again.

    Has anyone else come back to music after not playing for a long time? Any tips?

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    What little luxuries are worth the splurge?
  • I had a Microsoft thumb trackball growing up and it was so good. There's a Logitech with a similar design, but it doesn't have the same feel. At work, I've been using a Kensington Expert and loving it. I don't know how people use regular mice.

  • Who all is playing Etrian Odyssey HD?
  • Depends on what you like about EO. EO makes party building and finding synergy a core part of it's gameplay. For something like that, Star crawlers, Paper Sorcerer, and Wizardry 8 are good choices (7th Dragon series also falls under this, though it's not first-person).

    If the mapping is what you like, I don't think there are any other games that integrate it into the game itself, but a lot of games expect the player to map using graph paper. For those, Wizardry 1-3 are good to start with as they are challenging but always fit on a 20 x 20 grid. Later Wizardry 5-7 are also very good but have larger maps that will end up going off the edge of the paper sometimes (though they tend to have more interesting combat too). Might and Magic III would also be a good choice if you want to do more than dungeon crawl. If you do try classic Wizardry, I'd recommend one of the console ports. Robert Woodhead (programming of Wizardry on Apple II) has actually said the Famicom version is the "best". I'd say the GBC or SNES version are best.

    For something more modern but still like Wizardry, there's Elminage. It's a modern take on Wizardry from a dev that actually made a lot of Wizardry spin-offs. It has more interesting classes that classic Wizardry. Experience also has some modern takes on the formula (Undernauts being the most recent) but I have trouble getting past the aesthetics of them.

    Finally, if you want something more tactical and don't mind AD&D, take a look at some of the gold box games like Pool of Radiance. Dark Heart of Uukrul probably falls in here too (but is not D&D). They have first person mazes, but grid based combat, sort of like a proto version of Tactics Ogre.

    And my final off-the-wall recommendation is Legend of Legacy. It's not first person, but it has the same explore, map, and push your limit loop as a good DRPG.

  • Who all is playing Etrian Odyssey HD?

    I'm working my way through EO1 with a LTM/AA party. Just snuck past the wyren in the 2nd stratum. I've played these games before when they first came out, but really enjoying them more now.

    The QoL stuff that has been added (speeding up animations, a sensible skill tree display, and having the bestiary available in combat) make big differences to me. The later has made a party focused on elemental attacks more enjoyable.

    The mapping as been surprisingly not painful. It was definitely more enjoyable on the DS, but it isn't terrible on switch (even docked).

    I'm really hoping this is a sign that the series may one day get a new entry (or a spiritual successor).

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    Solo games?
  • I find the games I'm most willingto solo are games that are quick to setup and have a small table footprint. I love Wingspan and Agricola, and they are fun solo, but I hate the setup/takedown when it's just me.

    So my go-to solo games are One Deck Dungeon and Friday. Legacy of Yu looks like something I'd probably enjoy as well, but haven't played it yet.

  • Games that suprised you
  • SaGa (the series in general). Always heard it was the obtuse bastard child in the RPG family. The series has tried a lot of interesting things and while most games in the series are flawed, they are all really interesting in spite of themselves.

  • Metroid Prime 2's lack of diegetic UI (mini-rant)
  • I think this is a totally valid complaint and felt the same way playing MP2 when it came out. I feel that first person games in general benefit from integrating HUD elements and menus into the game world more than other genres. MP1 was a masterclass in that areas, so MP2 was surprising.

  • Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection - Launch Trailer - Nintendo Switch
  • I'm waiting for the physical version to arrive from PlayAsia. I played all three of these already. I'm hoping there's enough changes to make a new run worthwhile. I think just having access to the bestiary entry during fights will make elemental and aliments seem more useful. In the original games, I'd often forget weaknesses, and thus not exploit them enough.

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