Redwolf's Journal (continued)

Ah, it's that time again - distant friends with constant money problems time. Kyn's still on the ropes without a job. He started off the week learning his renter's insurance is auto-billing to an account he opened before leaving Washington which is now overdrawn close to $60, to only get worse every day. Urgh. I sent some money and advised him to close the account and get the automatic billing changed elsewhere or stopped outright, whatever is appropriate. And Kit's in a tizzy over a credit card which... I don't have all the details on. Somehow he owes $2900 on it, was expecting to pay 2% of the balance per month, but ended up being charged 5% of the balance instead? Either way, that's a horrible way to float some debt and accrue interest charges on the balance, no doubt. Somehow he didn't even see this as a problem beforehand, which is what really baffles me. It's just... facepalm-worthy. Oh, but I'm sure he still wants to spend the money to g

Take a "standard" fantasy world with an "evil overlord" in charge and a prophecy of his downfall. Throw a band of heroes at him in a gloriously destructive battle in which they defeat him with great sacrifice... Then pick up the story with PCs who were apprentices and pages or other "minor" figures who supported the heroes. The big bad is dead, but so are the heroes on which everyone pinned their hopes. The PCs have to rise to the challenge of dealing with the aftermath. Power vacuums, societal shifts, etc... I suppose it'd be like an examination of what happens after Return of the Jedi , which isn't exactly a new idea, but it strikes me as an interesting setup for a fantasy campaign. This is probably inspired by recent readings such as Akame ga Kill! and The Heroic Legend of Arslan .

I suppose it's worth commenting on a few things I've read/watched lately... Gate - Jietai Kare no Chi nite, Kaku Tatakeri (not to be confused with the various other series with "Gate" in the name) was recommended to me, and I'd seen mention of it because the anime based on the manga started this season, I believe. I settled for the manga, though. A portal to a fantasy world opens up in Tokyo and an army invades. The JSDF fairly quickly beats back the army, goes through the gate, and establishes a foothold base. From there, the story settles in and centers primarily around one officer assigned as head of a recon team, and those fantasy-locals that he draws in. I find the idea interesting, and the juxtaposition is a solid foundation to explore. The modern military force, even one as comparably limited as Japan's defense force, has an absolutely crushing advantage over an army built around spear men and knights. Magic can provide an edge, but it seems pretty

So... I think I've "beat" MGS V: Phantom Pain. It's hard to be sure, considering: - Each mission is framed with credits like a TV episode - Missions after "Chapter 1" consist of a handful of new story missions and a bunch of redone earlier missions with increased difficulty in several ways - The story doesn't have a clean ending. The metal gear fight at the end of Chapter 1 is really the closest thing to one, wrapping up some of the main plot threads while leaving a ton of others dangling. But, I guess "The Man Who Sold The World" is essentially what passes for a final mission in the game, with a few story-important things that can be done before or after. That missions lays out the biggest reveal of the game and ties things (a little bit anyway) into the early mythos of Metal Gear. In itself, it's not as dissatisfying as some rumors led me to belief, but it is MGS-levels of unnecessary complexity. I also finished out Quiet's sto

It's fairly rare these days that I can sink time into a non-MMO game over a holiday weekend and not finish it. I think I'm maybe around half-done with the story, though the game itself is saying something like 28% completion and I haven't really looked at walkthroughs to check. So far, it's been a fun ride. The Metal Gear Solid games have largely been good games . They play particularly well. That said, they have often been hindered by small zones. This game manages to overcome that, with free-roamable regions containing multiple bases and outposts. I've actually found it pretty fun to work my way around some of those places even outside of missions, pillaging resources and personnel while taking out radio and radar installations. I can certainly see how it may get old and repetitive, but other than occasionally feeling like "now it's time to go do an actual mission," I haven't hit that wall yet. Apart from gameplay, the MGS stories... well...