Community MetaSteam | August 2019 - The Darqest Place Can Shine With A Mecha-President

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
booknerdhug

I paused I shall seal the heavens at the arc where he is at the Desert Tribe after he raised those Wolves. Didn't get to his other novels yet.
Will check out monarch of Evernight and Misty Rain
Release that Witch is currently my favorite chinese Webnovel and I am at chapter 800. Heard it recently finished. (It also drops HARD on the Webnovel ladder, it was around tenth place for the last year and dropped to 16/17 the last week.
I am also nearly finished with Warlock of the Magus world, featuring a protagonist that has dubious morals.

For western novels I can recommend:

Worm, the webnovel with the biggest and most active fanbase (it has the most fanfiction works of every non-commercial novel and is probably in the top 10% of fanfiction works of all novels), it is 1.7 million words long, has a complete Audio-Book, several youtube analysis series, and the sequel is currently being written.
it is a Superpowers fictional work and our heroine tries to be a hero but becomes a Villain. It is very grimdark and people are not safe.

Mother of Learning, work in Progress (800k words) about a teenage (15) Mage-in-training who goes to his third year at the magical University.
This is not Harry Potter, the cool thing about this novel is: It is Groundhog day for a whole month! He relives the first month of his school year because at the end of the month the City is attacked and he gets struck by a spell, and he isn't alone in the loop.

And I am dropping the Website of "Fel" in here he has 2 massive Series (one the Taerin Kel Saga, (Fantasy) and the Subjugation Universe, which is SciFi. Those novels are massive.

There is also a cool DND self-insert Story about a human with DND knowledge being born into an Orc Tribe: In my times of Trouble which plays some years before the times of trouble and is getting to that date year after year.
Man, there are sooo much self-inserts ^^ One has just to find the good ones.
Ohhhh, didn't know Release That Witch is completed, nice! Just checked and I left at chapter 1329/1498, so ~170 chapters left, yay. I agree, it is extremely, extremely good.
I think in my personal "favorite chinese novel rankings" (which I just came up with :p) it's on the top alongside Way of Choices.
Then it's followed by Er Gen novels and while I haven't read a completed novel of him yet, I think right now I'd also rank Misty Rain's novels here.

I've read 400-something chapters of Warlock, but it wasn't really my cup of tea, I think. Leylin's cold and calculating personality was interesting though.

For real tho, I love Way of Choices' prose so much. It's so flowery, yet sharp (does that make sense?).
With a boom, the stream water was jolted several hundred zhang into the air and then fell back down like rain. The cliffs of the mountain path and the grass fiercely shook, with muffled booms ringing out nonstop. The yellow, lantern-like persimmons on the trees fell one by one. Whether ripe or unripe, they all fell to the ground and were pulped into paste. Just like the corpses and flesh by the stream bank.
And I really like this scene, which is even better with context, but it should be interesting without as well (spoilerd because it's a bit longer):
After some time, Luo Bu turned to Chen Changsheng and asked, "Do you also have a girl that you like?"

Chen Changsheng nodded and said, "I do, but I haven't met her in a while."

Luo Bu appeared very interested, asking, "She likes you?"

Chen Changsheng felt rather embarrassed as he softly grunted in affirmation.

Luo Bu slightly arched his brow and asked, "If you have a lover, why aren't you seeing her?"

It was clear that he did not approve of Chen Changsheng's way of doing things.

To him, the most difficult part was developing affection, but since they were already lovers, they had to always stay together. It was not allowed for them to separate.

Chen Changsheng thought this question over, then said, "It's not convenient to meet, and also…she has a few rather important things to do."

Luo Bu said no more. Taking a large gulp from the wine pot held in his fingers, he muttered, "Mutual affection…just what sort of feeling is that?"

Chen Changsheng did not hear this clearly and asked, "What?"

"Nothing, just drunken ramblings."

Luo Bu gazed towards the plains at the end of the stream, seemingly seeing that peak which was shrouded in clouds throughout the year, and a faint sadness tinged his face.

From his first glance upon waking, the Luo Bu in Chen Changsheng's eyes had always been elegant and yet indifferent, downtrodden but not unruly. However, he had never once seen Luo Bu like this.

This was a very faint sadness, yet his lush beard was unable to conceal it. Why did his young face appear so ravaged by time?

He truly wished to know Luo Bu's story, to know just what he had experienced.

"I'm a person without a story." Luo Bu very quickly broke out of this mood and offered the wine pot to Chen Changsheng as he indifferently continued, "Because I've lived too smooth a life. Other than a small trouble when I was small, I received everything that I wished for."

