Essence_of_Meh
@Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world
- Comment on Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2025, Week 37] 1 week ago:
Not much time, not much reading, not much to write. I’ve been mainly catching up on the series I post here - just got to the new chapters of The Saga of Tanya the Evil. I like such large chapter drops but why do they have to happen when I’m busy!
Well, at least I have something to look forward to, I guess.
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- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks ago:
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
I’ve been trying to power through the game since last week. To be completely honest I’m not having a great time with this one (key word being “great” here). It’s fun at times and a good game from a production standpoint but I end up playing in pretty short session because it can’t keep me interested otherwise. It’s a stark contrast to Project Wingman, where I pretty much binged through the whole thing twice (including DLC) and still want more. I’m slowly progressing but man, it’s night and day between the two games. I more or less got my input settings to what I’m used to (sans deadzone and sensitivity settings but it’s still better than nothing) and got over most of my issues with how it plays so things are a bit better now. Concepts for the missions are interesting and varied so far which is great, I’m a bit mixed on the execution though as there’s not a single mission that didn’t have something annoying in it. I have a similar sentiment towards ship upgrade tree - a neat idea, alright execution. I don’t hate any of this at least.
Story is… fine. The constant waffling about “sins” and how “you’re all expendable”/“you can die for all I care”/“you have my permission to crash” (that’s why we put you into extremely expensive machines armed to the teeth) mixed with the pretty common Japanese way of writing dialogues (person 1 say X, person 2 repeats it) got grating pretty quickly. At least it’s not a permanent focus of the game so there’s that.
There might be something a bit more interesting lurking in the background but I’ll have to see how things play out first to be convinced. On the “good” good side of things I really liked the thunderstorm mission gimmick, where getting hit by lightning is not only possible but it also affects gameplay in a significant way (disrupting the HUD and temporarily cutting off your controls). In general, the way they treat clouds as part of gameplay is actually pretty cool (targeting wise, not the icing). They also look pretty great.
Besides the already mentioned mission variety, I also liked the callback to AC04 - it was a nice surprise as initially I didn’t realise both games are connected (it’s been a few years since my playthrough of 04 and even then my familiarity with AC franchise is pretty limited). All in all, the game constantly edges on the brink of clicking with me, only to pull something annoying that brings it right back to making me feel mixed about it. I want to like it more, I really do but alas, so far it wasn’t meant to be.Persona 3 Portable
Not much to write about today as I mostly focused on AC7 and only did some light grinding to get all current party members to the same level. I’ll most likely switch full time to Persona once I’m done with the fly-boy campaign but for a few more days it’ll have to wait.
- Comment on [Discussion] Gal Maid & Villainess - Ch. 15.5 2 weeks ago:
I’ll keep that in mind since I do prefer longer series. Still, as long as it doesn’t end on a complete cliffhanger I’ll be fine… I think.
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- Comment on [Discussion] Gal Maid & Villainess - Ch. 15.5 2 weeks ago:
Ohhhh, new series for the villainess pile! Don’t mind if I do~
- Comment on [Discussion] Vtuber Confucius - Ch. 20 [END] 2 weeks ago:
It was a fun read that, thankfully, didn’t drag out for the sake of it. Not my favourite series ever but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks ago:
Umurangi Generation
I hopped in to unlock all the gear and achievements (all except for “Speed runner” since I can’t be bothered with downgrading the game just to unlock it). Went pretty fast since levels are small and requirements simple but it was fun nonetheless. I’ll have to jump back in to do some proper photos of the DLC stages but that’ll have to wait a bit.
Persona 3 Portable
Progressing pretty slowly with this one as I treat it like a “play before bed” type of game. I really like Kotone and enjoy the new events written for her, hopefully they keep their quality throughout. Social links seem to have the same problem as the original ones for the most part (agree with people to make them like you) but whatever. There’s one thing that’s bothering me and that’s lack of audio settings - the sound effects (especially crit hits) during combat tend to be slightly louder than everything else and quickly become rather grating to hear. All in all, it’s pretty fun so far. While I don’t expect much differences in terms of the main story I’m curious where the rest of the writing ends up.
