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Well, this thread got terrifying. I know (or rather trust) that you are all sensible people, so the fact that you feel that the increased risk of having a gun in your home (statistically one is more likely to be wounded by a weapon in one's home than a random one belonging to someone else) is necessary due to the current state of affairs is chilling. I hope you are all ok.

Khazan I feel like I've been playing this fucking thing since the dawn of time. And that isn't a good thing. I thought I was close to the end, I was not. I'm roughly half way through, and whilst I am still having fun, I find the entire game to be exhausting in a way that other Soulslikes just aren't. The world design is flat and the levels for the most part look kinda samey. The entire game has this bleak brown/grey look that does nothing to excite the player and the generic enemies are basically just complete fodder and yet they almost always come with a distance enemy to do nothing but annoy you... That said, I'm still enjoying the boss fights, although I will admit that I knocked it down to easy. I was taking 50-60 attempts per boss during the early-mid game and I just don't have that sort of time. So knocked it down to easy and honestly, I think that should be the 'normal' difficulty. It feels much less punishing and more on par with the rest of the sub-genre in terms of overall difficulty; still hard, but the balance has been levelled out. Honestly, the only issue I had with the harder 'normal' difficulty was that the enemies HP pool was ridiculous. I can take the bosses hitting harder than normal because ultimately, it's a game about learning the moveset and figuring out parrying and dodging. No problem with bosses that can fuck you up in one moment. I do think that extreme difficulty coupled with the fact that the bosses have such ridiculous pools of health takes it from a fun challenge into something almost unfair to the player. You have to be perfect (and I mean perfect) for a solid 7-8 minutes just to generate enough damage to get them down to 1/3 of their health and yeah, to me that's just a bit too much. I'm hoping to have this finished in the next week or two. It's starting to weigh on me a little and coming straight off of Dark Souls III I feel like all I've done with my free time since February is play super challenging and very time consuming games. Rhythm Tengoku Or more specifically, an English translation by the name of 'Rhythm Heaven Silver' I've been playing this on my Anbernic RG40XXV as something of a palet cleanser to Khazan and it's kind of delightful. Super cute, very charming and great to just pick up and put down, I'm actually wondering how I missed this game (and the franchise as a whole) for so long. I suck at it. Although, (and this may be wishful thinking) I've read that there may be an issue with regards to latency when emulating, which may explain why my timing is more miss than hit. That said, If I spend a little time tweaking I think I'll be able to sort that out. Super cute - 4/5

Yeah, the DeathAdder felt great at first but it went to shit so quickly that it made me dismiss Razer as worthless junk. The only piece of Razer hardware I've bought since was my Kitsune over a year ago. I don't know if their build quality in general has improved since my DeathAdder but the Kitsune at least seems like quality. I haven't had any issues with it. Although at that price, it better be fucking good lol. My current build is like 90% Corsair and I've beeb pretty happy with it. The mouse I just replaced was also a Corsair but tbh I'm pretty sure a deep cleaning around the wheel with compressed air would've solved the issue. But I already wanted to change it, so it just gave me the excuse I needed.

Every Razer I've ever had felt like a dream for 6-12 months and then turned into a double clicking piece of crap. Using a Logitech Superlight right now. Never tried Corsair but I've heard good things.

I've been wanting to switch to a wireless mouse for some time now and my previous one was starting to drive me nuts so I decided now was the time. I used to think my old Razer DeathAdder that started randomly double clicking or not clicking at all was the most annoying thing a mouse could do, but I stand corrected. A mouse that fights you every time you try to use the scroll wheel is much worse! Scrolling down only for the screen to end up going up instead is absolute maddening. Cleaning around the wheel helped a little for a while but the problem would just come back, so I decided to replace it. Loving this one so far, although it's gonna take some getting used to because it's been a while since I've used a mouse this light. My previous mice sometimes even came with extra weights you could slot into the bottom to make them heavier lol.