Chen Changsheng thought inwardly, then why are you so sad?

"But there are many things in this world that have no relation to your own efforts, like the love between man and woman, or great matters that decide life or death. No matter how much you struggle or grow, you can never be sure of victory, as these two relationships require a response."

Luo Bu pointed at the numberless stars above and said, "You can say to the starry sky that you don't want to go back, but the starry sky won't answer you. You will grow old, and then die. You can say to a girl 'I love you', but even if you're the best of the best, she just doesn't like you, but what can you do?"

The starry sky and girls would only quietly look back at the viewer, perhaps with pity or sympathy, but when would they ever change their mind?

A starry sky that could randomly change its hue, shape, and rules only existed in the oil paintings of Xuelao City.

Those girls who would implore or strive to be the girl that one loved might also be good girls, but regretfully, they were not the girl that he loved.

'But what can you do?'

This flatly-said question filled Chen Changsheng with a deep anguish.

Perhaps it was because he had once prayed to those infinite stars above to pardon his life.

He somewhat clumsily patted Luo Bu on the shoulder. He wanted to comfort him, but didn't know what to say.

The countless stars twinkled above.

The girl was in the distant south.

Thankfully, he said nothing.
I'll need to check out those others as well, I've heard Mother of Learning mentioned multiple times now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kyougar

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
5,461
8,524
113
Don't like the art too much but the actual gameplay looks really promising in a Jet Set Radio style none of the other wannabes seem to get. Check the youtube channel for much nicer raw gameplay footage than the trailer which I don't find that great personally.


 
Last edited:

Mivey

MetaMember
Sep 20, 2018
3,961
11,269
113
Hmm, seems I don't qualify for the GMG VIP thingie, which is weird since I remember that I used to get the higher discounts when you logged in (or put it on your cart anyway)
Did GMG recently up the requirements needed to be a "VIP"?
 

teezzy

formerly 'deftones r cool'
Apr 19, 2019
540
1,053
93
I am at a point where normal 40k to 100k word novels don't interest me anymore unless they are part of a Series. I continuously read novels that are 500k to several million words long (currently reading the ongoing webnovel "the wandering Inn" who is shy of 4 million words). When I browse sites like fanfiction, webnovel or fictionpress, I don't even read the blurbs if they are lower than 200k words.
That's interesting. Page count is apparent, but judging a book by its word count seems very niche. Even as an avid reader, thicker novels intimidate me (looking at you Dostoyevsky) - but that's a more page count issue. I always hope "Boy, I hope I don't get a craving to start a new novel halfway through." Happens to me all the time with games as well, especially since my favorite genre is RPGs. Nevertheless, good writing and storytelling can be had no matter the length of a book.

You must read digital though - eh?
 
Last edited:

Kyougar

No reviews, no Buy
Nov 2, 2018
3,127
11,243
113
That's interesting. Page count is apparent, but judging a book by its word count seems very niche. Even as an avid reader, thicker novels intimidate me (looking at you Dostoyevsky, Pynchon) - but that's a more page count issue. I always hope "Boy, I hope I don't get a craving to start a new novel halfway through." Happens to me all the time with games as well, especially since my favorite genre is RPGs. Nevertheless, good writing and storytelling can be had no matter the length of a book.

You must read digital though - eh?
Digital for non-commercial and kindle for commercial novels.

I am not a fan of the three-act structure of Novels (anymore). If I can see what the end will be or be about in the first 10 or 20% of the novel, it drains all the fun out of a story.
I want to immerse myself into the world, I want to get surprised, I want new storylines to interweave with the previous one before the previous one concluded. Stuff like Song of Ice and Fire, Armageddon cycle, Night's Dawn cycle, Malazan, etc.

I also don't play short videogames. They (books and games) could be the best stuff since sliced bread, if I feel down because it ENDED too soon, nothing was gained.
 
  • Like
Reactions: teezzy

Hektor

Autobahnraser
Nov 1, 2018
5,682
15,493
113
I used to be a huuuuge Perry Rhodan fan growing up, but i just can't read these kinda novels anymore.

My reading nowadays is limited to Classics, non-fiction and novels that are short and get to the point like Extension du domaine de la lutte.
The more pages a book has the less likely i am to read it too.
Basically, a good book is one that i can finish within a week, solely at work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 「Echo」

Derrick01

MetaMember
Oct 6, 2018
1,037
3,129
113
More adventures in Metro Exodus.

