Yahtzee Croshaw (Zero Punctuation, Fully Ramblomatic)

crafting systems are practically mandatory in RP Gs today,I blame the MMOROP Gs(massive multiplayer online roleplying games) for popularizing the trend

Why? Who is demanding crafting systems? How do they add anything to the core mechanics of a remake of a game this old?

I'd say something hyperbolic like, "Just shoot me now," but I'd probably have to craft the bullets.

I don't mind some crafting, as long as I don't have to grind for the materials, the costs for further upgrades don't follow a semi-exponential curve, there isn't too much to craft, and the things I craft are useful for my character and have a notable impact on the game. Bonus points if it actually ties into the story.

Tropes Are Tools. There are good and bad ways to implement crafting systems, just like any other system.

Edited by Redmess on Apr 17th 2024 at 10:25:20 AM

Yeah, but none of that was in the original Final Fantasy VII, and nobody was asking to have it added. I just don't "get" this remake. Update the graphics, sure. Fix some of the dated story elements, sure. Modernize the combat, sure.

Make the story three times longer and pad out the gameplay with extra minigames and open-world elements? Umm...

Apparently I live on a different planet, which I will nickname Planet Sensible, in which the minigames were overwhelmingly the worst part of the original. And nobody asked for crafting.

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 17th 2024 at 4:31:45 AM

in which the minigames were overwhelmingly the worst part of the original

I have no horse in the race, I've barely played the original and haven't touched the remake, but that just seems like a wildly out of touch statement to make when Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer is not only a thing, but one named for this very game.

Like, FFVII's minigames are very much part of its appeal.

I played original FFVII all the way through at least a dozen times.

"Out of touch" implies that there is a generally correct answer. I very much disliked most of them, and while that may be an unpopular opinion, it is in fact how I feel.

Some are tolerable, some I begrudgingly play to get their rewards, and some I hate with a fiery passion — that fucking roller-coaster rail-shooter comes to mind. Never did manage to get Aerith's Umbrella weapon from it.

Going back to FFVII Remake, who was asking for more Honey Bee Inn shenanigans?

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 17th 2024 at 5:13:19 AM

Because people like Sexy people.

Not sure whats wrong with that.

FFVII's minigames were objectively bad, but they were also an important part of it's offbeat tone

I never understand crafting system. It's just trading for gears except you need 3 difference currencies. Some game make sense when crafting is the point of the game (minecraft, farming sim game, survival,...), some don't.

I think the answer is that people like it for the same reasons that they sometimes prefer hand-made products over mass-produced, store bought ones in real life.

That seems like a heck of a stretch.

Crafting systems make sense in certain kinds of games because the idea is that you're putting in all the effort yourself to improve your character or whatever. You're the one joining some rocks with some wood to make a sword. When you look back at your gothic castle with fire traps in the parapets, you did that. It pairs well with survival games, because it's not like you can walk into the local IKEA and pick up new furniture for your wasteland shack.

In Western style RPGs, crafting is something that is inherited from the pen-and-paper mindset, where you could roleplay as a blacksmith or use your wizard powers to make fancy wands and staves.

But at a certain point recently, it became some kind of mandatory inclusion in all game styles, even those where it makes no sense. In particular, as I said earlier, nobody was asking for crafting in Final Fantasy VII... at least nobody that I know of. I can't recall meeting a single person who said, "You know what would have made that game about anime characters having mental health crises while fighting Gwyneth Paltrow tolerable? A crafting system!"

Some kind of crafting systems have been part of the series since FF 8 so it's not like crafting is completely new to the series and ports of earlier games typically add some features from earlier games. Remake and Rebirth have several features not present in the original but introduced in some later instalments of the series, such as visible enemies(as opposed to random battles), skill tree, staggering in battles, partially real time battles etc.

I just don't see what's the big deal. I don't remember ever specifically having to farm crafting items.

FF 8 is really weird in that regard ,notice how crafting never appeared in IX or X or many titles after it

funnily enough Crystal Chronicles had crafting..

The only crafting I remember in FFVIII is combining magic into more powerful magic. Which I suppose fits the definition, but at least it makes sense within the context of the game.

My fundamental question is why you'd add it to a remake of a game that never had it in the first place, nor needed it, nor had any story basis for it.

If the answer is "why not", then I don't feel like we can meaningfully communicate.

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 19th 2024 at 11:36:47 AM

In FFVIII you can only upgrade your weapons if you have the right ingredients.

Crafting offers an alternative to buying items and doesn't intrude on the gameplay in any way I can think of.

South Park: Snow Day! | Fully Ramblomatic

Is it weird that I hadn't even heard of this until now? Yahtzee calls it "gay", though, so bring out the culture police.

Wait... 3D, real-time combat, co-op multiplayer? The conceit of the first game in which the PC is the actual protagonist is completely dropped? Must be nice in that ivory tower full of money, guys.

You can say that again, not even the South Park thread has mentioned this game.

The first game had a LOT of hype surrounding it and it seems like the 'sequel' could barely capture its success

It's the third game, actually. Well, third in this particular series. Apparently there were some older ones but we don't talk about those.

Oh yeah, I remember those early South Park games. They were basically (the equivalent of) small Flash games tied in to the movie or something, crude little arcadey affairs with little appeal beyond hearing Cartman swear and such. I used to have a few of them on some CD back in the day.

It does have a thread on the forums here

Oh, so it does... maybe someone should have posted a link on the main SP thread. Considering that thread has all of 12 posts over the past year, that, too, says enough.

Here is another review if you want to see what the game is actually like:

Which makes me realize that Yahtzee's style of reviews can be a bit lacking in the visual department. It's kind of hard to judge a game review when you can't actually see the game being reviewed.

It's consistent with Yahtzee's loudly professed opinion that graphical quality shouldn't dominate story and gameplay in a review.

That's not what I mean, it's just that actually showing the game helps bring the point across better.

Like that little bit where the IGN reviewer demonstrates what combining the "bullshit" system with the Arena DLC (in whichn you are attacked by waves of enemies all carrying lots of "bullshit" cards) results in. A pic or clip can say more than a 1000 words.

Edited by Redmess on Apr 24th 2024 at 11:41:45 AM

The Language of Color in Games | Semi-Ramblomatic

How did games all independently arrive at similar color schemes for things like rarity? Green, purple, orange-yellow. The higher up that scale, the cooler it is, or at least the more you're supposed to care.

So let's go on a tour of all of the common colors and what they mean, starting with red and health. (I won't list them all out; watch the video for that.)

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 25th 2024 at 4:15:35 AM