Damien

Anti-life, atheist, pro-male (i.e. against any and all gender roles), pro-right to die.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

Simple reminder: I'm a pro-male MRA, so I'm against gender roles and against using sex differences to justify unequal treatment of the sexes.

If you're a traditionalist, and want to "make love great again" or scapegoat "betas"/"soyboys", just unfollow me and GTFO.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

Good thing I'm ordering the Master Collection soon, then. It was mainly for Razor's Edge, but now I'm now curious about Sigma 1, especially considering that the last time I played it was about 15 years ago on the PS3.

I already know I probably won't like Rachel's chapters, though, ahah.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

Amazing job.

I don't like Alma in general. She SHOULD be a great boss, but her seemingly random/inconsistent defense in general, and against flying swallow in parricular, is what infuriates me. Which is why I vastly prefer Nicchae.

Alas, I watched a bunch of videos by great players, and so far I couldn't discern a truly consistent tactic to bring her down. Well, at least not without using obscure stuff.

[existentialgoof @existentialgoof]

I think that positive suicide prevention - where someone fixes your problems to the point where you would no longer choose suicide - is fairly uncontroversial, even amongst right to die advocates like myself. It wouldn't be a particularly bold statement to say that we should try and make it so that people are happy and don't want to kill themselves. It seemed obvious that Lars' post was addressing the desire to remove the opportunity for people to commit suicide. Which, even if it didn't involve "dragging everyone off" is still a form of coercion, because the result is that people continue to live not because they want to, but because the barrier to achieving death is too high to overcome and it's too risky to attmept.

[existentialgoof @existentialgoof]

If you're talking about trying to make people not want to commit suicide, then that isn't a controversial point. Where it becomes controversial (or certainly ought to be) is when they don't fix the problem that is driving someone towards suicide, but just implement barriers to make it much more difficult for someone to complete suicide. If our society was good enough at positive suicide prevention, it wouldn't need to be so heavily reliant on depriving people of the means and opportunity to die by suicide.

[existentialgoof @existentialgoof]

There's certainly a massive taboo around suicide, which is cloaked in paternalism and gaslighting. So it will be very difficult to overcome that. The reason that they have to make it look as though only "vulnerable" people commit suicide (and thus must be protected from their own 'vulnerability') is to philosophically discredit the idea that suicide can ever be a rational option. Society obviously fears that they can't make life feel worth living for everyone, so instead they must gaslight those who don't think life is worth living, and portray them as mentally unstable to ensure that society never gets behind the idea of the right to die (even though having that safety net available would be a massive benefit to everyone). Posts like Lars' just reinforce that narrative, meanwhile all of the other cases that don't fit the archetype are ignored.

[existentialgoof @existentialgoof]

I don't trust governments with the power to force people to remain alive via heavy handed, paternalistic suicide prevention strategies. So how about we split the difference and stop allowing the government to have so much power to prevent suicide (thus obviating the need for a formal MAiD programme)?

[existentialgoof @existentialgoof]

Disabled people aren't helped by paternalistic policies on assisted dying, whatever the standard of care might be. People should be free to choose based on their actual circumstances, rather than what they'd do in a socialist, post scarcity utopia. They shouldn't be forced to remain alive because other people consider it to be a stark choice between death and a poor standard of living.

[existentialgoof @existentialgoof]

On the other hand, how much more stigmatised could we possibly make suicide? If you start with the notion that suicidal people are incapable of exercising agency or being responsible for their own choices (which is what Lars seems to want), then to me, that is going to be very alienating, because it simply isn't true, and it is deeply insulting to make that assumption about such a vast and diverse group of people.

[existentialgoof @existentialgoof]

I'm sorry, but just because you feel that you don't have any agency of your own, and believe that someone else is to blame for everything that's gone wrong in your life, doesn't mean that everyone else on the planet should have to be treated like infants who aren't capable of making their own choices.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

They're generally not that bad, white archers are much more obnoxious, especially early on.

What's really annoying about IS Ninjas, though, is when you’re close to a wall and the kunais will explode instantly, or much sooner than normal (where it takes some time before the explosion happens).

