Durinthal's recent activity

  1. Comment on The boy that cried Mythos in ~comp

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    I figured the next step in the line would have been Epic, though maybe there's too much baggage around the term.

    I figured the next step in the line would have been Epic, though maybe there's too much baggage around the term.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    Supergiant Please — I played Bastion not long after it came out back in 2011 and greatly enjoyed it, with the soundtrack regularly popping up in my head to this day. So when the studio's sophomore...

    Supergiant Please — I played Bastion not long after it came out back in 2011 and greatly enjoyed it, with the soundtrack regularly popping up in my head to this day. So when the studio's sophomore effort Transistor came out a few years later I got that, but I was in a phase of my life where I wasn't playing many games in general so I only put in a couple of hours before putting it aside.

    More than a decade later I'm finally sitting down to play through it start to finish and—dang, there's a bug that prevents the audio from it on the Steam Deck going through the dock. No problem, I jumped over to my copy of it on the Switch instead because it's one of the games I bought on multiple platforms.

    I remembered having fun with the combat system and I really dove into it this time, switching combinations of functions regularly and largely favoring the turn-based aspect over the real time combat. In that regard it feels like the middle ground between Bastion and Hades (putting Pyre aside as something completely different and the last one I haven't finished yet), going from the former's pair of weapons that can be swapped out to four abilities at once that can be modified in different ways that can be seen as an early prototype for the Olympian boons of the latter. The more tactical nature of turns also reminds me of Hades II with Melinoë's casts anchoring enemies in place so you can maneuver around them.

    The scope is otherwise much closer to Bastion, a sub-10 hour linear story with a small cast and a world that we get a window into but need to infer much more from without being able to rely on existing mythology.

    After I finished it late last night I finally went searching for it to get thoughts from others that I've previously managed to dodge, so it was interesting to me to see that a lot of people thought the story was opaque or vague before I realized that it's really easy to just miss out on most of the detail. It's largely coming from either trying out all the commands in different ways for character stories or interacting with the terminals that can be passed right over if you don't head in the right direction for the setting, Red's development, and the main plot. I didn't mind that because I liked exploring the world but I can see other people not enjoying it.

    Transistor ending — full spoilers (also some for Bastion)

    Here's a video of it for anyone that wants a refresher.

    After Red sat down and used the Transistor on herself and the screen began scrolling I was shouting at the screen, "No, that can't be the end, right? We were going to go restore everything!" And then you get their story and everything fits into place. It was a choice that Red made for herself rather than the player, similar to how she took a left on the bike ride early in the game to try to get him back rather than run away.

    I love a good tragic romance so narratively the conclusion is immediately satisfying: Red and her lover are reunited in some form of the afterlife. It's picking a third option to the two that Bastion presents of Restoration or Evacuation, though there's a question of how much choice Red really has due to the setting. Even if she could restore the physical structure of Cloudbank, all the residents are gone and it doesn't appear possible for them to come back. Similarly the Country mentioned isn't as much a physical place as it is a euphemism (aside from the manifestation of it inside the Transistor that we see in Royce's fight and the end) and there's nowhere she could evacuate to, so she's left alone in an empty world. Bastion has the Kid wake up post-calamity while Red's living through it as it happens. Maybe with full administrator powers she could bring back everyone or at least create people again in some manner, but that's not something she wishes to find out.

    One interpretation I read from someone wanting a happier ending is that they're literally logging off at the end and meeting in the physical world (which could also be what the Country refers to) akin to the situation the characters in Sword Art Online were stuck in, and while I can't say that's impossible I don't think there's enough evidence to support it from our limited perspective. The entirety of Cloudbank is a digital world and it seems like all the characters are also entirely AI, or at most digital copies of people so their existence is still scoped to Cloudbank even if the originals are out in another world.

    Aside from that I think the setting was fascinating with absolute democracy controlling every matter of Cloudbank that can take place immediately, even trivial affairs. Everyone has a voice until it's taken by the Camerata with Red being the literal manifestation of that.