Got basically everything done in my first playthrough. Just needed to beat the game on Nightmare difficulty to get the 100%. I usually save these for later, I'm planning on going through the entire series on Nightmare at some point. But they already announced a rerelease of this game, so I figured I'd just get this version over with immediately, so that when I feel like replaying it I can just focus on the rerelease. Anyway, Nightmare was easier than I expected. It helps that you can do it on NG+ and transfer a lot of stuff over. I was able to rush through the entire game in about 10 hours, only doing a few side-quests so that I could get fully upgraded endgame gear. I expected the final boss to be the only part that gave me trouble but it turns out my strategy going in was the correct one. I almost got him on my first try and just needed to make a few adjustments to succeed.

Ys X Nordics I have also beaten an Ys game this week. I actually started it last Fall when it launched but I fell off of it after 20 hours or so. In part because Indiana Jones came out and I was super excited for that but I also wasn't really feeling Ys X at the time. That was weird since I usually devour these games. At the time I couldn't really point to any single thing about it that I didn't like (and I still can't) but now that I'm done with it, I kinda see what the problem was. Basically, this is pirates/vikings Ys. The entire game has a Norse theme and you sail around on a ship and spend your time exploring islands and fighting undead monsters. The problem is that, early on in the game, the ship is insanely slow. It gets better over time as you upgrade it but it's fairly tedious early on. I'm speedrunning through new game plus on Nightmare difficulty right now and even though I was skipping all the cutscenes and ignoring most of the optional stuff, the first few chapters were still excruciatingly slow because of it. That alone isn't a huge problem but the best part of Ys has always been running around and killing monsters while listening to that sweet soundtrack. So the ship exploration fucks with the pacing, and since you're exploring islands that tend to be fairly small, you only do the running around killing monsters part for short periods of time. The game also keeps introducing new gameplay elements up until about the halfway point. So when you take all of these things into account, the pacing gets absolutely obliterated in the first half of the game. It gets way better in the second half as you upgrade your ship to be faster, the dungeons become longer and the game is done throwing tutorials at you. Ironically enough, I had stopped basically right when the game was about to get better. Everything I've been playing over the past week has basically been what I want out of an Ys game. It really was just the first half that had pacing issues. So yeah, overall this is a solid Ys game. It's biggest strength is the new combat system. It drops the party-based combat of the last few games in favor of a dual-protagonist setup. The focus is on rapidly switching between them while chaining up skill attacks and precisely timing your blocks to build up a meter that allows you to perform big team-up attacks. I hope they'll keep this system for the next few games because I absolutely loved it and I want to see them iterate on it like they did with the party system. Other than that, it's Ys. If you love the series, you'll love this one.

HEY SO YOU KNOW I CAN PLAY OTHER GAMES? Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Solid experience but I definitely see the quibbles of it being fan fiction, and bloated. With that said, the story is a synthesis of everything that came after the original so not being the same is to be expected. I guess I should also say it is very anime when it's presented this way. With the OG, you can contain a lot. You can also contain a lot of silliness to a kid (like kid me). Adult me can't help but go "wut". Gameplay is decent and about what I expected. I think the only true frustration was with grab attacks. It was a constant pain point. I also feel that some mechanics are poorly explained. Like, for the Yuffie part, I didn't know about synergy attacks with Sonon until their final boss! Ys VIII Lacrimosa of DANA Gameplay is far from being as tight as the OG games but it is decent. Some enemies or bosses can feel spongey but nothing a tornado sword can't fix. Raids are an annoyance to me since they break the flow of the story/exploration. It also doesn't quite make sense early on. Like, please help if you have time! You can for some reason teleport before being explicitly told you can do so, so it really was no big deal. I just have lots of qualms about party management, however, it is a improvement on Ys SEVEN when it comes to the final boss: you don't need to use everyone! You're not going to be casted down for being unable to level and/or play this or that character. I recalled I had issues in Ys SEVEN at the final boss because of it, so I dropped it for a bit, then wrecked the boss after I reoriented myself lol I guess I should mention this is like a very concerning amount of time that Falcom added a totally garbage optional dungeon. Story wise, this slaps. The titular Dana is a joy. This game really does try to expand and connect with the other games (though it should be said it can feel hamfisted since they are expanding on some simple concepts from like 30 years ago lmao). As for within the game itself, I felt like a few parts didn't needed to be there since they didn't quite add anything, however, I wouldn't mind if they allude to some greater thing. Music. Not as many banger tracks but the title screen music (and basically anything piece related to Dana) hits quite differently after you are done. The Sibylline Road (Dana!), Gens d'Armes (tided to the level and part of the game), Volitional Decision, Vanishing Trail (jazzy lol) slaps. --- I guess I had a lot more to say about a Ys game than a Final Fantasy game lmao