I spent over an hour in a slave ship trying to stealth through it. Each time I restarted a quick save due to being spotted the game would reload with all the lights turned on, despite the fuse box showing that I turned it off, which was real fun when I happened to save where a light was. After fighting through that BS and a couple more crashes I made it to a door and it was one of those forced fight sequences, against a tank-type enemy too who would 2 shot me before I could even find cover half the time.

I came real close to giving up on the game after all that. There's just too much BS attached to this game. Not to mention it doesn't tell you anything despite having so many hidden objectives and morality moments. Didn't know you're not allowed to kill slaves who sometimes mix in with regular enemies and shoot at you (and there's no easy way to tell who's who) because doing so affects a big moment? Too bad for you. There's a lot of things like that in the 2 open world maps I've been to and unless you use some kind of guide the requirements are almost impossible to fulfill on your own, because you have no idea what to do.
 

MonthOLDpickle

我會打敗你!!
Oct 31, 2018
1,579
1,919
113
Taiwan
Don't like the art too much but the actual gameplay looks really promising in a Jet Set Radio style none of the other wannabes seem to get. Check the youtube channel for much nicer raw gameplay footage than the trailer which I don't find that great personally.

What exactly is there to download? It is a clickable link for me >.>


 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman

Amzin

No one beats me 17 times in a row!
Dec 5, 2018
1,001
2,110
113
I've played a bunch of Slay the Spire since getting the Humble key, and I have to say... I don't think it's the best deck building adventure roguelike I've played, and I've played 2 :p I played Neoverse first, and put more hours into it, but I've got some kind of handle on both games and have only a few unlocks left in StS yet.

StS leans way more into the RNG side of roguelikes, I think, way too much for my taste for that kind of game. The smaller mana pool combined with more limited access to relics (and way more RNG in regards to what relics you get) overall really make it feel like you have limited decision making power. Neoverse uses a skill "grid" instead of relics, and you earn / buy skill points to unlock the skills you want (the selection of which is RNG but you can see all of them) and the edge ones are the most powerful and require unlocking the line of related skills to get them, but even the most powerful skills don't really define the decks, they just enhance or shore up weaknesses. You can also shop in between each encounter and refresh the shop (for gold), upgrading and removing cards is still encounter-based. There's also special things you can do in combat to try and gain an extra advantage, like precision kills and parries, which StS doesn't have.

So, StS is fine, and fun, and well designed, but it's a roguelike first and deck builder second to me. Neoverse is a deck builder first, roguelike second. Neoverse looks like a waifu clone at first blush but it's just the 3 classes that are waifus, the rest of the art and setting is some weird sci-fi / fantasy hybrid thingy that I like well enough. I know StS has the custom mode which a lot of people say is more fun than the main part, but I believe you need to do the main part to unlock things? Regardless, I'll give it a shot at some point.
 

PC-tan

Low Tier Weeb
Jan 19, 2019
3,499
5,719
113
28
California
Gamewise the two games that I am currently playing through are FE 3H and Team Fortress 2. Both of which are good games by the way
 
  • Like
Reactions: MJunioR

BlackRainbowFT

Mouse Accelerated Member
Apr 17, 2019
505
1,164
93
38
Switzerland
I was pissing and moaning about the lack of good third-person single players games (or first-person, for all that it matters). And booted up Arkham Knight just to goof around and realized I had done NONE of the season pass content I had purchased on day one. I had just shelved the game once I 100%-ed it.

I'm willing to bet that there's quite a few people in here who've done the same!

For what it's worth I was really surprised by the quality of the DLCs. Some are way too short and uninteresting, plopping you in a series of disjointed maps and throwing hordes of enemies at you... but some of them are really well done, bringing some character storylines to a closure... even featuring new environments and quality voice acting.

(I was surprised how quickly I managed to get back into the groove... probably because of how intuitive the controls are and the fact that I played every single Arkham game to completion... it's a bit like playing a Tony Hawk's game... it's now part of my DNA)

Edit: I guess I'm really looking forward to Rocksteady Studio's next game. Let's hope it won't feature any of that GaaS nonsense (I know it will...).
 

Dandy

Bad at Games.
Apr 17, 2019
1,515
3,753
113
I was pissing and moaning about the lack of good third-person single players games (or first-person, for all that it matters). And booted up Arkham Knight just to goof around and realized I had done NONE of the season pass content I had purchased on day one. I had just shelved the game once I 100%-ed it.

I'm willing to bet that there's quite a few people in here who've done the same!
I did the same thing with Assassin's Creed Odyssey. I bought the edition with the season pass at launch, and haven't gone back since I finished the main stories.
 

derExperte

MetaMember
Dec 9, 2018
1,890
5,443
113

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
I've played a bunch of Slay the Spire since getting the Humble key, and I have to say... I don't think it's the best deck building adventure roguelike I've played, and I've played 2 :p I played Neoverse first, and put more hours into it, but I've got some kind of handle on both games and have only a few unlocks left in StS yet.