Project Wingman
I’ve decided to take another stab at playing this thing in VR. My initial attempt was a bit weird as even though my PC is close to being bare minimum to run the thing in VR it didn’t seem to use all of the available resources during gameplay. After some searching I found multiple claims that VR performance got kinda wrecked with the release of patch 2.0 so I decided to give the old version a shot. Boy was it worth it! Well, kind of. Both performance and hardware utilisation are definitely better, giving the speed and smoothness I didn’t see during my previous session. It’s super fun to play and gives me hope I might be able to finish the campaign before I finally manage to upgrade my PC. It’s also has a functional menu controls in VR unlike the 2.0 version.
It’s really fun and being able to look around makes planning your moves way easier (I should look into non-VR head tracking for my normal playthrough). At the same time, 1.0 is 1.0. The anniversary update brought with it various improvements, including: better control of cloud settings, visual improvements to stages and updated HUD. It’s also the only version of the game you can play the DLC with which is unfortunate since I really want to play the “Express Lane” in VR. It’s an acceptable compromise overall but far from ideal way to experience the game. Oh well…Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
I honestly didn’t expect to play this game any time soon due to price but it’s currently 90% off (or 84% directly on Steam) so I decided to take this opportunity and compare it with Project Wingman while it’s still fresh in my mind. I haven’t played much yet (only 5 missions so far) so I’ll stick to first impressions, with more thought out writeup probably next week. Here are the things that stood out the most so far: - Not being able to rebind HOTAS controls in game is a terrible choice and whoever decided on that should feel bad. It can be done by editing an ini file but that shouldn’t be necessary in this day and age. Also, no mouse support for menus - seriously? - Speed control doesn’t feel right yet, I’m sure I’ll get used to it though. - Flares are so limited you might as well not have them. Not that they’re as necessary as in PW but still. - Not yet sold on voice acting, prefer Project Wingman on that front so far. It feels a bit too… clinical (or slightly less natural), I guess? - I have similar feelings towards writing in general. It feels a bit too sterile, corporate and unnatural, with lots of “lordumpy” narration. Not the worst thing ever but it’s definitely noticeable. - Game looks great, more dynamic elements in the cockpit are always a plus. - The idea of music fading out when flying through clouds is cool but gets annoying really fast. Decent way to push people away from flying into them, I guess. - I’m playing on hard but it’s not particularly challenging so far. I hope things pick up or there’s an unlockable higher difficulty after completing the game. All in all, I think PW is a better game for me at the moment - not because AC7 is bad, but rather because it’s a bit more “safe” in comparison. I still like it and hope to warm up to it as I play but so far it kinda makes me want to go back to PW, not gonna lie.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks ago:
If they keep insisting that having two protagonists is too expensive despite having multiple successful franchises behind their belt then I wish they just went all in and made a Persona game with female protag instead - it’s been 25 years since P2!
At the same time I kinda dread what they would do with her to be honest. Atlus still has some issues with how they use their female characters so we could end up with some… let’s call them “problematic” events. They would also have to rethink some of their social links (can you imagine the reception of gendebent Kawakami scenario?). I’d still take that chance at this point though.
- Comment on [DISC] The Big Bees - Ch. 133 - 134 2 weeks ago:
Site doesn’t properly link between 133 and 134 at the moment so here’s a direct link to ch. 134.
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks ago:
I’m progressing pretty slowly at the moment but I really like Kotone. I enjoy her cheerful front mixed with less happy emotions bubbling beneath and expect (or at least hope) for this to progress with the story. I also like that she can be played as a weirdo.
Her new events are pretty fun though they suffer from the same issue as the original route, i.e. you have to agree with people make the most of social links. I’m used to it from the first playthrough so it’s not a huge deal.
The biggest surprise so far was Saori’s (health committee) social link as that’s not something I expected to see in the game and I’m really curious where it goes.As mentioned in my previous post, I’m really glad I’m playing this as NG+ since it allows me to focus on the differences which are mostly present in writing. I like it.
That’s pretty much all I have for now. I’ll be making more posts as I progress with the game with possible longer write up at the end if I have some time (and enough thoughts for that). Playing this route makes me even more annoyed Atlus for not bothering with including it in P3 Reload but they famously hate money so it’s not like one can expect much from them on that front.
