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Episode XLIV: Pearl Harbor.jpg) Back at it again at the sidequest train. We’ve got a couple sidequests to clear out the Resistance Camp’s NPC woes and both involve aiding Anemone. Having a mainline quest and a sidequest request back-to-back seems rude to me. But I suppose we’ll just have to deal with it. Let’s head on back to the camp and see what she needs...  Music: Peaceful Sleep (Vocal) .jpg)  I need a favor from you both.  What is it? We’re planning a recon expedition of the forest region. But before we can start, we need someone to head in there and set up a satellite camp. The enemies are tough, and I’d lose a lot of good people if we tried to clear them out. But you two seem like you can handle yourselves, so... Got it. Head to the woods and clear out any enemies. That’s the long and short of it, yes. Thank you. .jpg) Simple new quest: Go beat up some more of the Forest Kingdom. Or... I suppose they’re the Forest Kingdom survivors at this point. 2B and 9S must have done a number on their ranks their first trip through the area. .jpg) Our target isn’t actually the Forest Zone proper (i.e. where the game dropped the zone title card.) It’s actually the buffer region between the mall and the forest. Welp. May as well start heading in that direction. It’s a short job and there’s a couple conversations to trigger along the way. Music: Rays of Light (Medium) .jpg) It’s like they see us as a couple of gofers or something. No complaining about your work. Exchanging information with the Resistance is a vital part of our mission. Besides, being a gofer is safer than being locked in combat all the time. Not dying beats dying any day. Yeah, that’s true..jpg) Onward to the mall. A Goliath Biped decided to spawn outside the main entrance past the bridge. I’m pretty sure it smacked 9S straight off that cliff. Surprised he came back from that like it was no big deal. The real reason we’re on foot is there’s a unique conversation if the androids pass through the mall again. Of which there’s no reason to really do outside of sidequests. .jpg) I bet it was fun to shop back when you had so many choices. We don’t need such things. Don’t be sure about that. Once we eradicate the machine lifeforms, us soldiers won’t have anything left to do. We’ll enter a new age of peace. And when that happens, we should go shopping together! I could buy you... I dunno. A T-shirt, maybe? Something that looks good on you. A T-shirt? What? Not interested? Hmm... When that day comes... I’m all for it. That’s a promise, right?! Yep. It’s a real missed opportunity they didn’t have Emil sell t-shirt alternate outfits for 2B and 9S out of his truck. Music: Forest Kingdom (Dynamic) .jpg) .jpg) This is a very short quest. All we’ve got to do here is clown a group of the same Forest Kingdom knights we’d already mowed through in droves during our .jpg) It doesn’t go well for them. Well, at least they can join their Forest King in the great beyond. Or... getting reset to another robot body downloaded off the alien internet. I’m not really sure how that works. .jpg) After the first batch of knights is defeated, a Leg-Enhanced Goliath Biped joins the melee. So there’s nothing much to add about this battle. But... .jpg) If you want some indication as to how powerful the Bomb Pod Program is on a sample study. A Level 2 charged Bomb fully bombarding the machine took this Goliath Biped from 100% to just hovering around 10% total HP. And remember we’re still missing a Pod and a Level 3 Charge for our Pod Programs. It’s pretty potent. .jpg) The Resistance should be able to set up camp now. Right! Let’s head back and give ‘em the good news..jpg) Back we go. Upon completing this quest the Resistance will indeed pitch some tents and set up an outpost in this area. They’ll even provide a sidequest in the future. ...... Frick... Now we’re just doing sidequest to unlock additional sidequests... This is a mess. Oh well... Back to Anemone to at least close out this one. Music: Peaceful Sleep (Vocal) .jpg) I’ll let you know if we need anything further..jpg) A couple of semi-uncommon materials, a stat boost we’ll never use and “Down-Attack Up” chip. The phrasing of that is kinda unclean. Down-Attacks aren’t 2B’s downward slash. They’re the stunned enemy and hitting the interact button special attacks. You know. The ones I said become a rarity since almost all enemies from about a quarter of the way through the game onward are really resistant to stunning... We won’t be using that chip... .jpg) In any case, that ends the Camp Development sidequest. Simple stuff. However, before we can leave to attend to other additional content adventures, we’re immediately thrust into a follow-up conversation with Anemone. .jpg) Well, not to brag, but we ARE state-of-the-art units. Not like the A2 or those other old mode— A2? Attacker Number 2? You know her? No, not... ...... I’m sorry. Can I ask one more favor of you? Can you give me any information you have on that old A2 YoRHa unit? Anything at all. That’s funny—we’ve been trying to find more information ourselves. Why are you asking? I just... need to be sure about