Topic: Hot Takes Thread (Gaming and Non-gaming)

@Pastellioli pacing yourself and spending at least two days eating minimally can also help you tackle buffets prettt well from my experience, and getting decent sleep

@Yousef- Interesting, I don’t eat fast when I am at buffets, I think I took a bit of a slow time eating at the buffet I went to with my family the last time, but I got a bit too crazy and got too much food, I didn’t feel sick at all luckily, but I got a combination of food that maybe could have hurt my stomach real bad if I got more; it was noodles with peas, shrimp, fish, and then some small cakes and fruit, I think I should have felt sick after that but I luckily didn’t. I am pretty bad with choosing foods that mix well and it hurts afterward, and the same kind of happens when I am at a buffet since you are free to get whatever of anything. If I did eat at an ordinary restaurant, I would have better portion control with the food.

@Pastellioli I’m more perceptible to motion sickness these days due to my dairy product addiction, lack of sleep and constantly driving so I try to chill out when I can. Thankfully I eat a lot of homemade food (I make it)

@Yousef- I can handle bad food, but some just makes me feel a bit sick. A full cup of ice cream makes me sometimes feel terrible, but probably because I don’t have a lot of ordinary dairy products like milk a lot. I haven’t been eating homemade food a lot, but I want to change that, luckily, I made slightly spicy lentils and rice with chorizo and vegetables in them a few days ago, alongside some green beans and carrots with sesame seeds and coconut amino flavoring with some help from my mom it’s super nutritious and I can handle eating more of that than something at a fast food restaurant. I haven’t been eating a lot of vegetables lately, but I am glad to go back to it now. I want to incorporate more vegetables into my diet, I forgot how good they taste with rice and beans!

@Pastellioli eating homemade will start out as something you willingly go out of your way to do, then it’ll slowly become second nature and will feel incidental and not something you think about

@Yousef- Yeah, I really want to cook more, I am getting tired of eating junk food and sugary drinks a lot recently, plus some of it has been disappointing, I remember buying a peach oolong tea drink with popping boba recently, only bought it cuz I was thirsty and made the poor decision to not bring a water bottle with me. I really didn’t like that because the boba would break the second it got into contact with my teeth, and the drink was ok, but very disappointing and something I won’t buy again. I have still been drinking tea and water, so it significantly outdoes the sugary drinks though. I need to get some ideas of what to make next with what I have here once those tasty rice and lentils go out.

@Pastellioli start slow and build up. Eggs and chicken are my go-to. After that maybe some stir fry noodles. Jacket potatoes are a great too. Spice it up by using sweet potatoes (unless they’re not your thing).
If you can somehow get your hands on a falafel mix that you can cook, make it with some fried potatoes and eggplants to make maoon mushakal, a popular Kuwaiti dish.

@Yousef- Sweet potatoes ARE my thing haha. They taste so good and are a great substitute to desserts and artificial sugars. Those sound like great recommendations, I probably will try to do those! I will probably look around and see if any of the stores here sell eggplants. Thank you for the recommendations again!

Sony make unlikeable characters. Some. Great games, but characters? Not so much.
Kratos
Ellie
Aloy
Deacon St John
All either unlikeable or just genuinely bad people. Or both.

@Malaise I haven’t played days gone, so if it’s fine I’d like a brief rundown over deacon’s character (and what you dislike about it)

Aloy I can kinda guess what you hate about her but could you point out one negative trait you don’t like? Just to narrow it down a bit for me.

Kratos… I love kratos. Old kratos, that is. Do you dislike both old and new kratos? I can kinda guess why you dislike the former, but not the latter.

@Malaise IMO this is why something like Playstation All-Stars was doomed from the beginning. Sony's output has its place, but they are NOT in the business of creating iconic characters, generally. The closet they've come is with Nathan Drake.

@Yousef- It's more a case of them building these super gritty worlds that are grounded in reality from a kind of amoral sense that also carries over to their characters. I wouldn't say I hate any of them, more that I'm unsympathetic to their cause. That I find them very difficult to like. Personally, it takes something away from the games in the same way that I choose not to spend time with people I don't get along with in real life.

From a broad sense, I suppose you could say that Kratos is very difficult and aloof, Aloy is miserable and boring, Deacon is abrasive and antagonising, and Ellie is, well, yeah, the world has just taken her beyond redemption. It absolutely makes for interesting stories and unique perspectives, but I think ones that work so much better as films, because as I say, from my perspective, it makes them rather unenjoyable to spend time with. I suppose you could say it's risky and brave game making, and sales would tell you that, for the most part, they've paid off.

@Ralizah Yes, I agree. That's a very good point.

@Ralizah I had a reply ready here but my device sadly shut-off so I’ll do my best to remember what I was gonna write. Also hence why this is a bit late so here goes;

I’m personally on two minds here.
On one hand; I gotta agree Sony isn’t as good as it thinks at creating iconic marketable characters. There’s nowhere near as much focus and identity as there was back in the ps1 days. But even then, those old guards came with their own set of issues. Like the fact they were kind of on a time limit, and it didn’t feel like you could make an entire franchise out of them past the third game.

On the other hand; Those same old guards are still extremely iconic in my opinion and well worth a cross over. to this day I will still never get over that the song and stage remix between ratchet and clank with god of war. That was one of the most validating things I seen in my entire life as a gamer.

Edit: As a general note, Sony might need to create more “simplified” icons that aren’t drench in MAH TRAUMA

@Malaise oh sorry. Didn’t see your comment there. I edited my previous comment, the edit includes a small reply something both you and Ralizah have said.

I can see what you mean. It’s quite refreshing to see, shall we say, less worshippy perspective on these guys (and gals)?
It’s actually really interesting seeing a certain indifference to the entire kratos character, as opposed to regurgitating the same song and dance about how he magically became likable out of nowhere, when to be he was always likable. There’s this small gameplay section in one of the ps2 games where kratos protect his dying family, and you have to restore their health by constantly hugging them. And there’s a really cute scene in Ascension where he kisses his daughter on the forehead right before she sleeps. Touches my heart strings every time.

Once again, I’m glad we have more varied opinions on these guys. They’re not as invincible to criticism as Sony thinks they are.