So I've been playing this recently...

[Mattias]

Yeah, it does kind of fall off towards the point you do that mission in the jungle temple. I wouldn't say it's the pinnacle of the series, because people love to bring up the Ezio games, but it's often called the last good one.

[BnEl15]

As someone who doesn't entirely hate the rpg trilogy but still prefers the older style, I also want to believe in Mirage. Not expecting something as visually polished as Unity or a story as great as the Ezio saga, but I hope it's a step in the right direction.

[Mattias]

Not expecting something as visually polished as Unity

Wasn't Unity notorious for graphics bugs? Like peoples faces not loading in so you'd only see the mouth and eyes floating in place?

[BnEl15]

Tbf I did play it years after release, when most of the bugs had been patched already. I didn't experience them myself, but I still hear horror stories from the old days once in a while.

Aside from that, the setting, crowd density, and parkour animations (not parkour controls) were peak imo. I also love those unique infiltration/assassination opportunities they introduced there. Really feeds into the assassin fantasy, though it was a bit underutilized. Glad Syndicate expanded on that one, probably the one thing Syndicate did better than Unity.

[Deathhappens]

Wasn't Unity notorious for graphics bugs? Like peoples faces not loading in so you'd only see the mouth and eyes floating in place?

Yup, Unity was the one. Jarring in particular because all previous releases were very polished in terms of quality if nothing else.

[LegalLoliLover]

The thing that made me rage-quit Fate/extra might also make me rage-quit Mugen Souls... Why would anyone think that rock-paper-scissors is fun?

[Deathhappens]

Fate/Extra "guess 6 patterns of rock/paper/scissors/laser" was fun.

[Mattias]

Pokemon is just 10 different overlapping games of Rock Paper Scissors.

[Nikiri]

never finished my 4th playthrough with Rin route (did all servants with Rani), I should resume it someday

[You]

pls don't do this to yourself

[Rafflesiac]

never finished my 4th playthrough with Rin route (did all servants with Rani), I should resume it someday

Based Rani main, I approve.

[LegalLoliLover]

Pokemon is just 10 different overlapping games of Rock Paper Scissors.

But certain Pokemon will only use certain skills, and any given Pokemon only has 4 skills at a time (unless it increased in the newer games). Also, in Pokemon, you can buy max heals.
Oh, level grinding is technically a solution to all those problems.

[rxrx]

I gain new respect for Twice once I beat Extra with Fox. She suck hard.

[Deathhappens]

Naaaaw she ain't that bad. But she's definitely a second or third run chara, you NEED those free predicts to not get rekt against some enemies. And bosses are always a gamble of course.

[pinetree]

TOTK might be Top 3 Zelda, which might be obvious to most people, but I did not like BOTW that much. Pretty much an improvement on every front.

Shrines still suck though, they're better than BOTW but not because of their design, they're just built around a more interesting set of abilities. The only major improvement was making evertide into a type of shrine to replace combat trials.

[Deathhappens]

My main problem with TotK (from what I've heard, I haven't gotten it yet) is that it's just BotW: The Expansion Pack rather than a real new game. And I wasn't all that enamored with BotW to begin with.

[pinetree]

It's really not. It's honestly absurd to claim that, but people have just clung to this argument since the 10min showcase, when it almost made sense.

The game feels completely different in tone, pacing and structure. Dungeon quests have been massively improved (though not as much as I would've liked). There are two new maps, both of which are not as interesting as the main one, but even the main one has a completely different exploring dynamic now that caves exist.

Calling it an expansion is dumb gamer rage. It's a sequel.
I do wish more things had changed, the reuse of soundtracks particularly bother me, but it's a new game for sure.

[Mattias]

To be fair, a lot of modern gamers weren't actually around for expansion packs. All they really know is that there's a game, and a better version of the game with a few extra bells and whistles and double the story. DLC basically erased them from existence 15 years ago.

[WorldForgot]

I like how Shadow of the Erdtree is being referred to as an Expansion.

[Deathhappens]

It's really not. It's honestly absurd to claim that, but people have just clung to this argument since the 10min showcase, when it almost made sense.

The game feels completely different in tone, pacing and structure. Dungeon quests have been massively improved (though not as much as I would've liked). There are two new maps, both of which are not as interesting as the main one, but even the main one has a completely different exploring dynamic now that caves exist.

Calling it an expansion is dumb gamer rage. It's a sequel.
I do wish more things had changed, the reuse of soundtracks particularly bother me, but it's a new game for sure.

Same map, many of the same assets, same core gameplay loop, takes place in the same world and time period? I think the shoe here fits far more than it doesn't.

For what it's worth, Yahtzee at least seems to agree.