something. .jpg) And so we immediately jump into a new quest from Anemone. So at the end of the day we’re going to have exactly one less total quest available to complete compared to the number available when we started this update. Great... Initially we’re given no direction as to where to search for more info on A2. We’ve got to leave the camp, whether it be on foot or through a teleporter, in order to trigger some notion of where to begin. .jpg) We could check out the energy reactions generated during battles. The fusion reactors of androids and machine lifeforms shut down when they’re destroyed. And we can detect the energy released during the process. We’re the only units doing any combat missions in this area, right? So if we detect any stray energy reactions, it probably means A2 is involved. ...... ...Yeah, okay. We’ve got some readings around the abandoned factory. I’ll put it on the map. .jpg) Great... back to the factory. Anemone seems cool and all, but do we really need to go digging up A2’s past that badly? .jpg) Fine... FINE! Let’s go! Maybe we’ll only need to investigate something at the entrance and not run the entire length of area. Again. Music: Wretched Machinery (Quiet) .jpg) .jpg) That’s A2’s handiwork, I bet. But I’m not picking up any sign of A2 herself. *notices big glowing item next to machine corpse* Hmm... What in the world...?The androids take a closer look. .jpg)  Analysis: It is believed to be a data log related to YoRHa unit A2. What’s the data? The data log has been irreparably damaged. Further analysis is impossible. Why do a bunch of machines have A2’s data? Hey, 2B? I’m picking up other reactions. We should check them out. .jpg) OK. So we’ve collected Data Chip A. Unfortunately... .jpg) ...there is a Data Chip B, C, D and E still somewhere in the factory. And given the factory is entirely just a linear series of corridors, catwalks, and stairways that means... yep. We’re just going to have to run through most of this area again. .jpg) All the enemies in the region are still at their Prologue mission Levels 1-3 so 2B can annihilate most everything in a single hit or two while they literally cannot do more than about 1% damage to 2B’s health. We could just run past most of them without losing anything. But, man they did make machine lifeforms explode in a satisfying fashion... .jpg) But I’ll skip all the filler battles and get to the point. Data Chip B is located next to a dead machine on the southern edge of the factory smelter pits. .jpg) Data Chip C is found in the room where machine lifeforms are being loaded into cargo shipping containers. Hey, YoRHa... have you ever considered just... I dunno. Blowing this place up? Just throwing that out there. Blowing up a few Engels units didn’t really seem to accomplish too much. .jpg) Chip D is on a raised platform along a nondescript catwalk leading towards the outdoors back end of the factory. .jpg) Finally, Data Chip E is on a catwalk on the tower at the far end of the factory. Alright, so they only made us revisit 85% of the area. I’m honestly surprised they didn’t just stick the final chip back where the first Marx unit was fought. I suppose that dead YoRHa deserter claimed that as its sidequest territory. .jpg) Pod, analyze and collate the information from those chips. Analysis complete: Data set contains information about YoRHa unit A2. Collating with data from other chips. Stand by... Collation complete. The contained data is a debriefing report for the Pearl Harbor descent undertaken during the 14th Machine War. No kidding. That operation was carried out by the YoRHa generation that came before us, right? Anyway, mission complete, I suppose. Let’s get back to the Resistance camp. .jpg) Back we go the way we came. At least we opened the shortcuts earlier so we can save a few minutes of commute looping through the twisting scaffolding and walkways of the factory. .jpg) Unfortunately, that time saved is going to be negated by the actual challenge of this sidequest: A bunch of Level 30 Stubby machines of little consequence and a new type of enemy. Meet the .jpg) .jpg) These are probably the rarest standard type machine lifeform configuration. If we see over a dozen of these amongst the several thousand machines we wreck during the course of this game, it’d be a lot. Crab Boys attack by just kind of lunging with their pincers or doing a great wide forward sweep. Honestly, it’s kind of the same move set as Father Servo’s dual-axe medium biped configuration. Just with extra legs. One unique move to them is spinning around like a top and slowly pursing 2B or 9S. This is evaded by just walking at a brisk pace in the opposite direction. .jpg) There’s a reason there’s not a lot of these machines. Those extra legs are a huge waste of resources. Moving right along... .jpg) .jpg) Once we make it to the Factory entrance room, where we found Data Chip A initially, we’re locked in with some Level 30 flying gunners of little note and the gunner configuration of the multi-legged boys. .jpg) .jpg) The gunner crab battle stance mostly involves picking either the orb or laser ammo type and... then spinning. That’s err... that’s kinda it. It