u/LivingGirlRepellant

Context for those of you who have no clue about what I'm talking about: Recently, there's been a trend on TikTok where men would make fun of women with hip dips by calling them "hiplets." While this is only being done by a small subset of men, women (Even ones who do not use TikTok), are already screeching in protest. "SEE? ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF MYSOGGYKNEE!!! REEE!!"

However, this whole "hiplet" thing only exists as a response to the non-stop body shaming men have experienced at the hands of women. The same ones who are upset at the whole "hiplet" thing have been perfectly fine with insulting men for things outside of their control for DECADES.

"Manlet."

"Napoleon complex."

"Small dick enegy."

"He must be compensating for something."

I've seen men rejected and bullied for their race, their lack of hair, (Or because they had a hair transplant done), or because they haven't been circumcized.

And yet women have the audacity to throw a tantrum when they experience a mere fraction of what we have.

While I don't believe that anyone should be shamed for features outside of their control, I am also a firm believer in an eye-for-an-eye. If you can't take it, you shouldn't dish it out.

Edit: This post is being brigaded by ahother subreddit.

Seriously, wtf are these bosses? While I actually don't mind them healing, (It's a free heat action for me), everything else is complete BS.

Infinite hyperarmor and poise, (A full combo doesn't knock them down), constant blocking, constant attemps to grab you, immunity to grabs, random combo interrupts, (Even when you're standing behind them), stopping their own combos so they can magically dodge and counter you, etc. Oh, and so many of them have like 5+ minions helping them out.

I'm only on chapter 5 and I already can't wait to finish the game because of the bosses. There wasn't a single one I enjoyed fighting.

Before some guy who only ever used tiger drop says "SKILL ISSUE!!1" it's not even that I can't beat them, they're just a slog to get through. You can't even utilize your different styles, all you can really do is cheese your way to victory.

Please tell me that the Kiwami 2 bosses are better...

grifter/ˈɡrɪftə/A grifter is a con artist or swindler who tricks others out of their money through fraud, deceit, or petty scams.

Anita Sarkeesian is a grifter. Andrew Tate is a grifter. Basically anyone who manipulates poor saps into handing over their hard-earned money qualifies.

However, I've noticed that this word has recently been repusposed into "Person I disagree with." Time and time again, I've seen YouTube reviewers be refered to as such (Often by other YouTube reviewers, ironically), simply for being against The Message. It's like woke individuals are incapable of comprehending that someone might disagree with them—not for any kind of monetary gain, but simply because they actually just disagree with them.

While I do miss the sun, I enjoy night much more than day in terms of atmosphere.

Its so mentally peaceful. Throughout the day, I am constantly being distracted and interrupted by family members. I can't even take a dump in the bathroom without experiencing background noise.

Night, however, is like heaven. I will even purposely sleep through the day so I can wake up at around 10 PM.

While yes, the quote originates from a Neo-Nazi, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

To me, this quote perfectly summarizes post-2010 political correctness, especially on sites such as Reddit. You can outright wish physical harm on certain groups, while others are protected from even the slightest ammount of pushback.

If you want to get a sense of the current ideological landscape, all you need to do is check who you cannot say bad things about.

I know it sounds weird, but I always feel like it's somehow "judging" me based on the things I search.

Does anyone else experience this?

That is all.

I am unfortunate enough to be born into a family where everyone seems to love the sound of their own voice. Even when it's clear that my social battery is depleted, they won't stop yacking my ear off.

And then when I try to tune them out or blatantly say "I'm overstimulated, please leave me alone!" they treat me like I'm the rude one.

What they don't understand is that I get a headache and start feeling physically ill as a result of this. I need my peace and quiet in order to function.

If there is one one type of parent that absolutely infuriates me, it's those who expect procreation to solve all of their personal baggage.

I, myself, know that I would not be an adequate parent. I have multiple disabilities that would make it difficult for me to take care of a whole other human being, I struggle with depression, anxiety, and anger issues, and I am burdened by a lot of things I endured growing up.

Then there's someone like my sister, who has two children (With a man who cheated on her multiple times, mind you), in spite of having so much unresolved trauma. Every other day, I can hear her having a full-blown emotional breakdown (Complete with crying), in response to her kids (Who are more well-behaved than 99% of other kids I know), acting like kids. She's incredibly controlling, parentifies her older daughter, and constantly engages in screaming matches with my brother-in-law.

I don't care if it makes me sound insane, but I've gotten to a point where I genuinely believe that every parent should undergo a mandatory mental health evaluation every year. Passing on your genes is not worth passing on your bullshit to someone else.

Today, the ignorant moderators of this subreddit removed a post I put a ton of effort into, referring to it as "AI slop."

For me, this appears to be a recurring pattern. No matter which online community I participate in, I always get morons saying "YOU USED AI!!!1"

It's not my fault I type in a formal, businesslike manner, (I will literally copy/paste em dashes from Google so I can use them, as I do not have them on my keyboard naturally), and that I'm actually literate unlike most of the population.

Do any other autists here have the same issue? What is ironic is that I have never once used AI to write something for me. I enjoy writing.

Debating with people has got to be one of the most frustrating things in existence.

There have been so many times where I told someone something, only them to disregard all of my sources while not providing any to back up THEIR claims. It's especially annoying when they say something snarky like "My source? Go outside!" or use ancedotal "evidence."