    Anyway, I loved it and now I get to listen to the soundtrack in full.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games

    Durinthal
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    Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD (Custom, 3/25) Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD Custom bingo 3/25 Why did I buy that? Earliest Unplayed Thing Just Chill One-Heart Event Eight-Heart Event Quick Pick...
    Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD (Custom, 3/25)
    Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD Custom bingo 3/25
    Why did I buy that? Earliest Unplayed Thing Just Chill One-Heart Event Eight-Heart Event
    Quick Pick RNGesus Take the Wheel Genki Boys Finally Fantasy Four
    ✅ Final Fantasy IV    		 Love in the Air v0.2.0
    Maru's Events Schedules for Abigail/Leah JM8 and Ludo Super Robot Wars Never Ends First-Person Shooter
    Sam's Events Hard Games Siffrin's Been Waiting Five-Heart Event Three-Heart Event
    Supergiant Please
    ✅ Transistor    		 Most Recent Purchase
    ✅ Ravenswatch    		 Base Builder Seven-Heart Event Visual Novels Take Forever

    Just one addition so far, but it's one that'll be sticking in my mind for a while.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on What's your dream job? in ~life

    Durinthal
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    There are a number of jobs I've thought would be nice, but none that I'd take over my current career as a software engineer given the world we live in. If I didn't have to worry about finances...

    There are a number of jobs I've thought would be nice, but none that I'd take over my current career as a software engineer given the world we live in.

    If I didn't have to worry about finances though, for some reason I've always thought it would be nice to run a small bakery (which I've enjoyed as a hobby but haven't done much of recently, maybe I should get back into that). Ideally it could also serve as a third space so have a café as part of it as well, though I'd let someone else be the barista.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    I also have some unfinished business with them with a different game, will hopefully get to that soon. That's why Hades was the first roguelike I tried that clicked for me. I didn't really get the...

    I've always considered myself a fan of Supergiant Games, but if I'm being honest, I've probably spent more time listening to their games than playing them.

    I also have some unfinished business with them with a different game, will hopefully get to that soon.

    There's also a fair amount of new content introduced after each run.

    That's why Hades was the first roguelike I tried that clicked for me. I didn't really get the appeal of trying the same thing again, shuffled, with the only goal being to get to the end. Hades made me want to see every character repeatedly to find out what happens next with their story, and each round of venturing out into Tartarus was the way to advance that. I eventually did come around to enjoying it for the sake of the gameplay as well and just having fun with each weapon, but it was the characters and story that hooked me.

    I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Supergiant.

    Bastion's "Setting Sail, Coming Home" is probably still my favorite from what I've heard of the lyrical songs but I do greatly enjoy what's in Hades as well.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    I've noticed web novels sometimes act as a rough draft for something that gets cleaned up and published later, but that's different from in-place updates that games have. You might have some typo...

    I've noticed web novels sometimes act as a rough draft for something that gets cleaned up and published later, but that's different from in-place updates that games have. You might have some typo fixes or occasionally a new edition of a novel, or a director's cut of a film, but those are treated as separate entities that exist alongside each other that games have been tossing aside more recently outside of niche use cases. It's kind of funny thinking of speedrunners as looking for a first-edition volume because it's missing one word in a specific paragraph that lets them skip a chapter.

    I see it as video games being the youngest medium of the ones listed and the most complicated in execution, so in the transition to the always-connected world they were the first to leap to having updates roll out to end users for bug fixes then content additions (expansions and DLC). Early access, depending on the game, is more like test screenings for a film being open to anyone that wants to opt in and give feedback on it with the understanding it's not the final cut.

    3 votes

  7. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    Most Recent Purchase — One of my personal goals this year is to not buy any new games and so far, so good. So the most recent purchase for me is several games at once during the winter sale in...

    Most Recent Purchase — One of my personal goals this year is to not buy any new games and so far, so good. So the most recent purchase for me is several games at once during the winter sale in December, among them Ravenswatch.

    I don't remember how it caught my attention, I think it was some trailer along with "action roguelike" so I decided to pick it up. The best comparison I can think of would be calling it an isometric Elden Ring Nightreign, which I haven't played but have watched and seems similar. You run around a randomized map killing monsters to get experience and hitting points of interest for bonuses, earn ability upgrades upon leveling up with the usual pick from three options, and then after a time a boss spawns at a point on the map and you fight it and powers up the longer you avoid confronting it. Repeat the cycle for three bosses and... I dunno, I didn't make it that far.