uses its extra legs to spin. That’s the best it could come up with for double the feet. It can also fire the orbs/lasers from a stationary position. But where’s the fun in that? A machine with two legs or even just stubby nubs can do that. Shameful. .jpg) .jpg) As soon as we trash the crab machines, we’re free to exit the factory and return back to the Resistance Camp to complete this quest. Let’s give our findings to Anemone and see what she has to say about A2 and her apparent past. Music: ENDS .jpg) That’s... It’s Number 2. It really is her. You know her? YoRHa unit Number 2. She’s an older model, but the same type as you. We... worked together. The Pearl Harbor drop? Yes. The operation itself was a success, but the YoRHa fighters were completely wiped out. Their commander was Number 2... A2. Have you met her? Do you know where she is? Actually, we have orders from the Bunker to... destroy her. What!? She’s a deserter. She also wiped out an entire team that was sent to bring her back. A2...? No... I’m sorry, I... ...... Let’s go, 9S. .jpg) So that business with the Pearl Harbor operation that Anemone and A2 fought in is all in reference to the YoRHa Stage Play. A2 and several other YoRHa members appeared in that all dressed like they were in a J-Pop idol group. As did Anemone and several Resistance members who were splitting the difference between 80s anime punk girls and military cosplay. This being a Yoko Taro story, everyone but A2 on the YoRHa side and Anemone on the Resistance side all died horribly by the end. .jpg) Anemone’s role in the play ended much earlier than A2’s hence why the Resistance leader is surprised to hear A2 is still around. We’ll be hearing more about that backstory in-depth much later in the game when A2 gains an active role in the game’s plot and isn’t a two minute cameo where she barely takes an interest in our protagonists. But that’s for later. As we walk away from Anemone, there’s one final debriefing conversation. .jpg) ...... Some things just aren’t easy to talk about. Especially for a soldier who’s been fighting that long. I guess so. 9S, you... Huh? ...You might understand yourself, someday. Right....jpg) And that concludes today’s session of sidequests. Tune in next time when we go on a field trip for some fresh sea air and go broke in the process as NieR: Automata continues.    Video: Episode 44 Highlight Reel   Multi-Legged Medium Machine Lifeform Concept Art – You think cows still exist somewhere after all these centuries of war?
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Jun 22, 2017 01:29
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Well that last line from 2B sure doesn't seem like Foreshadowing or anything... I guess it's pointless wondering why some random machines in a factory were carrying bits and pieces of a data log related to a Yorha assault from probably centuries ago. 'Pearl Harbor' is an interesting name choice, though. Meanwhile I'm really having to resist looking up more on that stage play.
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Jun 22, 2017 02:12
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It's called the Pearl Harbor descent because it was literally Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
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Jun 22, 2017 02:17
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"We could check out the energy reactions generated during battles. The fusion reactors of androids and machine lifeforms shut down when they’re destroyed. And we can detect the energy released during the process." That seems too useful for derailing the plot. I'm curious if this ever comes up again (no spoilers, please.) or if this is a one-time technobabble thing.
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Jun 22, 2017 02:36
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Tarezax posted:It's called the Pearl Harbor descent because it was literally Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. That answers one question, yet raises so many others.
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Jun 22, 2017 02:42
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DarkId, have you ever watched Re:Zero? I've recently been watching your Drakengard 3 LP and the heroine of that show (Emilia) has an uncanny resemblance to Zero, who also fights against witches and stuff.
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Jun 22, 2017 03:05
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Tarezax posted:It's called the Pearl Harbor descent because it was literally Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Are there any maps of the Nier planet? I'd be curious to know where the night/day terminator line is. Yoko Taro could set a game there called the twilight zone
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Jun 22, 2017 03:08
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Zoe posted:Well that last line from 2B sure doesn't seem like Foreshadowing or anything... "Man, imagine being on a mission where everybody dies and you have to blow yourself up to complete it. I'm glad that's never happened to me, I'd remember something like that."