StS leans way more into the RNG side of roguelikes, I think, way too much for my taste for that kind of game. The smaller mana pool combined with more limited access to relics (and way more RNG in regards to what relics you get) overall really make it feel like you have limited decision making power. Neoverse uses a skill "grid" instead of relics, and you earn / buy skill points to unlock the skills you want (the selection of which is RNG but you can see all of them) and the edge ones are the most powerful and require unlocking the line of related skills to get them, but even the most powerful skills don't really define the decks, they just enhance or shore up weaknesses. You can also shop in between each encounter and refresh the shop (for gold), upgrading and removing cards is still encounter-based. There's also special things you can do in combat to try and gain an extra advantage, like precision kills and parries, which StS doesn't have.

So, StS is fine, and fun, and well designed, but it's a roguelike first and deck builder second to me. Neoverse is a deck builder first, roguelike second. Neoverse looks like a waifu clone at first blush but it's just the 3 classes that are waifus, the rest of the art and setting is some weird sci-fi / fantasy hybrid thingy that I like well enough. I know StS has the custom mode which a lot of people say is more fun than the main part, but I believe you need to do the main part to unlock things? Regardless, I'll give it a shot at some point.
I'm still in inner conflict on whether to get the Monthly for StS or not.
I really like card games but I really don't like roguelikes, so I'm a bit torn, lol.
On the other hand it has a Nier Automata mod, sooooo... :face-with-cold-sweat:
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,704
15,601
113
Would you say it's interesting to play XCOM Enemy Unkown without Enemy Within ? I mean do the DLC makes the game different enough to make it a different enough experience or should I just install the full enchilada ?
I played XCOM years ago and it never clicked, but I'm a huge fan of the original. Still interested in playing the second one so I might as well try another run.
 

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
3,506
5,542
113
Toronto
Don't like the art too much but the actual gameplay looks really promising in a Jet Set Radio style none of the other wannabes seem to get. Check the youtube channel for much nicer raw gameplay footage than the trailer which I don't find that great personally.


Will give the demo a shot because I agree, that trailer does a poor job selling the gameplay
 

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
I'd like to give a shout out to Wish Project

The art is pretty bad, the story is nonsensical, but gameplay-wise it's actually a really nice shmup in the Touhou style. And unlike actual Touhou games, it has coop! That's pretty much the reason I got it yesterday.

What's noteworthy is that the "normal" mode in this is significantly easier than in most stylistically similar games, primarily because you get a regenerating 1-hit shield, which makes the game much more forgiving of occasional stupid mistakes. In fact, we 1CC'ed it on normal on our first try yesterday and we're not particularly great at shmups. Of course, "Hard" is much harder, and there's another difficulty beyond that.

There's a nice selection of characters with distinct mechanics, and the level and boss patterns are diverse and well designed.

Anyway, at 2€, if any of this sounds appealing to you you really can't do too much wrong.
 

Dragon1893

MetaMember
Apr 17, 2019
1,493
3,652
113
More adventures in Metro Exodus.

I spent over an hour in a slave ship trying to stealth through it. Each time I restarted a quick save due to being spotted the game would reload with all the lights turned on, despite the fuse box showing that I turned it off, which was real fun when I happened to save where a light was. After fighting through that BS and a couple more crashes I made it to a door and it was one of those forced fight sequences, against a tank-type enemy too who would 2 shot me before I could even find cover half the time.

I came real close to giving up on the game after all that. There's just too much BS attached to this game. Not to mention it doesn't tell you anything despite having so many hidden objectives and morality moments. Didn't know you're not allowed to kill slaves who sometimes mix in with regular enemies and shoot at you (and there's no easy way to tell who's who) because doing so affects a big moment? Too bad for you. There's a lot of things like that in the 2 open world maps I've been to and unless you use some kind of guide the requirements are almost impossible to fulfill on your own, because you have no idea what to do.
Man, the first 2 games are among my favorite FPS campaigns ever, reading your impressions has been a real disappointment. I had high hopes for the game.

