From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc


Hee. It's being reported that in the previous five years there were
three additional undisclosed incursions into US airspace by Chinese surveillance balloons. I wonder why Trump didn't ask the military to do anything about them.

Play:
--=--

Yakuza 5 Remastered (PC) - Finally made my way into Shinada's part of
the story. I remember when I played the PS3 version (years after the
western release date) that I speculated on how the Kineicho urban area
was too complex and detailed for the Sony system to really keep up with,
and that it would take an unlikely PC port to really get the place
rendered properly. I spent most of Sunday winning the Princess League competition to get here, so now I'm waiting for a spare hour or two to
get through the batting cage minigame in order to unlock the rest of the
city.

I love being reminded of how rich and textured all these characters are,
even the incidental side-mission NPCs that you never seen more than a
handful of times. Christina the world-renowned dance instructor is
Japanese dude with a western woman's name who values authenticity in an industry built on artifice. Judy the bi-racial dance gang leader is
half-Black in a country where that's a reason to be shunned but lives to
be part of an industry where you have to stand out from the crowd. I
love how Takasugi the moneylender is somehow a sleazy threatening worm
and a caring father of two young children all at the same time.
Everybody has layers and all you want is to spend more time with all
these people, which I suppose is how they get away with hours-long
cinematic sequences where there's no fighting and there's only talking.

Want:
--=--

Like a Dragon Ishin (PS5) - I suppose I need to start using the new
title now that 'Yakuza' is an outdated brand both in the game and in
real life. Pre-ordered, but with super cheapskate shipping I might not
see it until March. I wonder what it takes for the rest of the world to
get the need to have their underpants and onions and onani sleeves
delivered in 48 hours.

Bin:
-==-

Nothing game-related.

Expenditure:
-----=-----

Balance forward - $181

-KKC, who's done too much work already after 45 minutes on the clock.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Play:

Minecraft (PSV) - more adventures in my map with the terrible seed
(with just two or three biomes out of several possible ones,
apparently no villages, and no sign of anything much really) because I
just had to say "42" when it gave the option to specify a seed rather
than using a random one. Bah. I'll probably try a better seed at some
point, but for now I'm doing lots of underground mining and Nether
stuff, which to be fair I'd probably be focusing on at this point
anyway.

Want:

Oddly enough, to play a bit of Mineclone 2 again now I can see how it
compares to Minecraft. But even before doing that, I can see that
playing MC2 as I have been - with an awkward combination of keyboard
and keyboard-mouse - is not especially great for combat.

Bin:

Minecraft (PSV) seemingly including the shield slot, but having no
obvious way to craft a shield. And trying to craft one with the
standard recipe in classic crafting mode doesn't work either.

Ghast fireballs and the "just hit them back" gameplay in Minecraft.
For me even getting a sword to connect is hit-and-miss. Mostly miss.

-Rus.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

On 6 Feb 2023 at 11:43:10 GMT, "Kendrick Kerwin Chua"
<kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Play:
--=--

Persona 3 Portable (Switch) - up in Block 2, got my 4th party member,
not quite beefed up enough to stride all the way up to the boss yet as
the mana attrition is just a bit too much. Getting some of my socials
boosted up, but there really isn't a lot of time to do that it seems. I
don't want to go look up minmax strats for it as I've managed to avoid
spoilers for fifteen years or whatever it is and it'd be awfully
annoying to lose the fun of the story like that. I'll take any
recommendations for "don't bother with persona type x" or "social x is a rubbish story, skip it" though.

Want:
--=--

To play games more.

Bin:
-==-

The usual relentless march of time.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"Some people think that noise abatement should be a higher
priority for ATC. I say safety is noise abatement. You have no
idea how much noise it makes to have a 737 fall out of the sky
after an accident."
-- anonymous air traffic controller
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

In article <k4d14aFst37U1@mid.individual.net>,
Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie@usually.sessile.org> wrote:

On 6 Feb 2023 at 11:43:10 GMT, "Kendrick Kerwin Chua" ><kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Play:
--=--

Persona 3 Portable (Switch) - up in Block 2, got my 4th party member,
not quite beefed up enough to stride all the way up to the boss yet as
the mana attrition is just a bit too much. Getting some of my socials
boosted up, but there really isn't a lot of time to do that it seems. I
don't want to go look up minmax strats for it as I've managed to avoid >spoilers for fifteen years or whatever it is and it'd be awfully
annoying to lose the fun of the story like that. I'll take any >recommendations for "don't bother with persona type x" or "social x is a >rubbish story, skip it" though.

The problem is that some of that advice is calendar-specific, which
means that some characters you can only form a bond with on certain days
or before a certain event. The fact that the game will give you a generic 'bond growing stronger' message with no numerical levelling-up message
means that it's expecting you to save scum and revert back so you can
try the other option, which takes way too much time.

I forget, does P3P also include the 'Answer' portion of the game where
Aegis is the main character? I sort of find that chapter of the game
more satisfying because it lacks all of the daytime crazy. It's a more traditional SMT game as a result.

-KKC, who only got two images he liked out of two hours of Kineicho.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.games.video.misc

On 6 Feb 2023 at 23:41:19 GMT, "Kendrick Kerwin Chua"
<kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

In article <k4d14aFst37U1@mid.individual.net>,
Jaimie Vandenbergh <jaimie@usually.sessile.org> wrote:

On 6 Feb 2023 at 11:43:10 GMT, "Kendrick Kerwin Chua"
<kendrick@nospam.io-nyc> wrote:

Play:
--=--

Persona 3 Portable (Switch) - up in Block 2, got my 4th party member,
not quite beefed up enough to stride all the way up to the boss yet as
the mana attrition is just a bit too much. Getting some of my socials
boosted up, but there really isn't a lot of time to do that it seems. I
don't want to go look up minmax strats for it as I've managed to avoid
spoilers for fifteen years or whatever it is and it'd be awfully
annoying to lose the fun of the story like that. I'll take any
recommendations for "don't bother with persona type x" or "social x is a
rubbish story, skip it" though.

The problem is that some of that advice is calendar-specific, which
means that some characters you can only form a bond with on certain days
or before a certain event. The fact that the game will give you a generic 'bond growing stronger' message with no numerical levelling-up message
means that it's expecting you to save scum and revert back so you can
try the other option, which takes way too much time.

I've only had a couple of those, usually I get the bond point so I
haven't bothered.

I forget, does P3P also include the 'Answer' portion of the game where
Aegis is the main character? I sort of find that chapter of the game
more satisfying because it lacks all of the daytime crazy. It's a more traditional SMT game as a result.

Not sure! Haven't got there yet, passed the block 2 boss but waiting on
block 3 to unlock. Got my 5th party member now too.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"It's made of people?"
"There's already a drink like that - Soylent Cola."
"How does it taste?"
"It varies from person to person." -- Fry and Leela
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2