    Each hero you can play as has a different style so I can see getting hooked on a favorite with everything themed after classic fairy/folk tales. Scarlet is based on Little Red Riding Hood and is the rogue that transforms to a werewolf at night (there's a day/night cycle and the boss appears after a few days), Beowulf is a traditional sword-wielding warrior with more defensive abilities, and one I found interesting but hard to play initially is the Pied Piper, who has rats as disposable weapons along with music notes as projectiles.

    This seems like the kind of game that would be fun with a group but I'm not that kind of gamer, so I'm putting it down after a couple of hours though I enjoyed my time so far. I might come back to it later but it's the kind of thing that doesn't necessarily have an end so I don't want to sink too much into it just yet.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    I'm looking forward to eventually playing VII for the first time myself, though I think I'll keep going in order and revisit V and VI first which are the two I'm most familiar with so definitely...

    I'm looking forward to eventually playing VII for the first time myself, though I think I'll keep going in order and revisit V and VI first which are the two I'm most familiar with so definitely not this month.

    I have friends that wanted to drag me into XIV but I wanted to understand more of the references to what came before first, so it'll take me a while to get through the earlier mainline entries (aside from XI which is the other MMO).

    2 votes

  9. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    Finally Fantasy Four — To disappoint anyone expecting one of the weird cards to start, it's unfortunately just Final Fantasy IV... which some of you might have remembered me playing in a previous...

    Finally Fantasy Four — To disappoint anyone expecting one of the weird cards to start, it's unfortunately just Final Fantasy IV... which some of you might have remembered me playing in a previous Backlog Burner event. Well, this Steam guide has been open in a pinned tab in my browser for nearly two years as I always meant to get through the rest of it... but I never did.

    I finally sat down and played through the rest of it and had a good time doing so. I don't have too much to add to my comment from before, other than reiterating that the quality of life features in the pixel remasters are something I greatly appreciate these days. When I was younger I didn't have a problem taking my time with the random encounter grind but I'm glad I could get through the entire game in under 13 hours without much in the way of filler, though there are some side quests that have you running back and forth across the world a few times. Turns out I was right about halfway through the game where I left off in terms of time, though a lot of the back end is focused on lengthy dungeons in contrast with getting acquainted with a wider variety of characters earlier.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games

    Durinthal
    (edited )
    Link
    Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD (Custom, 2/25) Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD Custom bingo 2/25 Why did I buy that? Earliest Unplayed Thing Just Chill One-Heart Event Eight-Heart Event Quick Pick...
    Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD (Custom, 2/25)
    Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD Custom bingo 2/25
    Why did I buy that? Earliest Unplayed Thing Just Chill One-Heart Event Eight-Heart Event
    Quick Pick RNGesus Take the Wheel Genki Boys Finally Fantasy Four
    ✅ Final Fantasy IV    		 Love in the Air v0.2.0
    Maru's Events Schedules for Abigail/Leah JM8 and Ludo Super Robot Wars Never Ends First-Person Shooter
    Sam's Events Hard Games Siffrin's Been Waiting Five-Heart Event Three-Heart Event
    Supergiant Please Most Recent Purchase
    ✅ Ravenswatch    		 Base Builder Seven-Heart Event Visual Novels Take Forever

    One of the themes here is unfinished business with a few cards targeting specific games rather than picking them on a whim, and that's where I'm getting started this month.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for May 2026: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    I'll second Donkey Kong Country and add Mega Man X and Fire Emblem.

    I'll second Donkey Kong Country and add Mega Man X and Fire Emblem.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for May 2026: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link
    So on a whim in the past hour I cooked up a very custom card because I wasn't in the mental space to do something regular as I have other projects I want to work on, but still want to get through...

    So on a whim in the past hour I cooked up a very custom card because I wasn't in the mental space to do something regular as I have other projects I want to work on, but still want to get through my backlog. The good news is I haven't added to my backlog at least as I haven't bought any games so far this year.

