Thursday Next

Yeah, same as Ethan. "Metaverse" to me is mixing unrelated franchises from separate "universes". Like, the Lego movies are the only ones that stands out as being enjoyable.

Kissing Cousins perhaps.

I think even the popcorn blockbuster stuff needs decent writing and characters personally. When I say thoughtful I don't mean it has to be Schindler's List/Shawshank. I mean, some thought has to have gone into character development. Hulk vs Skywalker will always be a fun concept and crap movie until someone works out why they would fight. Hulk vs Thor in Ragnorok was cool not just because of the spectacle but because of the reasons they fought, finding out that Hulk has a voice, and a range that extends beyond "Smash" and "puny god", that he is fighting because he is always angry and has a raging fire inside (unlike Thor's smouldering mini-fire) all that stuff is what made the film good after the thrill of the big fight scene. If it is just the fight scene, then it all falls flat. (In my opinion).

The one thing I don't like about Returnal, is the lack of meta-progress. I love that with Hades you are collecting stuff every run, Darkness for Mirror upgrades, Gems for house upgrades, Nectar for friendships, Diamonds/Titan Blood more rarely, so every run is giving you progress of some sort. A lot of Returnal runs feel like, "ok, that was a bust, but I learned things and grew as a person". Even if you get a bunch of ether, that just adds items to the pool of potential drops. I just sorta wish that they gave you permanent integrity boosts, or something. I'd also like a Hades style "God Mode" that made you more tanky with every death so that the game sort of meets you half-way.

If you want some more Greek mythology that doesn't shy away from the (extremely obviously but somehow glossed over/erased by Hollywood - how odd) homosexual relationships, but at the same time is not salacious, I'd highly recommend Mythos, Heroes, and Troy by Stephen Fry.

Urgh, the whole "metaverse" concept needs to fucking die. @toxicitizenabsolutely nails it with "lazy nostalgia bait". It's all Content and zero substance. "Now Disney own Marvel and Lucas, Luke Skywalker can fight the Hulk" great, sure that will make for a CG spectacle, but why would Luke fight Hulk? If you just want to bang your favourite toys together and make exploding noises, great, you can sit in the corner with my 8 year old nephew and go ham. I'd much rather see some thoughtful well written, character driven games, shows and movies.

I've been reading through the Arsene Lupin series (in English, I'm not a polyglot or a masochist). Was inspired to after watching the Netflix series (which just released a second season this year). They are enjoyable heists/capers, the "Herlock Sholmes" ones are a bit laboured (but that could be me being a little partisan in supporting "Holmes/Sholmes/Shears" over Lupin).

Unions be like "CaN wE HAvE sOmE O2 plEAsE" commies.

Can't have all that electrical machinery getting wet! It does sort of make me wonder why they have sprinklers and not e.g. a halon system (especially given the lack of humans in the building).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-49071456

I dunno, sounds a lot like Ankh Morpork. If you want to reduce crime, rather than have the police work more, you just need the cartels to work less.

I recognise the name as being someone who I almost instinctively take the opposite stance to, but I have no idea who he is or why. lol. As you say, I find it hard to believe that it is not a shitpost. I sorta want to hear their opinions on films like Running Man and Total Recall as well. It's weird that these people are usually the ones who "learn" films, like, they can recite the names of every actor, quote the film line for line, know the obscure background lore, but somehow miss the step where they see it as a reflection of our world. It must be fucking wild to consume media so superficially.

Is it out already?!?

Vagrant Story - (yes the one that was released in 2000) I've tried so many times to get through this game, but every time I get stuck at the same point. I get to the Earth Dragon and just cannot get past it. It's the one "hard" game I've played that never clicked with me. Most of that ilk, SoulsBourne, Returnal, etc. I eventually get. But Vagrant Story I have accepted I will never beat.

Is it a sequel to/the same universe as "Edge of Tomorrow" or "Live, Die, Repeat" or whatever it was called in your region of choice? Or is it just a somewhat similar name/concept.

lol! It hasn't demanded a sacrifice of liquified dinosaur so I think I am good. It's taking some getting used to driving it. It's a quantum leap in technology for me (especially since I have always "driven stick": keyless entry/start; no gears; regenerative braking; completely different torque profile. The other day was in a car park and literally had to think through the steps to actually drive the car.

JFC how can you watch Alien(s) and not get the not exactly subtle "corporations are worse than a parasitical monster that will eat you from the inside out or the outside in, depending on which is more convenient at that time" message? https://twitter.com/RubinReport/status/1410808405413879813

Bought myself a new whip, joined the all-electric revolution...

I know what you mean. Would have liked them to do more SCP type stuff. The Hiss were a bit samey after a while.

Exactly, you can even see it logging your arrival on a new planet when you pass through the dimensions, indicating that you are loading that particular level and not some sort of special cut-down version specially made for the time trial.

The pocket dimension stuff is, technically, astounding. The complete lack of loading times when switching between the two levels is mind-blowing.

Fair.

100% this. The problem with MCU being so much a part of the zeitgeist is that it is canon for most people. Even if the GOTG Game characters were closer to the comics and therefore more "authentic", I wouldn't even know.

Not to mention that art like that would never get made if you did go in with a "plan" for it. Going to a Hollywood studio and saying "I want to make a film that says Americans are brainless creatures that seek only to consume everything and that American corporates behind consumer temples like malls (and movie theatres) are part of the problem." probably isn't going to make much headway. Ethan's comment reminded me that one of the reasons I stopped watching South Park was that while it claimed that everything was a valid target for criticism, what it seemed to be most against was caring enough to change the status quo. You can absolutely make apolitical games (Tetris, sports games, etc), but I think what you have to sacrifice to do so is a story. As soon as you have narrative, you have to have motivations, which means you need to have some sort of characters with desires, and at that point you are doomed to insert politics. Is your protagonist on the side of the law catching wrong doers, or a rebel fighting against an oppressive regime? If so, congrats, you have introduced authoritarian/libertarian politics into your game.