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

Jesus ****ing Christ, those exploding medusas are just a pain in the ass. Especially because they regenerate, meaning if you try to move on, one of them might reappear right where you are, and blow you up.

So you have to spend minutes trying to ensure that the coast is clear by shooting at them with that water cannon, otherwise you can easily die. Pure cancer.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

NG2 is incredible... when it is at its best. However, it's so full of garbage (such as a lot of bosses being absolute cancer, and some chapters being horrible, to name a few) that, in my eyes, prevents it from being a top tier action game (unlike DMC3, NGB, and others), especially on Master Ninja.

It is still a great game, of course, but it doesn't get anything more than a 8.5 out of 10 from me.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

Oh yes, I think I remember this ToV. You have to first kill those ****ing dogs, because otherwise they start spamming grabs (for no apparent reason) if you kill Lycans, and it becomes a frustrating mess. So you only have 360Y on landing to rely on.

In general, ToV in 2 are not very good. Some are brutal (but often in a frustrating way, e.g. the one in chapter 3), some are boring, and some are very easy. NGB's fiend challenges were way better, imo (as well as the rest of the game).

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

Not to mention that, in NG4, when it comes to GT:

- it doesn't guaranteed delimbs, unlike in NG2;
- several enemy types that are very common in the mountain chapters (the major area with probably the most ring out spots), and even after, can block it, and even retaliate (e.g. Armored Sickles), leaving you exposed to other enemies' attacks, at least before you weaken them enough, at which point it's better to OT them;
- you don't gain any essence when you ring out an enemy;
- no OT either, which, along with UTs, helps build Frenzy meter, which in turn helps you survive more easily;

Regardless, many of the NG4's most difficult arenas are enclosed (e.g. the gauntlet towards the end of chapter 12), and the game punishes you via score if you abuse ring outs anyway.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

Best Ninja Gaiden game.

But NG4 on Master Ninja is way harder. And I have not even touched fresh save or Deathwish MN. And yes, I beat NGB and OG2 several times on MN, and I still died 550 times so far (chapter 12) in 4's MN mode.

That, of course, is also explained by the fact that I don't use items in regular encounters (only a few against bosses, because the game punishes you via ranks if you abuse them), but it's not just that: enemies are more numerous (generally not to NG2's extent, though) and much more aggressive as well. On MN, they can kill you really fast, before you even thought about using a healing item if you're not careful.

Even so, I can barely get a B in 4 so far, whereas in 1 and 2, on the Master Ninja difficulty, I could get Master Ninja rank in almost every level, even in my first run.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

@Jin_0__01 @HeavensDooooor @BlazeNight77 Alma 1 is where the camera really sucks, and becomes a liability.

I think the camera in NG1 and 2 is functional enough, and overhated, though. Outside of a few instances, it didn't give me much trouble.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

I dislike fixed camera, yet Greek GoW is one of the cases where I see merit in it. The camera in those games is, in my opinion, the best in the genre, as it never gave me trouble (except in Ascension, where it sucks at times due to being too far away for you to see anything). It's just perfect, imo.

I wish the remakes would retain the old combat and expand upon it, though. Stuff like having more aggressive enemies on higher difficulties, collision scaling also being used against you, more grab options (e.g. different grabs based on what weapon you're using), etc.

[Joy - Antinatalist Broadcast Network @BrainsinNo]

Parenthood does not transcend mortality. It reproduces it. You created death, then congratulated yourself for packing lunches on the way there.

[Damien @Zapan_dan]

@HelmBreaker21 How hard is it on MN Deathwish with Ryu?

[existentialgoof @existentialgoof]

I don't see how you can possibly claim that humans have the right to control their deaths when the state takes great pains to ban legal access to all reliable and humane methods and physically locks people up to stop them from killing themselves. Being able to covertly get away with something, if one gets lucky, isn't the same thing as having the right to do it. No doubt you support the state's suicide prevention strategy, as well. But it would be nice if opponents didn't feel the need to pretend as though people in our society can easily kill themselves with minimal risk, as things stand.