    Bingo Card (0/25)
    Durinthal's Undiagnosed ADHD Custom bingo 0/25
    Why did I buy that? Earliest Unplayed Thing Just Chill One-Heart Event Eight-Heart Event
    Quick Pick RNGesus Take the Wheel Genki Boys Finally Fantasy Four Love in the Air v0.2.0
    Maru's Events Schedules for Abigail/Leah JM8 and Ludo Super Robot Wars Never Ends First-Person Shooter
    Sam's Events Hard Games Siffrin's Been Waiting Five-Heart Event Three-Heart Event
    Supergiant Please Most Recent Purchase Base Builder Seven-Heart Event Visual Novels Take Forever

    I don't expect some of those to immediately make sense to others (see the card title), but I'll explain things as I start crossing them off.

    3 votes

  13. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    I've thought about doing that kind of thing for years but have never gotten around to it, I like your approach and the redundancy.

    I've thought about doing that kind of thing for years but have never gotten around to it, I like your approach and the redundancy.

    4 votes

  14. Comment on Is there a FLAC equivalent for digital comics? in ~comics

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    You're making your own software for that? I haven't really done much with digital comics myself so I'm only superficially aware of things like Komga and not sure what the pain points for existing...

    You're making your own software for that? I haven't really done much with digital comics myself so I'm only superficially aware of things like Komga and not sure what the pain points for existing tools are.

  15. Comment on Is there a FLAC equivalent for digital comics? in ~comics

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    I'm not much of a comic person myself so I just saw the post in passing and was mildly amused without giving it much consideration or diving into the comments to find the issues that you referred...

    I'm not much of a comic person myself so I just saw the post in passing and was mildly amused without giving it much consideration or diving into the comments to find the issues that you referred to. I figured that "PNGs in a zip file" had a good reason for not being displaced to this point so I'm not surprised, much like the .mkv container for video hasn't gone anywhere in the past decade either.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on Is there a FLAC equivalent for digital comics? in ~comics

    Durinthal
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    Other people have already covered the obvious paths, so that reminds me of someone creating a new comic file format a few months ago. However, that was more about performance rather than size...

    Other people have already covered the obvious paths, so that reminds me of someone creating a new comic file format a few months ago. However, that was more about performance rather than size (though they mention deduplication which could save space in some cases) and it's likely going to be a while before it sees any significant amount of adoption in reader software if it ever takes off.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime

    Durinthal
    Link
    Time for first episode impressions for the new season! I'm not mentioning any sequels here (Ascendance of a Bookworm being my most anticipated as one of my favorite light novel series), and only...

    Time for first episode impressions for the new season! I'm not mentioning any sequels here (Ascendance of a Bookworm being my most anticipated as one of my favorite light novel series), and only judging them by one episode even if multiple are already out. In the order I watched them:

    • Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring — I quickly realized this is the kind of show where I need to stop thinking, "Seasons don't work that way!" and enjoy it for whatever it's doing. Not fond of Hinagiku's manner of speaking so far, but it looks nice I guess.

    • Mistress Kanan is Devilishly Easy — I expect it to be the one gag repeated ad nauseam, not sure I have the patience for it weekly.

    • Always a Catch! — Hey, I didn't know this was villainess-adjacent. Enjoyable characters and solid comedic animation on them so far, I'm in. Maria seems like she'll be a fun contrast with Scarlet who I'm only comparing her to because of her hair decoration and apparent hobbies.

    • The Klutzy Class Monitor and the Girl with the Short Skirt — Dumb fun throwback romcom with visual flair, I'm on board and hoping there's a third guy to pair with Kohinata's other friend.

    • Even a Replica Can Fall in Love — A very interesting premise and I'm excited to see where it goes.

    • Tadaima, Ojamasaremasu! — Seems like it'll scratch a similar itch as Tamon's B-Side, not sure about the whole "fake dating" act though.

    • I Made Friends with the Second Prettiest Girl in My Class — Yet another "hot popular girl takes interest in average guy" series, could be worse but there's not much going for it yet.

    • Gals Can't Be Kind to Otaku!? — On the surface it's "I Made Friends with the Second Two Prettiest Girls in My Class" and has a lead with somewhat more personality than the other show. Unfortunately that personality is "being a sadsack otaku" so it's not exactly an upgrade to me, I can only hope he gets better.

