nesshin's recent activity
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
nesshin LinkThe Cold War by Odd Arne Westad I began reading this last summer to get a better understanding of why geopolitics is what it is today. I'm really enjoying the slow walk through history and have a...The Cold War
by Odd Arne Westad
I began reading this last summer to get a better understanding of why geopolitics is what it is today. I'm really enjoying the slow walk through history and have a better grasp of the relationships between nations at different times. For example, Mao admired Stalin, but disliked Khrushchev. It's hard to memorize everything you read, but this gives me a better intuition for how countries ended up developing the ways that they did. I like comprehensive books that act as scaffolding for further learning, and this book does that well for the Cold War.The Great Transformation
by Chen Jian and Odd Arne Westad
I began reading this as a companion piece to The Cold War since Westad also wrote the other and the chronologies overlap. Politicians, economists, news media all talk about China in certain ways, but I wanted a better look into what the country is driven by internally. I'm about halfway through this one, and it's pretty chaotic. Obviously a country is more complex than a couple of generalizations made by politicians onstage, and this book helps to illuminate the characters that made/make the country. Recommend if you know nothing about modern Chinese history.Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
I'm retreating back to the classics, most of which I've never read. I'm about a third of the way done with this tale, and it's pretty darn good. I like the world building, the characters, and the mystery. There have been a couple of, what I'm going to describe as, metal scenes that really stood out to me (lightening bolt). Of course, there are some cultural insensitivities of the time that are somewhat jarring, but they are uncommon.I don't do any of these books justice with my descriptions, but I'm happy to be reading them and recommend them to anyone who's on the fence.
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Comment on Thoughts on Final Fantasy 16 in ~games
nesshin (edited )LinkI’m about 25 hours in. It’s a good game and I’m enjoying playing it. But it’s not the game I expected/wanted. Demo was really good. First 8 hours after this felt pretty monotonous gameplay wise....I’m about 25 hours in. It’s a good game and I’m enjoying playing it. But it’s not the game I expected/wanted.
Demo was really good. First 8 hours after this felt pretty monotonous gameplay wise. The next 15 or so hours have been better and more complex. The story has remained excellent. Music has been good to great. Graphics meet expectations. A lot of the boss battles are very quick-time-event based, but begrudgingly I’ll say that sometimes it works well.
Unfortunately the traditional RPG elements I was hoping for are mostly missing. Status effects are basically nonexistent. You really only control one party member. No puzzles or ‘thinking’ because there’s a waypoint marker for everything. Maybe worst of all, it feel like my play-through of the game won’t look any different from someone else’s.
Here’s the crux of it. I don’t play Dark Souls, Elden Ring etc., because I don’t want to focus on quick movements. So it’s distressing to say that the most important game mechanic in Final Fantasy 16 is the dodge mechanic. Dodge! It’s not right.
I remember (“back in my day”) when games used to be distinct. Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry, Armored Core 3, and Majora’s Mask were different games. Now the latest iterations are basically the same fast paced strafe, dodge, big attack, retreat mechanics mixed in with a few unique quirks. Obviously games are more accessible these days, and the budgets basically mandate broad appeal, but it sort of sucks having to rely solely on indie publishers or old games to have a truly unique experience.
As for Final Fantasy, I at least wish they had a spin-off series that felt like the old titles. Maybe even a Tactics remake (Octopath doesn’t count for me). Again, all this to say that while Final Fantasy 16: Revengeance isn’t what I wanted, I’m not disappointed with my experience. Just missing days gone by.
Edit: added more pros and cons
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Comment on I’ve fallen into a deep gaming rut lately. What helped “get you back into” gaming and rediscover the magic of video games? in ~games
nesshin Link ParentI can agree with this approach. I feel like I got kind of burned out in my 20s (usual life stuff) and had a hard time 'allowing' myself the time to have extended video game sessions, because I'd...I can agree with this approach. I feel like I got kind of burned out in my 20s (usual life stuff) and had a hard time 'allowing' myself the time to have extended video game sessions, because I'd feel like I should be doing something else. Sometimes its easier to just replay the old stuff to get over that mental hurdle, and now seems it's remake time for games released around 2005. OP's video game journey sounds eerily similar to my own (Pokemon Red, MGS, BotW being a breath of fresh air), so maybe the single player remake of something like Resident Evil 4 would be nice. The new Final Fantasy game is also pretty linear seeming. For what its worth, the last time I really felt like a game was special and managed to keep my attention was Persona 5.
Regarding The Dark Forest. It definitely has a different feel, and the alternate history science fiction of the first book is replaced by a more expansive science fiction epic. I liked this book the most of the series specifically because of the ideas presented, so I think/hope you end up finishing it. *Death's End also has massive ideas, just felt a little more sprawling than The Dark Forest.