culturedleftfoot's recent activity

  1. Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2024 in ~games

  2. Comment on Spotify shuts down ‘Unwrapped’ artist royalty calculator with legal threats – site still includes the formula behind the calculator for artists and music lovers who are curious in ~music

    culturedleftfoot
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    Yasiin Bey, f.k.a. Mos Def, has been a vocal critic of Spotify for years. Here's a great clip of him addressing fans of Black Star (of which he and interviewer Talib Kweli are members) who...

    Yasiin Bey, f.k.a. Mos Def, has been a vocal critic of Spotify for years. Here's a great clip of him addressing fans of Black Star (of which he and interviewer Talib Kweli are members) who persistently asked why they decided to place their highly anticipated, then-upcoming sophomore album exclusively on Luminary and not make it available on Spotify. It really serves to reframe the paradigm around contemporary music consumption.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2024 in ~games

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    I got so much more out of CrossCode than I bargained for. I'd vaguely kept tabs on it a little before release, thinking that it seemed like a neat little idea for a game, with the virtual MMORPG...

    I got so much more out of CrossCode than I bargained for. I'd vaguely kept tabs on it a little before release, thinking that it seemed like a neat little idea for a game, with the virtual MMORPG premise and the throwing-ball combat. After having bought it, I left off after close to 250 hours, including the DLC chapter, and completed pretty much everything except some of the optional post-game challenges.

    It's a nice blend of action/puzzle/RPG elements. Gameplay-wise, I enjoyed the puzzle dungeons more than anything else, but the combat is definitely worth a mention. You can mostly get by with button-mashing, but the skill ceiling is deceptively, ridiculously high, to the extent that I had to recontextualize the whole thing in my mind when I saw some of the late-game/post-game stuff. The biggest hook for me was the story though. Without spoiling anything, I got some pretty unexpected surprises, and the writing team absolutely nails it. Some of the best character writing I've seen in any video game.

    You can absolutely tell that it was a labor of love for the team behind it. There are tons of settings you can tweak for accessibility and difficulty, so you can make it as challenging as you want or breeze through and enjoy the story. Also, there are so many accessories/armors/weapons that you can run various builds for the main character according to your play style, which is nice.

    I don't really have any advice for you, apart from just go ahead and have as much fun as you can. You're in for a treat!

    4 votes

  4. Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2024 in ~games

  5. Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2024 in ~games

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    Tangent: Did you post your thoughts on Bo: PotTL? It looks like a cross between Okami and Ori, which puts it right up my alley, but it also reminds me A LOT of Nine Sols (albeit Japanese rather...

    Tangent: Did you post your thoughts on Bo: PotTL? It looks like a cross between Okami and Ori, which puts it right up my alley, but it also reminds me A LOT of Nine Sols (albeit Japanese rather than Chinese), which I haven't got around to playing yet but definitely will.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2024 in ~games

    culturedleftfoot
    (edited )
    Link
    I'll join in the holiday cheer. I really just want to promote games I think more people should know about, so I'm going to give away some stuff from my Followed list on Steam (which usually means...
    • Exemplary

    I'll join in the holiday cheer.

    I really just want to promote games I think more people should know about, so I'm going to give away some stuff from my Followed list on Steam (which usually means that I own it, have played it, or think it's interesting in some way but I wouldn't have the time to play it myself). Bolded titles have my personal recommendation.

    By December 31st I will give away at least 10 games, and it might turn out to be more. Method will be direct gift on Steam, meaning you'll have to temporarily add me to your friends list. Selection process will have no real rationale. It might be whatever Santa tells me, it might be what you say about why the game caught your interest, or it might just be the random number generator. Reply with up to three games of your choice and take your chances.

    Support small businesses and play some indie games!
    I swear I don't only look for games with pixel art.