    • The Ramparts of Ice — If this is largely a more serious Polar Opposites with remixed characters (Hikawa being somewhere between Tani and Taira as a first impression) I'm all for it. Netflix's lack of typesetting really shows though.

    • An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess — Not a great start but I'm curious where it goes since Cecil's kind of interesting as a point of view character compared to the average villainess series.

    • Haibara's Teenage New Game+ — For some reason when the LN was first being translated (I only took a glance at it before passing) I thought he jumped back to reliving high school life as a girl. That would have been so much better than what this actually seems like, "I Made Friends with the Prettiest Girl in My Class (via Time Travel)" with absolutely nothing distinguishing it to me so far. Maybe the premise will matter more later but it currently feels like it might as well have not existed after the first ten minutes.

    • The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King — Not sure about the writing yet but I kind of like the art style of the characters. Too bad it's a shounen but could be worse, absolutely did not expect how the episode ended.

    • Killed Again, Mr. Detective. — I really hope the romance tag on this is more than "the two leads have mutual affection and will get together at some indeterminate point in the future" but I'm not optimistic. Not really my kind of series but will see how the gimmick plays out.

    • Marriagetoxin — My first thought is that I want a romcom spinoff about Bug Master's domestic life. I would say it's been a minute since I've watched anything remotely like this but Fate/Strange Fake isn't too far off in general tone as a first impression and this seems like a fun followup. Guess I need to pay more attention to the romance tags on Anilist rather than MAL.

    • Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!! — Those are some classic designs, though like the more recent Urusei Yatsura their hair is more glossy than in the cel era (or at least that's how I perceive it). Not a great first impression outside of that in the first half, but it improved when it moved beyond cute fantasies immediately followed by failure in reality with them barely interacting. I'm not even sure best girl could salvage the series for me if that's all it was.

    • I Want to End this Love Game — Oh hey, another Chico with HoneyWorks OP and surprise Koyasu appearance in the peanut gallery. The comparison to Takagi-san after it started got my attention, but personally I'd put it closer to Kaguya-sama so far since it's entirely focused on the confession aspect (whereas Takagi-san's more general pranking) and they're even in their attempts to get each other and how self-conscious they are about their feelings (compared to the asymmetric nature of Takagi and Nishikata's relationship). The banter is fine but the animation production is... not great.

    I think that's it for new shows, everything else I was potentially interested in (like Mao and Akane-banashi) goes to the endless backlog.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on Esoteric Ebb | Fully Ramblomatic in ~games

    Durinthal
    Link Parent
    Different fan but no. I liked Frost's series but the way he quit and tried to publicly burn trust in (editor-in-chief) Nick Calandra afterward left me wanting nothing to do with him.

    Say, as a Second Wind fan, did you follow Frost (Cold Take) on his new channel?

    Different fan but no. I liked Frost's series but the way he quit and tried to publicly burn trust in (editor-in-chief) Nick Calandra afterward left me wanting nothing to do with him.

    6 votes

  19. Comment on Digg has shutdown (again) in ~tech

    Durinthal
    Link
    I guess the plans they had to combat that didn't pan out. I had no interest in using it personally (given the personalities of the founders) but I am a bit disappointed in how hard it is to get...

    We faced an unprecedented bot problem

    This isn't just a Digg problem. It's an internet problem. But it hit us harder because trust is the product.

    I guess the plans they had to combat that didn't pan out. I had no interest in using it personally (given the personalities of the founders) but I am a bit disappointed in how hard it is to get people to use a variety of platforms instead of the incumbent silos.

    21 votes

  20. Comment on What’s your preferred work monitor setup? in ~comp

    Durinthal
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    My current setup is a 14" laptop right in front of me with a 27" 1440p monitor centered above/behind it, but ideally I'd want another monitor of the same size to one side or the other. Monitor has...

    My current setup is a 14" laptop right in front of me with a 27" 1440p monitor centered above/behind it, but ideally I'd want another monitor of the same size to one side or the other. Monitor has my IDE, laptop has full-screen terminal in one virtual desktop (which would go on the extra monitor if available) and then everything else overlapping in another.

    Before shifting to working from home I had three monitors plus the laptop in the office but that was overkill.