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Jun 22, 2017 03:28
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Quick reminder that the stage play was produced back in Oct. 2014, months before the game was even announced. It must be frustrating trying to keep up with all the story and lore from this series, since so much of it is random stuff like the stage play or drama CDs, or more recently the Nier: Automata Music Concert which between live music performances has some of the voice actors read a prequel short story to the game. It's all over the place, literally!
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Jun 22, 2017 05:05
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If  can't drive us crazy with horrible monsters and child murder, he'll do it by making us tear our hair out trying to piece together the goddamn backstory
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Jun 22, 2017 08:26
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NieR: Automata is on sale during the Steam Summer Sale for -30% ($41.99) if you're on the fence. Be warned it's a really lovely optimized port for a game that honestly looks like it could run on a PS3! Also it's near 50 gigs if you're on a rough internet connection. Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/524220/NieRAutomata/ In an unrelated news story, I've been doing streams of bad video game movies (oxymoron I know) Thursdays at 10:00 PM EDT if that's your kinda scene. The unfortunate happenings can be found here:  Enter the Game Adaptation Gulag vvv Yeah. 100% go get this. The game has Global Illumination set to an absurdly high framerate killing value by default with no options to change it otherwise. The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Jun 23, 2017 |
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Jun 22, 2017 19:48
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If anyone plans to buy Nier on Steam, remember to use FAR, fixes a lot of the performance issues. https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SpecialK_Mods/discussions/3/1334600128973500691/
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Jun 22, 2017 19:52
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Additionally, unless you're unbelievably weird, you're most likely going to want to play with a controller no matter your platform.
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Jun 22, 2017 20:18
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Does FAR do anything if you're playing borderless windowed? I thought the resolution problem was only with fullscreen.
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Jun 22, 2017 20:40
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Sindai posted:Does FAR do anything if you're playing borderless windowed? I thought the resolution problem was only with fullscreen. It has some optimization options too, including turning down a setting that doesn't do much, but makes the game run way better when turned down.
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Jun 22, 2017 20:45
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Saagonsa posted:It has some optimization options too, including turning down a setting that doesn't do much, but makes the game run way better when turned down. That was the main reason I downloaded it. The game was a slideshow before I installed FAR, and ran perfectly after I did, with no difference in quality.
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Jun 22, 2017 22:20
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The Dark Id posted:
I find this section a little infuriating from a voice-acting standpoint. One thing that's been annoying me about the VA is that they have pauses, the lines just start one after another even when it seems like there should be a small break in the conversation. The reason this section is pissing me off so much is because it's the first time I can remember that there actually is a pause (between "I guess so" and "9S, you"), but then the rest of the lines come right one after another. I think it would really have benefited from a second or two of pause before 2B finishes her thought and another short pause as 9S thinks about how to respond. Sometimes not saying anything really says a lot more.
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Jun 23, 2017 03:42
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Considering they all recorded their lines separate from one another, blame the person who made the decision to not space them out more.
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Jun 23, 2017 04:02
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Saagonsa posted:Considering they all recorded their lines separate from one another, blame the person who made the decision to not space them out more. Oh, definitely, I wasn't clear enough about that. Not really the VA, I suppose, more the audio design. The actual VA is fantastic, it's just misused at times.
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Jun 23, 2017 04:22
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Usually you get the voice actors separated too much, in situations where they should be talking over each other. One notable example for me is from 'Homeworld: Cataclysm', because they tried, and failed, to avert it. Audio clip one, subtitled "We will not be bou-" and attributed to the Bentusi: Bentusi: "We will not be bou-" Command, talking over Bentusi's 'bound': "Yes, yes-" Audio clip two, subtitled "Yes, yes, you will 'not be bound'." and attributed to Command: Command, continuing: "- you will 'not be bound'." Obviously the intent was to play these two clips back to back, which would make the subtitles work well while still letting Command cut the Bentusi off. However, in practice the game is lagging so much at that point (because approximately all of your ships are being blown up by approximately twice all of their ships) that the two clips are separated by several seconds. It's odd to see the reverse situation, though. TDI, are you advancing through dialogue a little too quickly, or does it play like that without your intervention? (I admit I seldom watch the videos.)
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Jun 23, 2017 05:41
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FredMSloniker posted:It's odd to see the reverse situation, though. TDI, are you advancing through dialogue a little too quickly, or does it play like that without your intervention? (I admit I seldom watch the videos.) You can't manually advance cutscene dialogue, which that particular scene takes place as. You can only manually advance dialogue that's in black boxes.
