My work is in the process of hiring someone to replace me since I’m headed to a new job. After a recent interview, a co-worker on the hiring committee made a comment on Teams, “His age seems OK.”
Uhhh, maybe we shouldn’t be talking about age in hiring decisions. Especially on a written medium. Pretty sure that in the US, age discrimination laws starts at like 40yo, including hiring and firing. That interviewee seemed to be over 40yo, which is probably what prompted that comment.
Not that I think the candidate will sue us if we don’t hire him, but it’s just unnecessary risk. And I don’t even work in HR or legal; rather I’m in IT. Surprised HR didn’t say anything about that comment.
I’ve been working through a replay of all the original mainline Ace Attorney games, via the trilogies on Steam. Played these all on DS/3DS back in the day. I just finished Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, and now I’ve started Spirit of Justice, the last game of this second anthology. Love this whole series. Can’t wait for the release of the “Investigations” spin-off games in September!
Otherwise, still playing FFXIV. I started Dawntrail, but I haven’t gotten too far into it. I put a pin the MSQ (Main Scenario Quests) a couple weeks ago and just kinda left it there. I have enough other things to work on. Class/Job leveling, finishing up some Alliance Raids/Normal Raids from Endwalker, trying to suck less while healing on Sage, and whatever else side stuff I find.
I figure that it’s gonna be at least a few months til the next big content update, and at least two years until the next expansion, so what’s the rush? I’ll get back to the MSQ eventually.
Worst controller? Eh, I have controllers I don’t like. N64 controller. Original Xbox controller. Dreamcast controller. But are they the worst? Idk. Maybe I just didn’t have a whole lot of experience with any of those (didn’t own any of those consoles).
Maybe the Wiimote. Like I get the idea, but as a dedicated controller, meh. Same with the Switch Joycon; maybe even more so. I have a Pro controller because the Joycons just don’t cut it. When they’re attached to the Switch, they’re OK, but not as individual controllers.
It’s certainly a fan theory, but that’s not a confirmed thing by any means. The location of the last battles does look the inside of a vagina, looking towards the cervix, but that’s supposedly only a coincidence.
Earthbound was probably the first game I was ever really enamored with. Even today, it’s definitely one of my favorite games ever. And it’s probably the first JRPG I ever played, and it’s what started me down a long path of JRPGs.
My parents got me a subscription to Nintendo Power magazine, and I remember reading about the game there and wanting to play it. They didn’t buy it for me when it came out, but I did rent it from Blockbluster a few times. And they did eventually buy it for me for Christmas. It even came with the strategy guide!
Everything about the game was great. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but it was insanely accessible, even to a then 7-8yo kid like me. JRPGs tend to be darker and complex (though not always). But Earthbound still had complexity, but it wasn’t darker. Yes these kids were having to save the world from destruction, but the story was told in an upbeat, fun way. And it was just the right amount of complexity.
Earthbound is also probably the first game I ever beat. Certainly the first JRPG.
I did try the fan-translation of Mother 3. I didn’t end up finishing it. I got close, but it was far too depressing and different from EB. The game was beautifully done (as was the player-made strategy guide!), but I just couldn’t really get into the story and characters. Just wasn’t for me.
Final Fantasy XIII had Sazh Katzroy. He’s not the main character (that’d be Lightning), but he is an important playable character right from the get-go. He has his own storylines as well.
I picked up Cobalt Core on a whim during this current Steam sale. I don’t really play deckbuilders, but this is a super fun game. It’s a roguelike with heavy FTL vibes. I have yet to get that far in it because…
I’ve been playing tons of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. I bought it during the summer sale on Steam, but only started playing it now. It’s a mystery game similar to the Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney games (probably because it’s made by Shu Takumi, who also made PW/AA), but instead of investigations and court cases, the main gameplay revolves around limited time travel and then trying to make Rube Goldberg machine-style scenarios to prevent people from dying. And some of the challenges are, well, challenging to figure out how things work together and in what order to use or manipulate items. It’s fun.
I’m a pretty hardcore FF fan who bought FF16 Day 1. I enjoyed it enough. Enough that I finished it, when I’ve only finished two other entries: FF6 and FF10. Neither here nor there, but I usually get pretty close to finishing the games…but then take a break, for like years. Yeah, I have a problem.
Anyway, it’s not like 16 was my favorite FF ever. Nor the worst; just middle of the pack.
I don’t play a lot of active battle games; I like FFs and other JRPGs for the traditional turn-based combat, which 16 did not have. But I also get that that’s a niche market these days and consumer tastes change. I actually like that SE has been experimenting with different combat systems over the years in FFs.
Either way, the fighting system was easy enough for a bad like me to enjoy. But I will also say that the game still felt overly simplistic. A lot of big fights had “cutscene fights,” where you had QTEs; simple QTEs where you literally just have to mash X or something.
The accessories/equipment system was super simplified down to weapon and 3 accessories. Of course you should upgrade your weapon, so there’s no customization there. And most of the accessories were worthless, IMO. There were only a few that really stood out so I used those for most of my run.
Even learning the various summons and their powers was basic. Like it seemed like the system was in place to allow people to choose their own combat style, but that also largely meant that once you settled on a style, there was no reason change unless a stronger summon/power for that style came up. I never felt forced to learn and use a specific summon for a certain fights or anything.
In a way, because SE tried to cater to both the JRPG crowd and the non-JRPG crowd, they ended up with a somewhat mediocre game, that disappointed both groups. Again, FF16’s not a bad game, but it’s not great. Like you said, it’s just “meh.”