Honkai: Star Rail terms and mechanics, explained
What do all these fancy fantasy terms mean in Honkai: Star Rail?
Computers Tech Games Crypto Music and More
What do all these fancy fantasy terms mean in Honkai: Star Rail?
There are two very distinct types of people in this world: those that like weapon durability, and those that hate it. It’s the ‘marmite’ of game design choices, and it has formed the basis of endless discourse since time immemorial. Zelda: Breath of the Wild was not like other Zelda games; the title made some massive changes to the core RPG formula that innovated hugely on the series’ personality. Instead of an old man bestowing magical swords on you in some dusty old cave, you needed to forage for your weapons – arm yourself with a branch, if needs be, in order to survive.
But branches – and by extension, anything, apparently – break. Even the Master Sword, once you got your eager hands on it, broke after some use – albeit not permanently. Breath of the Wild became quite a controversial Zelda game to some, because the weapons would break – and break quickly. Even finding yourself some ludicrous, overpowered thing didn’t fill you with that much excitement, because you knew it’d just crumble to dust in about two encounters’ time.
Enter The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, per today’s big gameplay showcase, we know a couple of important new mechanics will be added to the game. First, there’s rewind – a handy way of making falling blocks of stone from the sky retrace their steps and take you back up to the heavens. Next, there’s ascend – a sneaky little move Link can employ to pop his tousled blonde head up a ceiling and into another room.
— Delivered by Feed43 service
— Delivered by Feed43 service
— Delivered by Feed43 service
A FORMER cheerleader shared her unexpected career choice.
TikTok user Rachel swapped her pompoms for a wrench after qualifying as a mechanic.
TikTok user Rachel reminisced about the time she spent as a cheerleader before becoming a mechanic[/caption]
In one video, Rachel reminisced on the time she spent with her former cheer team.
Using a viral TikTok audio from DC’s Harley Quinn, the mechanic said: “I used to be a cheerleader too.”
Rachel accompanied the sound with a black-and-white picture of her in her cheer uniform.
A cartoon villain can be heard telling Harley: “You have lost yourself to madness.”
“I changed career paths,” Rachel lip-synced to the audio as she showed herself at work.
In a second video, the TikTok user shared her response to haters who say “girls can’t be mechanics.”
The self-described “blue-collar babe” used a remix of the song Saturday Night Lights by TCvsChanze to illustrate her point.
“I’ll be damned if I listen to the opinion of a man with an unwashed a**,” Rachel sang as she worked on a car.
TikTok users took to the comments section to share their thoughts.
“Yo I was also a cheerleader turned mechanic,” wrote one viewer.
Referencing Rachel’s haters, another follower said she is “proving them wrong.”
“I am so tired of hearing the bs! Anybody with a good work ethic is a good mechanic or tech!” commented a third person.
Naughty Dog’s smash hit survival game, The Last of Us, is getting the prestige TV treatment from HBO, and critics are raving.
Chernobyl director Craig Mazin and The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann have successfully translated the action-adventure game into a deeply moving, stunt-packed, superbly scripted, and powerfully performed television show. Fans of the game will be especially thrilled to see how HBO’s The Last of Us masterfully weaves in the game’s signature mechanics, from the dreaded flashlight mode to the use of third-person perspective.
Watching the series, gamers might be so swept into this familiar hellscape that they could swear a small PlayStation icon just appeared on the screen to fight off an enemy or push open a door. (It doesn’t, but it feels like it could). Essentially, it’s more than the story that’s been adapted. How you play the game is mirrored in the direction and performances of this infectious series.
Here are just a few ways The Last of Us effectively translates some of the game’s most significant and memorable gameplay elements to television.
In both the game and the TV series, The Last of Us begins from the perspective of Sarah (Nico Parker), the teen daughter of Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal). The debut episode of the show, which clocks in at an hour and 20 minutes, expands on the first 15 minutes of the game.