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- Comment on New article says #StarCitizen will release in 2027-2028, we contacted the author to ask for clarification on the source and he quoted Chris Roberts himself as saying "1 or 2 Y probably after S42" 3 weeks ago:
I think Chris should just go back to… well, whatever he’s doing these days and not talk to the press until either of the games finally releases. There were so many promises, dates and pledges that nothing he says has any value at this point. Not to mention the delusions in some of the things he says here.
Let the games do the talking and just watch from sidelines until then, please.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 3 weeks ago:
Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight / Persona 4 Dancing All-Night
I haven’t played much of P3D before so now that I have some fresh experience with both it and P4D I can safely say the latter is a better game - whether in terms of gameplay, beatmaps or soundtrack, P3D feels a bit less “inspired”, I guess. It’s kinda unfortunate as P3 is my favourite game in the series (I haven’t played 1 or 2 yet) but whatever, the important part is to have fun. I’m slowly getting back in the groove. No full perfects yet but full combos are back on the menu and that’s exactly what I aim for.
Persona 3 Portable
Playing both dancing games made me go back to my unfinished pink playthrough of P3P. I haven’t touched it since… last year (I think?) due to mind goblins messing with my focus when playing RPGs at the time but I still want to see how things play out from the alternative perspective. I don’t have much to write about this one at the moment as I’m still in the early parts (just got Akihiko a few in-game days prior) but I have to drop a hot take nonetheless - I really wish these games had no time limit. I understand why it’s there and that it’s important from the narrative perspective but it’s a mechanic I never really enjoyed in games (Persona or otherwise). Now that I got to experience a Persona title without one (P5X gacha), it made these feelings even stronger. At least I’m playing on the easy mode (NG+) so I can skip most of the grind and focus on what I’m interested in (social elements). I’m really curious about the new stuff.
- Submitted 4 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 0 comments
- Comment on Unbeatable | Official Release Date Trailer (Nov 6) 4 weeks ago:
Man, I’ve been waiting for this since the [white label] demo four years ago. Can’t believe it’s almost finally here. AND it had an updated demo all this time?! I know what I’m doing tonight.
- Comment on Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2025, Week 34] 4 weeks ago:
I’ve got a few villainess manhwa updates today with a decent amount of whining, beware.
The S-Class Lady / The S-Class Hunter Doesn’t Want to Be a Villainous Princess
Season 2 concluded. Despite not liking this series as much as I do Beware the Villainess! there’s something here that keeps me coming back. It does a good job at using an overpowered character with tons of experience while still providing at least some challenges here and there.
Now the wait (and pain) begins…
Hero Killer
I’m honestly just reading this through inertia at this point. I pretty much checked out of the main story and just want to see when and how things end.
It has an interesting concept but power levels, danger and stakes rise so much in an extremely short amount of time that it’s really difficult to keep invested. It’s cool and funny at times at least, I guess.
A Handbook for Villainess
Kinda similar situation to HK - not the power levels and all that but rather, it kinda meandered into a plot I don’t really care about any more. I’ll give it a few more chapters and then decide whether I want to stick with it much longer.
Villains Are Destined to Die
I really hope this story isn’t going where I think it is. MC reaction to recent revelations gives me hope they’re no going to go the full forgiveness route but there’s a tinge of doubt hiding in the back of my mind.
Other than that it’s still a pretty enjoyable story, sucks I can’t binge it though.
Mistaken for a Wicked Woman!
I’m really don’t know how I feel about this one. On one hand it has plenty of fun moments that make me want to read the moment new chapter drops, on the other, I don’t feel much attachment or the usual lack of patience as I do with other titles I actively like. It’s a weird situation.
Isn’t being a Wicked Woman Much Better?
Once again not my favourite series but with this one I do actually actively wait for more chapters. It’s pure fun and seeing MC coming up with ways to one up the competition/people trying to screw her over is always a pleasure.
All in all, a bit of a mixed week. I think it’s time to think about dropping some of the less interesting series. But then again, I need something to keep my mind occupied when I’m not working. Decisions, decisions…
- Submitted 4 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 0 comments
- Comment on It's Time We Talked about Disco Elysium, Again - People Make Games 4 weeks ago:
Yeah, it’s a shame they only got one side of the story for this one. I was hoping there’d be a bit more when I wrote my initial comment but they pretty much focused on Argo’s and Dora’s perspective. I understand why (not much new stuff happened in terms of the whole picture, not everyone wanted to talk as can be seen with the limited responses Chris received) but I think waiting a bit longer and seeing how things turned out for everyone involved would be a better idea.
