Flashfall's recent activity
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
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Comment on Bocchi the Rock! prequel movie announced for 2027 release in ~anime
Flashfall Link ParentProbably not much Bocchi in this one, at the time of this story she'd still be stuck in her closet learning how to play guitar.Probably not much Bocchi in this one, at the time of this story she'd still be stuck in her closet learning how to play guitar.
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Comment on Bocchi the Rock! prequel movie announced for 2027 release in ~anime
Flashfall LinkHaven't read the manga myself but apparently this is an adaptation of a special chapter covering Nijika and Seika's backstory and the founding of the Starry club. Very excited for this to be...Haven't read the manga myself but apparently this is an adaptation of a special chapter covering Nijika and Seika's backstory and the founding of the Starry club. Very excited for this to be distributed in the west whenever it is, I instantly fell in love with the first season of the anime from how incredibly creative it was and the really great relationships between all of the characters, on top of a whole album of indie j-rock.
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Bocchi the Rock! prequel movie announced for 2027 release
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Flashfall LinkMaplestory Classic World had its free grand launch last Thursday and as somebody that first started playing Maplestory some 20 years ago naturally I had to join for the nostalgia. For those that...Maplestory Classic World had its free grand launch last Thursday and as somebody that first started playing Maplestory some 20 years ago naturally I had to join for the nostalgia.
For those that don't know what Maplestory is, it's a 2d Korean MMORPG published by Nexon that launched in 2005 and has gone through quite a few different versions and changes since then. It's more or less a cultural cornerstone in the Asian gaming community and it was also one of, if not the first game to introduce gachapon (chance based lootboxes) to gaming.
Classic World is a new version of the game that tries to recapture the gameplay and pacing of the MS from the late 2000's, and by that I mean it's notoriously grindy and brutally slow to level or accrue in-game money compared to modern MS, which lets you blitz past all of the early-mid game content to grind endgame and more recent content, as is the trend with most long-running MMORPGs.
You may be thinking, "wow that sounds a lot like what Blizzard is doing with WoW Forever", and you would be almost exactly right except Nexon is a Korean game company so they're, how to put this, conservative with content releases. WoW Forever is releasing with a pretty solid amount of content because it's already in the game files, Blizzard just needs to adjust pacing to match how it was before while maintaining modern QoL features. MSCW on the other hand is a fair bit more limited in current offerings, with additional regions for higher levels already in the files (they were in the closed beta tests) but locked until next year, supposedly to try and stretch user retention so they don't blitz all the content again. As a result, the well over 100,000 players that surged in have packed the current playable space beyond absolute capacity, even with 40 channels, and it's a struggle to find a map that doesn't have at least 4 other people on it. On top of that there's already a rampant and growing botting problem of throwaway accounts farming mesos (in-game cash) for RMT purposes, which is only making the overcrowding issue even worse since they usually take up all the space in the most convenient low level training areas.
Despite all that, I'm still having a good time. The much slower pace is actually refreshing and reaching the 2nd job advancement feels like a proper accomplishment again rather than being a 15 minute speed bump that it is in modern MS. I actually need to manage my mesos and potions, and player-run shops are thriving with stuff other than real-money cosmetics (though there's a ton of that too, naturally). Going to take my time with it once I hit 2nd job (bowman 1st job is rough) and enjoy it at a steady, leisurely pace to avoid burnout. Happy mapling!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Flashfall Link ParentI only played through Mad Max once shortly after it released, though it was a 100% playthrough. My memories of it are admittedly rather hazy now, but a few things still stick out even now - the...I only played through Mad Max once shortly after it released, though it was a 100% playthrough. My memories of it are admittedly rather hazy now, but a few things still stick out even now - the very simple but satisfying ground combat, the great wasteland vistas, and the speed and weight of your muscle car as you tear across a salt lake. Don't think I'd replay it now, but it was definitely cinema.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Flashfall LinkSeason 2 of WARDOGS started on the 15th and a whole slew of balance changes came with it, most importantly drastically lowering xp requirements for all classes so more people would be able to...Season 2 of WARDOGS started on the 15th and a whole slew of balance changes came with it, most importantly drastically lowering xp requirements for all classes so more people would be able to unlock fun things instead of just the sweats. Unsurprisingly, this also meant the sweats could get endgame stuff even faster than before and we were already seeing tanks and gunships at the end of day 1. On the flipside though, I've unlocked the RPG and pump shotgun while playing only very casually so I'm still having a good enough time. Stay far away from the subreddit unless you enjoy drama though, seems like half of the people that post are either bipolar or manic or both with how quickly their opinions of the developers swing.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Flashfall Link ParentYou may want to repost in this thread instead of the manga/anime one, but thanks for contributing nonetheless.You may want to repost in this thread instead of the manga/anime one, but thanks for contributing nonetheless.
