What are you playing? c'mon, tell me punk!

[Zero Kirby]

...Seriously though. Why do people think THAT is comparable to '06, again? When it doesn't even get near that level of stupid? Been askin' myself that question since I first played it three/four years ago, and I'm STILL not getting answers on that.

And yes, I know of its "beautiful perversion" of a development cycle (Among other things). Still doesn't explain it to me one bit. I mean, let's actually compare and contrast for a sec, shall we?

IN THIS CORNER: Unpolished generic kids platform/beat-'em-up hybrid #whoskeepintrackanymore

IN THAT CORNER: What was originally considered by everyone (And yes, SEGA included) a near-franchise killer.

Dunno about you guys, but I think I know which of the two feels more comfortable "losing brain cells" over, thank you very much.

I'd consider Rise of Lyric worse because it's terminally boring. 06 can be downright hilarious at times because of how seriously it takes itself, the truly regrettable voice acting, and the goofy looking NPCs. I can have fun playing Sonic 06 with a friend just by making fun of the game's brokenness, and I'm not gonna lie, there's a couple points where one might feel like they're having fun on purpose. Plus it actually has a decent soundtrack.

Rise of Lyric is such a bore in comparison. It's just bad. At no point is it so broken it makes me laugh, at no point is it legitimately entertaining, and the soundtrack is so dull and weak it puts me to sleep. There's nothing there to poke fun at, either. It's a black hole of a video game that is infinitely worse in its blandness than the notably-and-occasionally-entertainingly awful 06.

... At least, that's how I feel. I can't speak for everyone, but I've met more than a few who agree with me.

Meanwhile I've been playing a lot of Xenoblade lately, both 1 and 2. It's interesting seeing the differences between the two games. I'll say I feel like the battle gameplay of 2 is more engaging with its combo focus, but 1 has far better characters and story. It's not to say I hate Rex and his crew, but they're just so bland in comparison and I'm still not entirely sure what the end goal here is even though I'm about 100 hours in. I also hate most of the character designs, so Xenoblade 1 is also slightly more aesthetically pleasing in that regard.

Well, one other thing I guess - in Xenoblade 1 playing as other characters at times can actually provide a fun, refreshing way to play without horrendously crippling yourself. Even though Shulk's AI ain't that great, if you need to fight Mechon he's at least smart enough to cast Monado Enchant as soon as possible. Point is, I can have a grand ol' time playing as the other main cast members.

At the point I've reached in 2, there's literally no reason to ever not play Rex because his gameplay is so incredibly superior to literally every other character. It's kind of a drag because I'm cutting my combat effectiveness in half by not directly playing as him.

Morag's also not a very good Tank compared to Tora, but I think I'm just running a bad loadout on her.