Today we’re making some technical changes, which is why you won’t be able to comment here or anywhere else after 3:00 p.m. Maybe that’s for the best, because this time it might get a little old-fashioned again. Yes, even more self-pitying than usual – and because I know that, I don’t have to have that rubbed in my face. But let’s see, maybe it won’t be that bad – I rarely know exactly where my thoughts are going to send my fingers while I’m pounding the intro. If you have anything else on your mind, save your comments for Monday when we’re still here.
What else has happened since the last time? Not so lucky. Based on the music tip from episode 42, my almost five-year-old has been working hard on his career as a musical actor for a good three weeks after seeing his first two Disney films (Encanto – good! – and Moiana – super good!). I had no idea how much fun it would be to belt out uplifting, melancholic songs about growing up, about responsibility and young girls’ self-doubt with hairbrush in hand, but that’s the way it is. The children haven’t seemed so relaxed in a long time. Imitation strongly recommended.
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Tactics Ogre, XCOM and why “eye cancer” is the least of Retro’s problems
One or the other will have noticed that I have a subtle weakness for round tactics have. I can’t get it out of me either, since I literally spent the night with Ufo: Enemy Unknown on the Amiga in 1994. Then later on the PlayStation and finally again on the PC. It’s probably my most played game in hours, if you don’t count multiplayer games like Phantasy Star Online, Arma/DayZ or Hunt: Showdown (currently 1060 hours).
As a tactics fan, you’re actually in the enviable position that the games you love age far more slowly than the rest. explained. Although ten years ago with Firaxis’ XCOM reboot I had to praise how much easier a cleverly designed, modern tactical game is to play – without sacrificing depth where it matters – I was “my” Genre for me always like porcelain: too smooth, hard and indigestible for the ravages of time.
But now it’s happened and I think I’ll have more and more problems going back to old classics in the future. How did I notice that? Recently I started Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling together again on my PS Vita because I didn’t like the babble/fight ratio in Triangle Strategy. I have to admit: It wasn’t a complete pleasure, and age is to blame. Both mine and the game’s. Tactics Ogre itself can’t really do much about it. In fact, this is quite a progressive game. In the PSP remake you can go back up to 50 (!) moves and try something different, you can break down the HUD down to the last detail and you can win fights early by eliminating leaders. In general, the possibilities still seem quite modern today. BUT…
… you still regularly make one more click than you would have to in a better interface and you have to look for certain information separately. One gets annoyed about the low chances and yield of hits, actions with little effect in general, or too long paths or too short a range of the heroes on the battlefield. Individual decisions simply carry less weight than in modern tacticians and therefore change little in the course of the game. Not only does this feel unsatisfactory, it also creates a tactical blur from which little can be learned. You’ll find out too late if you’ve gone wrong, such as losing a piece to a long series of blocked or dodged attacks. The battles you wage in Tactics Ogre are static, not very dynamic – and it breaks my heart to see that, especially in contrast to similarly minded titles big and small (from just Triangle Strategy to Fae Tactics). It’s bad game – on the contrary. But it is a child of its time – and that’s why I find it decidedly less fun today.
I shouldn’t be shocked by that, but I still have to skimp on it. It’s not even the first time I’ve noticed this effect. On my last return to Microprose’ actually immortal UFO, I started the second mission without ammunition on a good half of my soldiers – and ended it in a seemingly endless search for the last sectoid. So you can also kill your scarce free time! But seeing that with Tactics Ogre cements the realization that over time I’ll have to cross more and more old favorites off my “must you play again” list. And that hurts a little.
But that’s just how it is with getting older. At some point, “Quality of Life” is no longer only appreciated in games, it is also a symbol of one’s own philistinism beyond the mid-thirties. At some point we are too old for games that waste our time – and to squeeze the most fun out of every single minute is a comparatively young science in this medium. It’s a pity that she has some part in the fact that we now have to take this long farewell to the concept of the timeless classic. But I guess over time I’ll learn to love these games for what they used to be, not for what they are now.
Further notes – week 13/22
With Alex in the rotation:: Luckily I still am Picard– free and have fun with it. Instead, I watched three episodes of Moon Knight in advance and I have to say I’ve rarely been less curious about how a Marvel series will continue. But I already wrote about that. As far as games go, I’ve got a gorgeous 2D title somewhere between Souls and Metroid on the disc right now, which I’m afraid I won’t be able to write about until mid-April. So just this much at this point: I’m already afraid that the preview version will end at some point, I like it so much after two and a half hours. Otherwise, I’m just trying to figure it out Mechajammer is awesome or just pretends to be. Both possible.
Music tip of the week: Arcade Fire – The Lightning I & II Arcade Fire were the band I celebrated like no other in the late noughties to mid 2010s. For me they always struck a wonderfully touching balancing act between melancholy about growing up and the stunned euphoria about the freedom that entails. I only found Reflector brilliant in excerpts, while I still liked exactly two songs at Everything Now 2017. There was a bit of drama, all that familiar warmth giving way to a well-crafted but under-the-top electric rug and a slightly over-the-top penchant for fun fairs and cotton candy. The two new songs that are really just one… I’m not sure what to think of that yet, but I guess I owe it to this band that has shaped me so much to give their new stuff a chance give. So that’s my tip for this week: let’s find out together if we like the new Arcade Fire stuff!
Highlight of the week: My highlight of the last two weeks was on Saturday two weeks ago, so you’re getting that now. More precisely it was the whole saturday: First Dinopark Münchehagen – Fuck yeah! – with my big one, who hitherto treated the beasts with the same disregard as dragons and other fantasy creatures. For me, as someone who thinks nothing cooler than dinosaurs, this has been THE disappointment of my fatherhood so far. I think after the visit he understood it too, because during our visit there he kept saying to himself “so they really were that big”, as if he had to say it to be able to believe it. Shortly before the end, fries with nuggets and a fist-sized Deode with crystals and then head home happy, full and satisfied. Because Sony had brought forward the release of Spider-Man No Way Home (which I had pinched in the cinema due to the pandemic) from Tuesday to Saturday especially for dad. Thanks again for that! The film was quite good, but the anticipation alone was the icing on the cake of this beautiful day.
Center (?!) of the week: Understood, Forza Horizon 5 maybe finally got a progression system that I understand, maybe even navigating the map now and the events that give me the cars I want. Last night I wanted to try it out more, but first I had to find out why my Xbox app wasn’t updating the game. When that was done, the first thing to do was to research why the game only started on a black screen from which there was no escape. When that was done, I was tired and went to bed. Let’s see when I have the time and inclination to give Forza a try next time.
Low point of the week: Very easily: Elden ring – or the fact that I still couldn’t play it properly. It was always either not the right time to get beat up (like yesterday when I had my hands full not playing Forza) or I was up to my neck in the Weird West. There are bigger problems than that, but Elden Ring is the kind of game where you enjoy riding the hypetrain with others that makes an extraordinary event game like this happen to be. To me it seems somehow off the rails and I think that’s a shame.
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