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Jun 23, 2017 12:21
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SatansBestBuddy posted:It must be frustrating trying to keep up with all the story and lore from this series, since so much of it is random stuff like the stage play or drama CDs, or more recently the Nier: Automata Music Concert which between live music performances has some of the voice actors read a prequel short story to the game. It's all over the place, literally! Isn't that kind of a Japanese thing? A lot of games have side stories, audio plays and other supplemental materials that never come to the West. I think that awful FFX-3 thing was along those lines.
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Jun 23, 2017 13:00
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Other recent examples are ff15 and gravity rush
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Jun 23, 2017 13:04
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MysticalMachineGun posted:Isn't that kind of a Japanese thing? A lot of games have side stories, audio plays and other supplemental materials that never come to the West. I think that awful FFX-3 thing was along those lines. 
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Jun 23, 2017 13:26
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Western companies do it too, they just do it in the form of "hey remember this DLC you didn't play? Well it's the basis for the entire sequel!" Looking at you, Dragon Age and Dishonroed.
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Jun 23, 2017 13:30
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With Automata on sale right now, is the DLC worth getting?
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Jun 23, 2017 14:02
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Nuramor posted:With Automata on sale right now, is the DLC worth getting? It's 3 arenas, some cosmetic accessories and some other stuff that I'm not going to discuss in the LP lest it gets locked. Yeah it's pretty good and I think the price now probably is a bit better than the normal one.
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Jun 23, 2017 14:24
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r...rip and tear?
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Jun 23, 2017 18:25
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Chokes McGee posted:r...rip and tear? Dont forget the doom novels
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Jun 23, 2017 18:38
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Chokes McGee posted:r...rip and tear? Yep! That's where it came from. It's dumb, but it's clear it realizes it's dumb, and manages to have some fun with it.
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Jun 23, 2017 19:33
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Don't forget the Assassins Creed novels. And the Halo novels. And the Mass Effect novels.
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Jun 23, 2017 19:40
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I think the Doom Comic is kind of a facetious comparison, though. It's not like the plot of Doom is in part based on an external piece of media that doesn't come with the game.
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Jun 23, 2017 19:40
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thingsareswinging posted:I think the Doom Comic is kind of a facetious comparison, though. It's not like the plot of Doom is in part based on an external piece of media that doesn't come with the game. 
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Jun 23, 2017 19:44
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Okay, partial retraction: the Doom comic provides a valuable context that allows a fuller appreciation of the game's themes (to wit, radiation, and why it is to be avoided) but I maintain that you could get the gist from the game on its own
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Jun 23, 2017 19:49
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thingsareswinging posted:Okay, partial retraction: the Doom comic provides a valuable context that allows a fuller appreciation of the game's themes (to wit, radiation, and why it is to be avoided) but I maintain that you could get the gist from the game on its own 
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Jun 23, 2017 19:52
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The Doom comic is definitely the best comic adaptation of a game because it expresses narratively what the player knows ludologically.
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Jun 23, 2017 20:00
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The doom comic is probably the best game to comic adaptation in that it's more or less just a written monologue of the thought process of any given 12 year old playing Doom at the time. Edit: Haha, beaten to it
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Jun 23, 2017 20:01
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The Doom Comic is Freeman's Mind, but official, and years beforehand, and for a good game.
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Jun 23, 2017 20:11
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The Doom Comic is the primary source material for the latest Doom, which is the true Doom sequel.
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Jun 23, 2017 20:22
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The Watercrown posted:Don't forget the Assassins Creed novels. And the Halo novels. And the Mass Effect novels. AC has a ton of random content to track down for the universe. There was a movie, you have novels, you have comic books, there was an animated film, a short film, ARGs, and other random web based content as well. Ubisoft loving loves that poo poo. Anything adapted from a comic book series is carting tons of old stories around, even if the attempt is relatively clean (look at the Arkham games or Injustice) Mortal Kombat has a bajillion things Starship Titanic had a novel that explained the premise of the game then the game ever did, and that was a Douglas Adam production. Everything involving Myst The fallout Bible In alternate non-video game media I'd look at stuff like the Gorillaz or even Duck Tales. OJ MIST 2 THE DICK fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Jun 23, 2017 |
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Jun 23, 2017 20:31
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