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Comment on Popcorn! What's the best way to make it? in ~food
Flashfall LinkHaven't made it myself, but Brian David Gilbert's Pepcorn video definitely looks like one of the tastiest popcorn recipes I've seen. Uses a wok, gochugaru, and Lao Gan Ma so it's gonna have some...Haven't made it myself, but Brian David Gilbert's Pepcorn video definitely looks like one of the tastiest popcorn recipes I've seen. Uses a wok, gochugaru, and Lao Gan Ma so it's gonna have some heat to it.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Flashfall LinkAce Combat 8, lots of Ace Combat 8, both campaign and online. Went for a gun-only run for the medal but I must've fired a missile by accident at some point so it didn't count, which was annoying....Ace Combat 8, lots of Ace Combat 8, both campaign and online. Went for a gun-only run for the medal but I must've fired a missile by accident at some point so it didn't count, which was annoying. Going for all of the secret aces in each mission now with one of the endgame not real planes (name omitted for spoiler sake) and this thing handles like I'm trying to grip a stick of warm butter, it rolls and pitches with absolutely zero resistance haha.
As for online, I've been grinding sorties for more Zoll (in-game cash) because it takes so damn much to raise the level cap of a plane, and that's even with the 2x Zoll boosters. Wouldn't be so bad if Emergency Sortie and Scramble showed up more often since they give way more and are also just the most fun game modes by a lot, but I'm lucky to get 2 of them to show up in a play session. Current favorite planes are the Su-33 for air-heavy missions and dogfighting in Warfare, and the Su-34 for groundpounding, which it does magnificently. Sukhoi planes are just real pretty.
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Comment on Fall 2026 | Which anime do you look forward to? in ~anime
Flashfall Link ParentAbsolutely magnificent ride, among Trigger's best works. You're gonna ugly cry, a lot.Absolutely magnificent ride, among Trigger's best works. You're gonna ugly cry, a lot.
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Comment on Fall 2026 | Which anime do you look forward to? in ~anime
Flashfall LinkCyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is definitely going to be the highlight of the season for me, just from the trailers and clips alone I can tell this is gonna make a lot of people cry.Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is definitely going to be the highlight of the season for me, just from the trailers and clips alone I can tell this is gonna make a lot of people cry.
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Comment on Fall 2026 | Which anime do you look forward to? in ~anime
Flashfall Link ParentSorry to rain on your parade but the movie is just being screened in Japanese theaters this season. Who knows how long we'll have to actually wait for it to show up online afterwards, or even less...Made in Abyss
Sorry to rain on your parade but the movie is just being screened in Japanese theaters this season. Who knows how long we'll have to actually wait for it to show up online afterwards, or even less likely, in US theaters.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Flashfall Link ParentSo I finally finished the campaign for the first time on veteran in cockpit-only view, and while there were some great moments in the last few missions, I think the last 3 missions were a net loss...So I finally finished the campaign for the first time on veteran in cockpit-only view, and while there were some great moments in the last few missions, I think the last 3 missions were a net loss to the overall fun factor. My first complaint is that missions 28 and 30 are just way too long and the post-checkpoint fights for each are more annoying than anything. Mission 29 on the other hand was basically just an interactive cutscene and a bit of a letdown after so much buildup.
Spoilers here:
Getting to see all the other non-Sotoan squadrons show up to support you during 28 was really great, I just wish it didn't take half an hour to do so. Shadow 22's squadron is kind of bullshit though, they're practically immune to anything but SASMs, QAAMs, and machine guns due to PSM magically making them invisible to missiles which is just really annoying.The first part of 30 with shooting down the SLBMs could be several minutes shorter without missing any dialogue, 10 minutes of chasing and shooting down slow ass missiles is dull. The last part with destroying the sub in time is also really annoying due to how many hits you need to get in, and I failed it a few times because I was just dumping all my bombs instead of waiting for a new set of targets to spawn on it.
Honestly, the superweapons and aces in this game just don't hit as hard. Don't get me wrong, the first land battleship fight was excellent, but all the other land battleship fights just paled in comparison after that. The Ladons are some of the most annoying enemy design I've ever seen for a superweapon, did they really think it'd be fun to have to shoot down something that's tanky, always supersonic, and has constant jamming? The Celaeno fight's alright but I'm not a fan of the shockwave drone mechanic, plus it's just not intimidating though I guess it's not meant to be. The megafloat was literally just me flying in circles and shooting pillars, so while the enemy density is a fun initial shock it was actually a little too easy.
