I don't think this is even a hot take. I think you're just objectively correct here. They're not even trying to sound like their own thing in any way and are just a naked, uninspired pastiche of Zep.
Get that easy bag I guess, but I just find them to be pretty soulless and uninteresting. Shame, too, because they seem like talented fellas.
I understand not liking or vibing with them (which is totally cool and good), but I think it's pretty difficult to call them "overvalued" as a whole. It's pretty rare to get a series—especially of video games—that is critically lauded, very commercially successful, and somehow has a massive cult following that has inspired tons of people, both inside and out of the industry. Heck, we got a full-on AAA Star Wars game that cribbed from Soulsborne stuff. That's pretty wild to me.
I think maybe pre-Sekiro I might have agreed with you. Sekiro might have been the turning point for me because that's when it became clear people who never played anything in the genre before wanted to get into it and the conversation around difficulty and accessibility really ramped up. With just how massive Elden Ring was and how much the audience expanded, I think their influence can only grow.
I think in terms of importance in gaming history and personal taste aside, FromSoft's sizable influence on the industry is absolutely undeniable. Check out Iron Pineapple's series where he plays random and recommended SoulsBorne games on Steam if you're curious as to just how far the series has reached. Even with a ton of misses, people have been inspired to make some really cool Soulslike stuff.
Anyways, sorry for the novel. I appreciate your take and hope people are nice to you because "troo fanz" can be super awful.
Yeah, I definitely understand that too. I've just been told to not be an asshole about it. I'll say that in person everyone has been nothing short of welcoming.
The advice I got was to contribute and not just take advantage of the lower prices. I've done some volunteer work and stuff here and want to get more plugged into the mutual aid stuff up here like I was back in San Diego. We chose to live here so I want to help make it a place people want to be, you know?
Lol yeah, even the local baseball team has a hamster as their mascot.
Dude you can visibly see it, too. They're building everywhere up here. I will say under 2k is extremely doable here, though. My partner and I live in a pretty spacious 2 bedroom for 1,600 just a couple minutes from downtown. We came from SD paying hundreds more than that for a much smaller, shittier place.
Like I said elsewhere in this thread, that's going to change quickly, but right now it's okay. I really dig it here, though.
I'm in Bellingham and it's all nature dorks and well-intentioned libs up here. There's definitely some leftist politics visible, but it's definitely pretty standard left-of-dem, West Coast blue. Everyone drives a Subaru and at least actually takes some pride in local culture/community. But, the city definitely takes pride in being quaint and kooky, so if you're trying to get away from normies it's not a bad option. Plus, I know Canada has it's problems, but man having the option to go to Vancouver whenever is pretty sick.
I moved from a big city and it's been a pretty refreshing change, even if it's not perfect. Plus the natural beauty up here is pretty unmatched.
Like Bend or other up and coming cities though, it's gonna grow and get pricier. We moved from San Diego which was just unlivable cost-wise (my partner and I are from there, so kind of bittersweet) and it's waaaay cheaper in a lot of ways. I miss things about it, but we're pretty happy up here right now.
Strong agree with this. I'm lucky enough to be fully remote but if I have days where I need to be head down and get stuff done, going into the office is actually way more productive for me. Plus, I get to see some cool folks.
Honestly, I'm a huge Cixin Liu fan and this movie really didn't do it for me. Definitely was disappointed, especially since the Rememberance of Earth's Past trilogy is incredible. I wanted to love it, but I think I enjoy his written work much more.
This is very much my take as well. As a San Diegan it just feels outright wrong to not buy local since we have every option under the sun here—and by and large they're all very good.
I had never heard of this fool before this post and boy howdy I didn't think you could induce stomach ulcers that fast.
Am Californian, can confirm.
This one blew my fucking mind dude. I figured that was a slam dunk.
I haven't picked up BG3 yet but I plan to when the PS5 version drops. I picked up WotR to mess around with and hold me over until then.
I'm a ways into Act 2 and man, I'm so unbelievably divided on this game. Or, I suppose certain aspects of it. I adore some of the companions and I love PF as a system, but I just feel like I'm doing everything wrong. I've started over like 10 times trying to get a decent build and I read that auto-leveling companions leaves you missing out on some of the best stuff for them. So, I feel stuck because now I feel the need to go back and rework every companion. I'm a lifelong TTRPG player, too, and am very familiar with the system. I'm playing on normal so I'm not even pushing it, really.
Couple that with the crusade management stuff and the game just feels... tedious in certain aspects. I liked the scale and overworld of the first act and expanding it greatly for the rest of the game (except act 4, right?) just makes me worried I'll end up banging my head against a wall before long. Of course, aspects such as pretty efficient inventory management and the fact that skill checks automatically use the party member best suited for it are great and should be standard across these CRPGs. I was surprised to hear the latter didn't make it into BG3.
I suppose the big win here for me, though, is that the games are different enough that I'll probably still come back to WotR. The "crusade" aspect doesn't super work for me as a story hook, but I like the characters enough that I'd want to see some of their stories through. WotR is certainly ambitious, but I think that occasionally gets in the way of my fun.
That all said, great post, and great rec.