Ahhh, it's nice and rainy today. Have to appreciate it before the summer comes and boils me alive again. Really hoping I can get a little air conditioner at my new place, but with all that dental stuff I need done I'm not sure I'll be able to afford it. I might just tell the dentist I don't want to do the deep cleaning stuff, at least right now.
Gonna get some more boxes in the mail today, so I can continue packing for my move next month. Ugh, why did I buy so many more things since I moved out... I got all these gigantic coffee table books that don't fit in the other boxes I got. Really should invest in like a couch and a coffee table as well. There are a bunch of little antique stores in Tacoma, I'm hoping I can find some nice older furniture. I'm getting sick of that flat pack stuff.
Anyway, last night I watched Hannibal Rising for some ungodly reason (it was bad), and played some more Rise of the Ronin. Started doing more sidequests instead of just the generic open world stuff, meeting the various historical figures. It's funny, I keep meeting people and thinking "hey that name sounds familiar, wasn't this guy in Gintama?"
The design of this game is so... weird. It's clear that Team Ninja are just kinda trying different ideas out, it's not super refined. The combat is super refined, that's their bread and butter, but the other stuff feels very slapdash, they're just throwing stuff out there to see if it works.
One thing that really works: the region bond system. By completing more little tasks in an area, you unlock more of the icons on the map. Just resting at one save point will unlock like a place where you can go kill some bandits. That will unlock some other activities. And then at the final level, it just shows you where the treasure chests and cats are. It's a nice gradual way to get rewarded for spending time in a place, rather than just dumping a million icons on the map all at once.
On the other hand, the loot system somehow feels worse than Nioh 2 in some ways, though there are some new conveniences. They're leaning into the idea of just getting some pieces of equipment you like and never changing them out. Upgrading the base stats is MUCH easier and cheaper than before. There are not as many affixes, what they do makes more sense, and it's easier to move them from one item to another.
But the interface is so annoying. Instead of a list, it's now a grid, and you can no longer do the quick two-button select-all-and-sell trick. I think I just need to set up the auto-sell filter properly, I'm basically already ignoring everything below yellow rarity anyway.