From everything I’ve read, most of the “devs” haven’t done any actual work on the game past the initial brainstorming session. The “demo” video shown was just a mock-up.

I mean I’m not surprised since everything relating to the Amico seems to be lies and vaporware, but it’s still disappointing.

Who would’ve thought that making your product more readily available would increase sales? That’s so much more counterintuitive than “double down on NFTs and release schedules that require knowledge of calculus to figure out.”

If you want to bypass grinding entirely then you’d need something like that, but it might trivialize certain parts of the game. Won’t trivialize all of it though since several of the key fights rely on strategy.

Yeah, you do have to grind a bit. Nowhere near as much as some games (looking at you, basically every Final Fantasy game) but the leveling is designed around you doing some extra fights for XP. Every new area generally has a “grind spot” that is moderately to incredibly obvious, typically some grouping of enemies that are enough to fight but not enough to overwhelm you, placed within reasonable walking distance of a bed, hotel, or other way to refill your HP/MP for cheap/free.

For the first town, before you take on the punks roaming the streets you should get some levels fighting crows, dogs, and snakes up near your house. Once you can kill them in two turns or less head into town and try taking on a single punk. If you survive that fight without being nearly dead, keep fighting punks. If you almost die, go heal up and farm a little more. And if you DO die… well you only lose half the money you have on you, so as long as you keep most of it in the ATM you haven’t lost much of anything.

EarthBound was the first JRPG I ever completed and the first JRPG I ever enjoyed. Before it I’d never been able to get into JRPGs: there was just too much complexity while also having too little going on. Wandering an overworld only to be randomly pulled out of it for no apparent reason was maddening. As a kid, trying to piece together the backstory of some undefined thoroughly detailed fantasy world while also taking in the emerging plot in the opening sequence wasn’t anywhere near as appealing as firing up Mario or Mega Man and getting straight to the action.

EarthBound neatly sidestepped all of the things that had stopped me from liking JRPGs. The equipment system was simple without being braindead. The setting was a pastiche of suburban life that I could easily understand. The stakes were high but the tone was still whimsical and amusing. And above all I knew why I was suddenly getting dragged into battle with a snake or a crow or a dog instead of just being clotheslined by combat.

EarthBound still is my go-to recommendation in the (increasingly unlikely) event that someone says “I’ve always wanted to get into JRPGs, what should I start with?” It is the perfect “intro to JRPG” game without feeling trivial or like it cannot stand on its own. It singlehandedly made me love the JRPG genre, and I probably would not have played literally every other JRPG I’ve ever played if it wasn’t for EarthBound.

Screw it, go make the actual Starship Troopers game not suck. That thing is in dire need of help.

While 177 countries sounds like a lot, it’s not where the majority of players are. PSN operates in the top 15 countries by GDP and the top 4 by population.

Of course there’s still the question of why they work in so few countries when literally none of their competitors (that I know of) have those limitations.

The scuttlebutt is that they don’t get to make that decision because the PSN mandate is a part of the contract they signed with Sony.

Let 'em frown. You have Cinnamon Toast Vodka now.

Most anticheats don’t have the track record of repeated data breaches that Sony does.

Same boat here. I had no problems making a PSN account because I like the idea of crossplay, but if they were planning to add this requirement back in later they needed to be much more clear about it. Like “gigantic popup every time you load the game if you don’t have a PSN account” clear, especially with PSN not being available in certain countries.

There’s also the larger question of why this is required. Clearly the game works just fine without it. Whatever the reason is, it’s not for the benefit of the players.

I’m actually really surprised that Valve is loosening up on this one. They usually play hardball when it comes to refunding a game past the 2 hour mark.

They make exceptions when a game has major issues or implements some significant change that dramatically alters the availability of the product. No Man’s Sky, Starfield, and Cyberpunk 2077 all could be refunded outside the 2 hour window - at least for some people. And of course everyone who bought The Day Before was refunded entirely.

I expect they’ll be allowing refunds for anyone in a country where PSN does not operate at a minimum. It’s really hard to argue that the game is still playable when the required service is not available in your home country.

Local safety regulations require a breathalyzer test before you’re allowed upstairs.

Naw he’s off at RenFaire.

I’m not predicting a Fallout-tier adaptation here, but as long as I get a few giggles then go on Comedy Central.

Seconding NewPipe. It’s the easiest to get set up, and once you get it set up you basically never have to touch it again.

YouTube Revanced is more user friendly and has more features once it’s set up, but the install process is more involved and updating it essentially requires you to redo the install process again. It’s nothing crazy, but NewPipe is the “set it and forget it” option IMO.

Try to see if there are any that do that little Javascript-evaluation-to-render-the-client-side-site thing, and if there are, have them mine cryptocurrency for you.

Using your evil powers for good I see.

They have free coffee and croissants in the mornings and their chairs are decadently plush.

You say, I feel that, and yet every time another poll about the economy comes out its like I live in a different universe entirely.

The upcoming Fallout series on Amazon Prime. This is a screencap taken from one of the most recent trailers.