"Shouldn't do WW2 songs since it attracts the neo nazis and fascists. Let's do Crusades!" - Sabaton With that said, after watching the video, that part of their whole story was practically the only one Sabaton could do lmao

Bionic Bay is in the books! Limbo meets Super Meat Boy meets Tiny Wings meets The Swapper. Great platforming that'll make the hairs on your neck stand up that's elevated even higher by a truly memorable soundtrack and some very nice visuals make this something I wholeheartedly recommend for anyone who likes platformers with a bit of an atmosphere. Took me 11 hours (give or take) to get through the games campaign. It certainly gets a little demanding towards the end, but I never felt like giving up and only had to use a guide in one spot (which, as it turns out was because I wasn't looking at the screen well enough). 4/5 - Great

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 So far really loving this game. The active combat system is really cool, where it's turn based but you can dodge/parry enemy attacks or increase your own attacks with well-timed button presses. Think Paper Mario. It makes it a lot more engaging, and it feels so satisfying when you counter an enemy. Beyond that, it's an RPG with a great cast of characters and a compelling setting/story. Really enjoying it so far (about 8 hours in).

Since I've reached the end of current ZZZ content and am just doing dailies that are quick to plow through, I decided to try some of the other Hoyo games. Tried giving Genshin another shot but it really didn't age well. The graphics look hideous today and the grind is far worse than it is in ZZZ. I doubt I'll stick with it. However, Honkai Star Rail was a nice little surprise. It's a turn based RPG where the combat focuses on elemental weaknesses, which is nothing new, but they do a few things with it to give it a different flavor. Enemies have something called a toughness bar along with their HP, and if you attack them with the wrong element then they take very little damage. The best way to kill enemies is to break their toughness with elemental attacks which stuns them, does a big chunk of burst damage, and causes a status effect depending on which element it was. Because elements are so crucial every enemy is going to have at least two weaknesses, usually three or more. Each character in your party corresponds to a specific element so while they can only use one, the multiple weaknesses thing means you usually won't get caught without at least one appropriate party member. When you see enemies on the field you also see a list of their weaknesses attached to their name so you can switch party members if you have to, though I don't often need to do that. Getting in a preemptive strike with the right element gives you an early advantage though. Commands are very simple. Party members have a basic attack that recharges action points, skills that consume action points (shared among the party), and an ultimate that slowly charges as they give damage, receive damage, or use certain energy boosting abilities. Ultimates can be used outside of a character's turn so if your healer gets charged up right before the boss is about to take their turn you can interrupt them to protect your party. Skills aren't always just about doing damage either and some enemies are designed around them. For example, some enemies have an ability called lock on where they aim at a party member for a turn and then do a really strong attack in their next turn, but one of your default party members has a skill that not only shields characters but also counterattacks if anyone attacks the shielded character. Or you could have someone use a skill to remove the lock on debuff which causes the enemy to waste their next turn. For such a basic system they still made it so you can't just hit the basic attack button the whole time. There is an auto battle button and the AI usually makes smart decisions but it can't be used for bosses and you have to turn off letting them use ultimates freely or they'll just spam them as soon as they're charged. Negative points? Well, it's a gacha. You can get by just fine with the default party members for the story content, but obviously the limited party members are stronger. Even putting aside the gacha mechanics, it's pretty immersion breaking to go through a story while having a party member who has no reason to be there. The cutscenes will still use the appropriate characters but I pulled a nine tailed fox alien with a very Japanese, fire based theme who is currently fighting in battles with my party while the story has them stuck on a snow planet with not a single fox alien to be seen. Don't get me wrong, she's great in battle and I'm glad I have her but storywise I have no idea who she even is yet. I assume she shows up on a later planet but right now she's just there because I unpacked her like a Pokemon card (using free rolls mind you). But hey, I'm not gonna complain too hard when I love her design this much.