Would you say it's interesting to play XCOM Enemy Unkown without Enemy Within ? I mean do the DLC makes the game different enough to make it a different enough experience or should I just install the full enchilada ?
I played XCOM years ago and it never clicked, but I'm a huge fan of the original. Still interested in playing the second one so I might as well try another run.
It introduces some significant changes, yeah. I thought vanilla was already great though. It's a great excuse to replay the game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Li Kao

Joe Spangle

Playing....
Apr 17, 2019
2,417
8,223
113
Would you say it's interesting to play XCOM Enemy Unkown without Enemy Within ? I mean do the DLC makes the game different enough to make it a different enough experience or should I just install the full enchilada ?
I played XCOM years ago and it never clicked, but I'm a huge fan of the original. Still interested in playing the second one so I might as well try another run.
You dont need the DLC but it does add a good amount to the base game. There are some extra missions which are pretty good.

I would recommend going for XCOM2 though with all the DLC, they improved a lot of the game over the first one and its a much better experience. The DLC adds some cool scripted missions and its probably one of my top 5 games from the last 10 years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Li Kao

Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
2,437
5,998
113
I'd like to give a shout out to Wish Project

The art is pretty bad, the story is nonsensical, but gameplay-wise it's actually a really nice shmup in the Touhou style. And unlike actual Touhou games, it has coop! That's pretty much the reason I got it yesterday.

What's noteworthy is that the "normal" mode in this is significantly easier than in most stylistically similar games, primarily because you get a regenerating 1-hit shield, which makes the game much more forgiving of occasional stupid mistakes. In fact, we 1CC'ed it on normal on our first try yesterday and we're not particularly great at shmups. Of course, "Hard" is much harder, and there's another difficulty beyond that.

There's a nice selection of characters with distinct mechanics, and the level and boss patterns are diverse and well designed.

Anyway, at 2€, if any of this sounds appealing to you you really can't do too much wrong.
Hate when devs do that, what year is it, 2015?
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman

Alexandros

Every game should be turn based
Nov 4, 2018
2,669
11,485
113
Would you say it's interesting to play XCOM Enemy Unkown without Enemy Within ? I mean do the DLC makes the game different enough to make it a different enough experience or should I just install the full enchilada ?
I played XCOM years ago and it never clicked, but I'm a huge fan of the original. Still interested in playing the second one so I might as well try another run.
Unlike the XCOM 2 DLC (War of the Chosen) which is absolutely essential to the game because it massively improves it, Enemy Within provides more stuff but nothing that is an absolute must have. To be honest I prefer the original version of the first XCOM.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Li Kao

RionaaM

Vogon Poetry Appreciator
Sep 6, 2018
887
2,187
93
It's $30 here vs $35 in US. Still terrible pricing, although a little less terrible than before. I guess they won't be selling much in Latin America, and they would deserve to lose those sales.
 

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
I played some Dangitgranpa and it was nice.
Certainly really stylish and the weird minigame-ness of the trial is interestingly weird. I flunked the first Bullet Time Battle tho because I didn't understand the instructions immediately. That was a bit annoying.
It also took it's sweet time to "get going" :p It's stylish tho.

Also gave Guilty Gear Xrd a spin and I immediately got reminded how much I suck at fighting games. :face-with-cold-sweat: I'm not even done with the tutorials and already have trouble, lol. I can't for the live of me pull of those "Z-moves" reliably.
But the game looks awesome.
 

Dragon1893

MetaMember
Apr 17, 2019
1,493
3,652
113
Unlike the XCOM 2 DLC (War of the Chosen) which is absolutely essential to the game because it massively improves it, Enemy Within provides more stuff but nothing that is an absolute must have. To be honest I prefer the original version of the first XCOM.
I need to grab WotC some day, only played vanilla.

Playing Arkham Knight after completing Origins.

Such a good looking detailed game. Its my favourite Batman game i think. Runs very well now. Loads to do. I love gliding around the city stumbling upon things to do.

Im Batman.
Another game I've been meaning to play since forever...
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
7,276
12,381
113
I'm sure Dishonoured looked better than that for me...I'll have to dig out some screens and check though.
It's been a while.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tizoc

Hektor

Autobahnraser
Nov 1, 2018
5,682
15,493
113
I played some Dangitgranpa and it was nice.
Certainly really stylish and the weird minigame-ness of the trial is interestingly weird. I flunked the first Bullet Time Battle tho because I didn't understand the instructions immediately. That was a bit annoying.
It also took it's sweet time to "get going" :p It's stylish tho.

Also gave Guilty Gear Xrd a spin and I immediately got reminded how much I suck at fighting games. :face-with-cold-sweat: I'm not even done with the tutorials and already have trouble, lol. I can't for the live of me pull of those "Z-moves" reliably.
But the game looks awesome.
You haven't even finished Zero Escape yet and you're already starting Danganronpa?
Your mind isn't going to survive this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Arsene and Tizoc
Status
Not open for further replies.