Whether you’re controlling the character or following actor Nico Parker, you’re drawn into the world of pre-apocalypse America, primarily through Sarah’s experience. This makes the first episode and opening sequence — full of shocking downturns and scares — even harder for the viewer to handle, as we’re literally right by her side.
In both the game and show, the camera sits in the backseat of Joel’s truck as he, Sarah, and Tommy careen through their neighbourhood in Austin, Texas, past newly Infected residents and burning houses, and into the city of San Marcos, as chaos erupts around them. The series uses this backseat filming technique several times across the episodes, making the viewer feel like they’re along for the ride.
The Last of Us wouldn’t be a proper adaptation of a third-person action-adventure game without a nod to third-person view mode. Think of the final sequence of Doom with the BFG, or several suspenseful sequences following Tom Holland dangling from various things in the Uncharted film. HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us deploys this game mechanic to stick close to characters like Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel as much as possible, bringing the viewer into their world of terror and narrow escapes.
One of the more effectively terrifying modes of tension-building in The Last of Us is the use of flashlights as the sole source of light to illuminate foreboding dark spaces. In both game and show, Joel, Ellie, and Tess (Anna Torv) use flashlights to explore many a darkened hallway, and this limited scope of vision delivers solid scares. It’s a classic horror game technique, as Kotaku notes, first effectively wielded in 1999’s Silent Hill, then in games like Half-Life 2 and Resident Evil: Revelations 2, long before The Last of Us figured out its own version.
Building tension in the darkness with the ability to only see a few meters ahead, our heroes (and the viewer/player) have no idea of what may be lurking around them. In episode 1, when Tess unexpectedly encounters an Infected sprouting fungi all over the wall, the moment is pretty damn alarming, even (or especially) for gamers who grew to dread coming across such an ominous visual — or worse! — while playing.
The game involves a hell of a lot of heaving open hidden entrances, crawling under crumbling debris, scrambling up makeshift ramparts, and boosting each other to shaky platforms. In the game, Joel, Tess, and Ellie work together to access different parts of the decrepit locations they’re navigating. Ellie wiggles into smaller crevices to unlock doors. Elsewhere, Joel uses his height to boost her to higher platforms. Crouching is also a part of The Last of Us game in order to protect yourself from gunfire or remain hidden.
The series mirrors these sequences with plenty of instances of Joel, Ellie, and Tess crouching behind vehicles and crates to their advantage. In episode 1, Tess, Ellie, and Joel even scramble through a makeshift tunnel in order to escape the Quarantine Zone, stealthing past concrete boulders before they’re unfortunately spotted…
It’s a moment so brief you just might miss it, but there’s a fun sound effect reference in the series that gamers will enjoy.
In episode 1, when Joel, Ellie, and Tess are spotted by the guard just outside the QZ, there’s a sound effect that mirrors one heard in the game. It’s the sound of being seen by an enemy in both The Last of Us Part I and II, when your stealth mode is broken and you’re in for a fight.
Another small Easter egg appears when Joel injures his hand injury in episode 1. It is a nice reference to health kits, the game’s mechanic for healing. In the video game, your character can patch themselves up with the kits and restore their health. When doing so in the game, Joel makes a motion each time of bandaging his hand. In the series, Joel’s first injury comes from punching a man to death. Yes, he’ll need to bandage that.
Will there be more gaming mechanics playing out as The Last of Us unfurls its first season? Stay tuned. We’ll keep you updated each week.
The Last of Us premieres Jan. 15 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max, with new episodes airing weekly.
A new Stardew Valley mod aims to completely overhaul the farming life game, by reworking almost all of the game’s mechanics and offering a “much more engaging and immersive ‘Vanilla+’ experience”. Somewhat similar to the Stardew Valley mod that channels The Sims, this uses modular changes to help you tailor your own experience.
MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Stardew Valley multiplayer, Stardew Valley realism, The best Stardew Valley mods
Free League Publishing’s rain-soaked release is packed with gritty thrills