There were some interesting new details there but overall it didn’t really feel like the amount or weight of material worth making another documentary about at this point.
- Comment on It's Time We Talked about Disco Elysium, Again - People Make Games 4 weeks ago:
The first 20 minutes are about acknowledging and discussing the criticism of the original documentary which is a welcome addition. While I didn’t have as many issues with that as some, it wasn’t perfect and it’s good to know that Chris and the team are aware of what could be improved in the future.
It’s a pretty interesting video so far (haven’t finished it yet) and clarifies some things left unsaid in the first one, on top of bringing new topics that came up since. Seems like a really good follow-up.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 5 weeks ago:
Yup! Started playing about two weeks ago, became an instant favourite and now I crave more.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 5 weeks ago:
Project Wingman
I’m almost done with the second playthrough, still having a ton of fun even if it’s not perfect. While I really like Prez, limiting your plane choices to two-seaters can feel really rough in certain missions and I probably won’t be doing that again in the future. It’s unfortunate that all the late-game planes are solo only as stat and load-out differences can make things way easier (or at least more fun). I also took the time to read through all the lore documents available in the game and it only made me more interested in a direct sequel. We have new conflicts against the Federation flaring up around the world, a bunch of global players we haven’t seen yet (Periphery countries, West African Concordat, the European alliance). We could have Federation megacities as mission backdrops in contrast to the more natural and modern environments from this game.
There are some many interesting things they could do with all this world building, it would be a waste to stop here.Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight / Persona 4 Dancing All-Night
I’ve decided to finally set up PS Vita emulation on my Steam Deck and what’s better for that than Persona dancing games? Not like I have many other Vita games but still.
I had to change the graphics API to OpenGL as for some reason both games crashed with Vulkan (didn’t have such problems when testing on desktop), other than that they work great. It’s been years since I last played one of those and boy am I rusty - even basic songs on normal feel overwhelming at times! I just started and should be able to get back into the rhythm soon enough but man, seeing how much I suck now was a bit of a surprise.Umurangi Generation - Macro DLC
Finally got to it and after all this time I feel a bit mixed - both on the DLC and the game overall. I’m still mulling things over so here are the highlights: - DLC keeps the atmosphere of the base game nicely. It’s cool to see how things were before the original stages. - Music is once again pretty great if a little too bombastic compared to what’s happening on the screen. I don’t particularly care for the edgy dolphin in the club stage though. - At times things feel like they were done in an afternoon (not literally but still): - There are once again objects without collisions and plenty of places where you can randomly phase through when walking. - I found a few spots where you can get stuck, sometimes in the open. - Lighting in the club stage feels messed up (everything is super dark except for blown out “lights” that don’t give any… well, light). - The skybox of the first stage looks completely misaligned (maybe this one was intentional, I don’t know - still doesn’t look great). As much as I like this title it kinda depresses me. I’m someone who takes pride in their work and spends a lot of time on even the smallest details so seeing something with this many simple and easily fixable issues being released as a finished product (and a paid one at that!) pains me on a personal level.
I realise this game is intended to exude the grungy “I don’t care” and “everything is screwed” energy but that should not spill into the technical aspects in my opinion. There should be SOME bar of quality there. I’m still glad it was created and had fun with both base game and DLC but man… - Submitted 5 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Comment on Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2025, Week 33] 5 weeks ago:
Nan Hao & Shang Feng
After a little under a year of quiet this series was finally picked up by a new scanlation group. I’m glad to see these idiots again. Not many chapters released so far but it’s a start.
Villains Are Destined to Die
We got a pretty big revelation in the last chapter however I’m not sure how I feel about it. It might lead to something interesting in the future, I guess? Maybe? At the same time I’m don’t know if it even changes anything in the grand scheme of things (doesn’t really feel like it at the moment).
I’ll have to see how things play out in the long run.
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You
Welp, Manager ain’t playing around no more and she’s going to force progress if she has to. Really nice chapter, makes me believe we’re done going in circles with the story. Not that I had a problem with that but it’s a welcome sight nonetheless and a nice gift for all the people who did get tired of the previous pace.
- Submitted 5 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