The best part of Shadow squadron is them singing their battle chant before engaging but aside from that they have way less personality than other enemy ace squadrons. I consider Shadow 22 to be the real final ace duel since Moon 11 is just a worse and easier Huginn/Muninn fight. He doesn't hold a candle to Mihaly, or Pasternak, or Pixy, or most of the enemy aces from previous games really. He doesn't even fly an experimental fighter since that was stolen from him for a worse fight.
I'd still put AC8 in the top 3 because of how much content there is and how good it is overall, but the enemy characters are a lot less memorable and meme-worthy compared to previous entries. I hope they can make a comeback with a Torres-level cartoon villain in the DLC, whenever that drops.
Now I guess I'll go for medals and grind the multiplayer some more. I was trying to get all S-ranks on this first playthrough but those final missions screwed that up and I'd rather not waste time on those at veteran. I'll just get them all at once when I finish it on Ace.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Flashfall Link ParentPW is interesting in that it's a love letter to Ace Combat games, but just different enough to not be a clone. Lower amounts of polish and budget for writing aside, PW is basically an equal to a...PW is interesting in that it's a love letter to Ace Combat games, but just different enough to not be a clone. Lower amounts of polish and budget for writing aside, PW is basically an equal to a pre-AC7 Ace Combat game in terms of actual gameplay and controls, arguably superior even due to offering more game modes outside of the campaign and having an even higher skill ceiling with the ability to laugh at physics on demand with AoA limiter. I'm not a super hardcore player so I beat the campaign and the DLC on hard and decided I was satisfied with the amount of orange saturating my eyes at that point. Still probably the best Kickstarter project I've funded, well worth it.
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Comment on Grotesqqque | Official trailer (Oct 8) in ~anime
Flashfall LinkAlien girl ambassador had my curiosity, but vampire yuri? Now you have my attention.Alien girl ambassador had my curiosity, but vampire yuri? Now you have my attention.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Flashfall Link ParentSimilar experience to @turbografx16, I thought Remake was pretty mid after my first playthrough but doing a second playthrough on hard mode was surprisingly a lot more fun. The combat suddenly...Similar experience to @turbografx16, I thought Remake was pretty mid after my first playthrough but doing a second playthrough on hard mode was surprisingly a lot more fun. The combat suddenly required a lot more thought than before (which was basically just mashing buttons on normal and not learning attack telegraphs at all), and I got into a good flow of picking out weaknesses and building stagger with some party members while prepping some huge hits with others. There were still some fights that were kind of a drag (why is the worst enemy in the game a sentient domicile) but most of the fights are vastly improved when you actually need to learn the fight.
Rebirth is a lot more flexible gameplay-wise since it's open world and there's also just a ton more content, especially mini-games. I found the storytelling to be a lot better and not nearly as confusing and jarring as Remake's (they actually explain what these damn Whispers are), and having more time and space to tell the story lets them more firmly establish the new trilogy's own identity while still paying massive homage to the original. If the combat of Remake was the high point for you, it's even better in Rebirth. I think you'd enjoy it, but it does take a while to finish.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Flashfall LinkGot to play Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve a few days ahead of the standard release thanks to deluxe edition and so far I'm not regretting spending the extra cash (there's other goodies I wanted too...Got to play Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve a few days ahead of the standard release thanks to deluxe edition and so far I'm not regretting spending the extra cash (there's other goodies I wanted too other than just early access). This is definitely the most ambitious work from Project Aces yet, featuring the longest campaign out of all the games by a good margin as well as a built-in online mode that is fairly groundbreaking for the series, as it features both co-op and pvp modes with online lobbies, vs the super limited pvp-only blind matchmaking in previous entries.
Online
I'll cover my experience of online first since I've sunk some 10+ hours into that. The lobby itself is pretty basic but functional, and being able to see other pilots at all is nice. The menu navigation is pretty terrible because a lot of things are nested in multiple menus and there's a noticeable delay going from one menu to another. Even the devs are aware of this because there's an option to exit out of all menus by holding the back button, though that's not a great compromise.
The currently available online game modes are Co-op Assault (pve), Co-op Warfare (pvpve), Team Deathmatch (pvp), and Scramble/Emergency Sortie (special missions). Assault, Warfare, TDM, and Emergency Sortie have 8 players. The first 3 has 2 teams of 4 competing against each other for score. Emergency Sortie has all 8 on the same team working together to destroy a superweapon in the time limit. Scramble is 4 players only and puts you up against 8 AI fighters with a higher difficulty setting. Each sortie is very short, lasting no longer than 6-8 minutes (not including loading in and selecting planes), and can feel even shorter when you have experienced players just decimating every enemy in sight. It would be nice if they were a bit longer and there were more enemies to kill, but that leads to my next point.