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge This was the improved version?! Looking at it, it does come from that era of Armored Core V, and Ace Combat Assault Horizon, and it follows them in that, more "western" style, more cutscenes, more story, QTEs, a darker grittier look, "cinematic" slow motion shots, "cinematic" climbing, "cinematic" everything! The problem is that none of that is Ninja Gaiden, the base gameplay isn't that bad all things considered, and is the greatest improvement over vanilla 3, though that is a pretty low bar to clear lol. The Steel on Bone mechanic is neat, and it does lead to some cool moments, but it also becomes the only way to clear certain fights since all enemies are now faster and more agile, evading, blocking or parrying most of your attacks. Some of the new animations are pretty cool, the Lunar Staff in particular, has a really cool one that is the perfect example of overkill. But then there's all the other stuff, the climbing mechanic was pretty annoying, there's a stealth ability that's only used in a couple of places, QTEs are everywhere and they make boss fights more frustrating than they need to be, the lack of healing items is pure madness and I have no idea who the hell thought that was a good idea, the obsession with having several enemies with rocket launchers led to some pretty cheap feeling deaths, the last boss is one of the worst last bosses I've seen, and a more personal pet peeve, upgrades now being in a generic menu instead of the Muramasa shop was disappointing. The story is also the worst of any of these games, yes, the story in the Ninja Gaiden series was never award worthy, but it did its job, it was silly and cheesy in all the best ways and was all about being a badass Ninja saving the world, the story in this one is pretty bad, the English voice of Ryu is also the worst of the series lol, IMO 2 had the best one, Josh Keaton >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Troy Baker, for this role. The Ayane chapters weren't that bad though, I def enjoyed her gameplay and how brutal some of her attacks are. \m/ \m/ Grade: D-

Got the Zenless Zone Zero platinum, which I think might be the first I've ever gotten for a free to play game if I'm not mistaken. Funnily enough, with all the grinding to max level and all the other things these games are known for to make these trophies take a long time, the last one I needed to get the platinum was the trophy for getting a cat to trust me.

Bionic Bay I think it's doing the game a bit of a disservice to say that it's Limbo meets Meat Boy but....kinda that? I'm playing it on my Steamdeck. It runs fantastically, it looks beautiful and it's got some really nice sound design and music. It's not overly difficult (as of yet), although there's definitely a level of challenge here that requires one to have a decent understanding of ones controller, and whilst it does have a few tricky puzzles along the way, the games very respectful of your time in allowing almost instantaneous restarts at the very frequent checkpoints. Really enjoying it so far, and it's a nice change of pace from Khazan which is still tormenting me.

Finally got my order confirmation from Best Buy, so looks like I should be good. I also got an invite to pre-order from Amazon this morning, so I got another order from them as a backup. Along with a few other things:

Was able to get an order in with Best Buy! Had to go through their queue system like 3 times but I finally managed. Hopefully it doesn't end up getting cancelled... Also those game prices are insane. According to Amazon CA, the Switch 2 editions of BotW and TotK are 100$ and 115$ respectively. Fuck that, I bought the Switch 1 versions and I'll get the free upgrades through NSO. Between the Mario Kart Bundle and getting the Switch 1 versions of both Zelda games, that's already 100$ saved on games.

I mean, do you really need a safety that you're only ever going to use once (to turn it off) and then never again?

Yeah, I was shocked too.

They make handguns without safeties?!