    Games

    80 Days won!
    A Memoir's Blue
    Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1
    Antichamber
    BELOW
    Bonfire Peaks
    CrossCode won!
    Cursed To Golf
    Dap
    Dust: An Elysian Tail
    El Hijo - A Wild West Tale
    ElecHead
    Enter The Gungeon
    Fez
    Firework
    Gorogoa won!
    Helldivers (1, not 2 that came out this year)
    Indivisible
    INK
    INMOST
    INSIDE
    Invisible, Inc.
    Iron Crypticle
    Journey
    Juicy Realm
    La-Mulana
    LIMBO
    Linelight won!
    LOCKDOWN Protocol
    Master Spy
    LUMINES REMASTERED
    Long Dream
    Loretta
    Midnight Ghost Hunt
    Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
    Mondealy
    Moon Hunters
    Neo Cab
    Neon Abyss
    Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
    Night Call
    Octahedron: Transfixed Edition
    Once Again
    One Finger Death Punch
    Orbital Bullet
    Ori and the Blind Forest
    Overgrowth
    Pid
    Pipe Push Paradise won!
    Planet Cube: Edge
    Raji: An Ancient Epic
    Road 96
    Room 301 NO.6
    Sayonara Wild Hearts won!
    Seek Etyliv
    Soda Crisis
    Souldiers
    Starseed Pilgrim
    Stealth Bastard Deluxe
    Super Magbot
    Tales of the Neon Sea
    The Artful Escape
    The Gardens Between
    The Gunk
    The Heroes Around Me
    The Red Strings Club
    The Rewinder
    The Witness won!
    Tokyo 42
    Twelve Minutes
    Undying
    Vagante
    Wavetale
    Within The Blade
    Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains
    ZERO Sievert

    8 votes

  7. Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2024 in ~games

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    Wow, I wonder if they even make those anymore? It's so interesting to hear that would be the toy that sticks out in someone's memory. Nowadays a child might spend about 5 minutes with that......

    Wow, I wonder if they even make those anymore? It's so interesting to hear that would be the toy that sticks out in someone's memory. Nowadays a child might spend about 5 minutes with that... they'd probably prefer it as an app :(

  8. Comment on You've never seen (or heard) a game quite like 'Skate Story' in ~games

    culturedleftfoot
    Link
    This game looks cool. This video, though, is amazingly well done. It contextualizes something that I would have found a neat little oddity if I came across it on my own, and I'm sure it's some of...

    This game looks cool. This video, though, is amazingly well done. It contextualizes something that I would have found a neat little oddity if I came across it on my own, and I'm sure it's some of the best promo the game will get.

    4 votes

  9. Comment on Anyone interested in trying out Kagi? in ~tech

  10. Comment on Anyone interested in trying out Kagi? in ~tech

    culturedleftfoot
    Link
    First I've heard of this. If anyone has an extra invite burning a hole in their pocket, I'd like to give it a whirl.

    First I've heard of this. If anyone has an extra invite burning a hole in their pocket, I'd like to give it a whirl.

  11. Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv

    culturedleftfoot
    Link
    Watched Shōgun over the past week or so, after 20+ years of my brother unsuccessfully bugging me to read the book. It's fantastic! The story is gripping, the actors put in some amazing...

    Watched Shōgun over the past week or so, after 20+ years of my brother unsuccessfully bugging me to read the book. It's fantastic! The story is gripping, the actors put in some amazing performances, and the art direction is just gorgeous. I know it could never live up to the source material for those who read it, but maybe I was meant to wait for the adaptation. The show made the decision to present things not just from Blackthorne's perspective but also from the perspective of the Japanese characters as well, which surely helped its cause - I'm not sure I'd have the same tolerance nowadays for yet another white-character-in-exotic-land narrative as I would have had in the pre-internet days, when it was so much harder to access that exotic culture directly.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Great shows with interesting premises? in ~tv

  13. Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv

    culturedleftfoot
    Link
    The only regular shows I can think of that aren't already mentioned are Gomorrah and Justified. Maybe it's because I've tracked the anime I've watched and never done so for live-action, but more...

    The only regular shows I can think of that aren't already mentioned are Gomorrah and Justified. Maybe it's because I've tracked the anime I've watched and never done so for live-action, but more of those come to mind:

    Mugen no Juunin: Immortal - I cannot recommend this enough. The ending (like the rest of the series) doesn't hold your hand and spell everything out explicitly, but it's all there in the details.
    Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig - probably the most memorable climax to a TV show that I've seen. 52 episodes is a big investment, but if you have any interest at all in GitS's philosophical musings, it will absolutely be worth it.
    Death Parade
    Haibane Renmei
    The Tatami Galaxy
    Samurai Champloo - pretty much a perfect ending.
    Katanagatari - deceptively great show with a fantastically well handled climax and ending.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    Do it!! Dark is in the running for the best anything I've ever watched. Having said that, I do think the ending was slightly soft, but that's probably because of the ridiculously hard job they...

    Do it!! Dark is in the running for the best anything I've ever watched.

    Having said that, I do think the ending was slightly soft, but that's probably because of the ridiculously hard job they gave themselves to live up to the rest of the series.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    Hard disagree with @Protected. IMO it's lean and mean, with not an ounce of fat to trim. The more attention you pay, the more you can find to appreciate.

    Hard disagree with @Protected. IMO it's lean and mean, with not an ounce of fat to trim. The more attention you pay, the more you can find to appreciate.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    I'd argue for watching the Bebop movie now, before you start your rewatch of the series and with some distance from your last viewing. Or, follow the r/anime watch order wiki and fit it between...