The system for leveling up planes, ranking up your pilot, and unlocking new aircraft is a grindy one, as expected of any online game developed in the east. Leveling up planes is simple enough, you do a sortie with it and get some xp, and each level raises its stats and/or unlocks more capacity for your weapons. Every 5 levels there's a cap which you need to unlock by spending credits (in-game currency) and using blueprints for that plane, which cost 1000 credits each. Ranking up your pilot is even simpler - completing a sortie gets you 100 pilot xp, win or lose, and each new rank unlocks more aircraft for purchase. Later ranks take more xp - the next rank for me takes 2000 total and there's still some 6 ranks after that. Having really short sorties makes it easier to level up that way, but it would be more fun to just have longer ones that gave more xp. Unlocking new aircraft is a matter of getting to the rank where it's available, then having enough credits to buy it.
There's also a season pass. The vast majority of unlocks there are just cosmetics like paint jobs, decals, or clothes for your pilot, with some xp, credit boosts, and universal plane blueprints sprinkled in. You can get season pass xp from sorties and daily/weekly challenges, but the rewards are more of a nice bonus than anything else so there's no real pressure to progress it.
Overall, it's nice to be able to play co-op at all but it is pretty basic. I'm hoping It's expanded on and we get more rewarding and higher difficulty sorties soon so folks aren't just racing for kills and the lowest scorers actually feel like they contributed.
Campaign
I haven't fully finished the campaign yet since I distracted myself with online but I'm 25 missions in and it's been a great experience so far. Will avoid spoilers, but we've got all the classics - crazy superweapons that drown your screen in warnings, super cocky enemy ace pilots, allies singing your praises after you decimate whoever's firing on them, enemies shitting themselves in disbelief after you almost singlehandedly promote their entire fighting force to salvage, badass boss themes, the dreaded stealth mission (ugh I really didn't enjoy this one lol), a few setpieces of tunnels or structures with openings juuuust wide enough to fly through, fun and campy banter from your wingmen, a nice 3d topographical display for the mission briefings, and faint suspicions of some high-tech bullshit going on (belkan witchcraft?).
What's pretty new are the cutscenes between just about every mission - a lot of them are from your pilot's POV so you get to witness events from your angle rather than having some universal knowledge of all the events unfolding from the shadows. The storytelling and dialogue ranges from fine to pretty good, which is high praise for this series as the narrative was always a distant second to the gameplay (it still is but that's just because the gameplay's awesome). I like all the characters for the most part - none of them are too annoying or overdone to the point of being a caricature. It helps if you go in expecting campy action b-movie quality dialogue with very unsubtle messaging. Is it the best story Project Aces has told? That's incredibly subjective and extremely vulnerable to nostalgia bias unfortunately. It's definitely the most fleshed out one by far though, so I'll give credit where it's due.
I am annoyed that the Su-37 isn't in the base game though. I KNOW they're going to release it later in a plane DLC pack and I will buy it, but come on. Take care not to milk your fans too much.
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Comment on Oatly, the world's largest producer of oat milk, is sending a new message to its consumers – most people want their governments to take action on climate change in ~enviro
Flashfall LinkWell symbolic activism is still activism I guess. I'll raise them a glass of cold brew with some Oatly instead of heavy cream tomorrow morning.Well symbolic activism is still activism I guess. I'll raise them a glass of cold brew with some Oatly instead of heavy cream tomorrow morning.
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Comment on Do you have an "anime of the season"? | Summer 2026 (June - Sept) in ~anime
Flashfall LinkProbably no surprise considering it's the only thing I gave a 10/10 this season in my review (did not expect a callout but thanks OP, hope it was informative), but The Ghost in the Shell (2026) is...Probably no surprise considering it's the only thing I gave a 10/10 this season in my review (did not expect a callout but thanks OP, hope it was informative), but The Ghost in the Shell (2026) is my AotS. I was already a fan of most of the previous adaptations but never read the original manga, so experiencing it as an animation with a ton of talent and passion poured into it was just a real joy each week. It somehow manages to rapidly switch between being introspective, lighthearted, heavy, and whimsical while never missing a beat. Also, have I mentioned how much I enjoy seeing Batou being happy? Because there's a whole lot of that and it's all great.
In the middle of a rewatch of Bocchi the Rock! and it's just as good as the first time. The characters and dialogue are still great, the music still slaps, the creative animation scenes are still hilarious. An immaculate combination of crippling social anxiety, high school life, the indie music scene, and tons of memes and internet culture references. Hoping we get the second season next year along with the prequel movie.