    I'd argue for watching the Bebop movie now, before you start your rewatch of the series and with some distance from your last viewing. Or, follow the r/anime watch order wiki and fit it between episodes 22 and 23 chronologically, but don't binge the series and then watch the movie. To me, it feels more like an extended episode more than a genuine film, so I don't think it has quite the same impact if you don't watch it without the passage of enough time to miss the series, like how the movie was originally released.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    Hm. For a contrasting viewpoint, I finished watching BJH last month, watching all 6 seasons over the course of maybe 2 weeks, and throughout the first two seasons I kept waiting to see why someone...

    Hm. For a contrasting viewpoint, I finished watching BJH last month, watching all 6 seasons over the course of maybe 2 weeks, and throughout the first two seasons I kept waiting to see why someone would think it's one of the best animated shows ever (the original top comment was, by far, Bojack Horseman).

    The ending itself wraps up the character arcs neatly but I guess I was fairly unsatisfied afterward. The show never really spoke to me though, and the comedic writing is waist deep in a type of tropey contemporary sitcom humor that I don't enjoy (not for the BJH Show, but for characters like BJH and especially Todd), so that might have just been my overall opinion rather than strictly the ending itself. Still, I never disliked it outright; they eventually peel back the layers of the main characters believably enough to explain why most are the way they are, and I found it well-acted and well-made enough to not simply drop it before it hit its stride IMO, partway through season three. All in all, I was left with a mild, "Huh. That's interesting," kind of impression. It's weird.

    4 votes

  18. What's the biggest YouTube channel still run by just one person?

    ~creative Ask (survey)
    Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but I wondered about this recently. I took three seemingly-solo Youtubers as examples at different scales. Penguinz0 has 16 mil subscribers, and as...

    Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but I wondered about this recently. I took three seemingly-solo Youtubers as examples at different scales.

    Penguinz0 has 16 mil subscribers, and as far as I know his uploads are just him talking into the camera, giving his opinion about recent things in games and pop culture (I could be very wrong about that, I don't know why he's popular). Looks like he uploads at least a few times a week, so that could be manageable.

    Videogamedunkey has 7.5 mil subscribers, and he used to do weekly uploads until very recently, I think. Given that his humor and editing style is a big part of his content, I'd be surprised if he's got anyone else working on his vids.

    Northernlion has just over 1 mil subscribers and uploads multiple videos daily, and (in)famously refuses to do any editing. He just basically streams on Twitch all day and uploads clips from that.

    I would imagine the day-to-day running of the business, i.e. answering emails and phone calls, would be where having help is most advantageous as you grow, but it also probably depends a lot on what kind of content you make. How big can you get before it's too much for a solo operation?

    45 votes

  19. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    culturedleftfoot
    Link
    Just finished Disco Elysium: The Final Cut after about 50 hours, and I quite liked it. Maybe the highest praise I can give it is that I almost immediately thought about replaying it in a...

    Just finished Disco Elysium: The Final Cut after about 50 hours, and I quite liked it. Maybe the highest praise I can give it is that I almost immediately thought about replaying it in a contrasting style just to see how different my experience can be the second time around, and I probably will. I typically try to squeeze as much content out of a game in just one playthrough, so that'd be highly unusual. Some of the political and philosophical allusions went over my head - my custom character was more or less a thinker, and the game can give you A LOT to chew on if you dig - but I love how extensively they built and fleshed out the world.

    The disparity in the Steam reviews is hilarious, and does a great job of showing just how much the game reflects your own mentality. I didn't necessarily get any moments of profound self-reflection out of it, as compared to some of those commenters on YouTube, but maybe that's because I'm moralist scum. I recommend it.

    5 votes

  20. Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv

    culturedleftfoot
    Link Parent
    Mother's milk in a cup! I don't remember that peaches one from WoT but I get what you mean. I loved all those expressions, but I'd never thought about their intent as devices to reinforce the...

    Mother's milk in a cup! I don't remember that peaches one from WoT but I get what you mean. I loved all those expressions, but I'd never thought about their intent as devices to reinforce the difference between our world and theirs. Makes sense.

    I should have probably been an engineer, as my mind is quite similar. However, a comment on this video (which I agree and disagree with in possible equal measure, in terms of how successful they say BES is at writing Mizu, especially concerning principle #4) makes the point that the show does so much well in developing its story and NOT falling into overworn tropes that it should have earned grace from its viewers to overlook the inconsistencies. And I think I can settle there.

    1 vote