If you can't prove me wrong with studies or statistics, you should just admit defeat already.

To me, it's incredibly cruel to force someone who cannot function normally to live a full life. What's the point?

I mean, put yourself in the shoes of a disabled person. Imagine knowing that you will never be independent and that your continued existence is a burden on your parents until they inevitably die. (In which case, it's all over for you).

We put down animals without their consent all the time. At the very least, we should offer someone whose condition cannot be cured the option to opt out. No-one should have to endure unbearable hardship just because society said so.

It reminded me of when games used to be unapologetic about:

A) Refusing to change for Western cultural standards.

B) Catering to men.

First of all, most male characters are brave, strong, loyal, etc. In an era where emasculated soy-boys are the norm, it's nice to see some jacked, traditionally masculine heroes that a guy like me can look up to.

There is a lot of emphasis on brotherhood and male friendship in general, with most characters being men.

All the female characters are well-written. Not a single girlboss who talks down to the protagonist or one-ups him. There is at least one lady who knows how to fight, (Which is not something that I have a problem with), but she's never depicted as flawless even gasp loses at one point.

No DEI. There only non-Japanese characters in the game are there because they fit into the plot or because they're Michael Jackson, not because of any "representation" BS. The two or so gay characters are played for comedy, (You fight a buff dude in drag at one point), like they were back during the old days.

All the female characters are hot, with most being modeled after actual porn stars.

The game isn't afraid to be pervy and follow the dreaded "male gaze" even allowing you to watch softcore porn videos. There is no censorship.

The characters behave as fits the time and place. There's no cringey modern TikTok dialogue, and the values displayed are those that align with Japanese culture first and foremost.

No modern politics or preachiness. At most, there's some commentary about Japan's economical situation at the time.

If more of these studios true to their roots, we would have more games like this. Back when Sony still had its HQ in Japan, it pumped out some amazing and timeless games. Look at it now, though...

I say that the best way to fix the current state of gaming is to unironically Asiafy it. While yes, we've had many good American developers in the past, at this point the ideological rot is so deep that I've pretty much given up on things changing. We're never going to get games like the original Halo, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, Hitman: Blood Money, GTA: San Andreas, etc.

Man, it's been a ride. After 188 hours, I finally beat and completed (Aside from the Legend difficulty achievement, will do that when I feel like replaying it), Yakuza 0 for the first time. Not since Red Dead Redemption 2 have I dove this deep into a game. Here are my thoughts:

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Things I liked:

1: The story. This was one of the best stories I've experienced in any game, period. (Helps that I've always been a fan of mafia dramas). It actually took its time to properly set up all of these different plot points, only to converge them in the most satisfying way possible. There were no lame "ass-pulls" of any kind, no filler chapters, etc. Everything felt like a finely crafted puzzle that being meticulously put together.

You also know a story is good when it makes a depressed, emotionally numb dude like myself feel genuine emotion. I had to hold back tears so many times, especially towards the end. IDGAF that they're criminals... Kiryu, Majima, Tachibana, Nishiki, and so many others deserved to be happy. :(

2: The characters. In Yakuza 0, literally every single character feels like a real human being with their own thoughts and feelings. The Pocket Circuit guy, the hostesses working under Majima... NPCs that in any other game would just be generic randos you barely remembered.

Throughout the story, so many characters show that there's more to them than what's initially shown. Take Kuze, for example. When you first meet this guy, you assume he's the worst out of the 3 Dojima lieutenants and think "I want to beat the smug look off of this asshole's face!" But no, he's actually the most honest and honorable out of them and grows to respect Kiryu as he keeps losing to him—with the two of them eventually parting on friendly terms. Even my mom went from DESPISING him to saying "I really hope he doesn't die at the end."

3: The voice acting. Even though it's not my language I was still blown away by how good the voice acting is. Before this game, I'd usually watch all my foreign content dubbed, but now feel tempted to watch some old-school Yakuza films in Japanese.

4: The open world. Yakuza 0 addressed arguably my biggest complaint with modern open world games, that being that they're way too large yet have nothing worthwhile to do. In contrast, both Kamurocho and Sotenbori felt alive. From the neon-lit storefronts to even just the random garbage littering the streets, everyything felt like it had a reason to be there. I've seen so many reviewerss complain about the graphics, but I've always felt 100% immersed. The level of detail reminded me of VTMB and similar titles.

5: The side activities. While there were some annoying ones, I enjoyed the vast majority of side activities here. While they had no voice acting, the different substories provided a lot of humor and helped flesh out each protagonist.

As for the minigames, I love how they all helped the cultures of Tokyo and Osaka to life. My favorites ended up being disco, karaoke, pocket circuit, darts, bowling, arcade games, (Except Fantasy Zone, that one can go suck my pp), cabaret club czar, and even Mahjong, which everyone hyped up as the worst thing ever. (I beat it around chapter 6).

6: Most of the combat. While I disliked it at first, I actually started really enjoying the combat after taking the time to learn it and upgrade my moves. It's still not perfect by any means, but you can feel absolutely BADASS in certain situation. I still remember absolutely destroying that first room full of Kuze's thugs without taking damage... Feeding guys nails, bashing them into walls, slamming an entire table on Yoneda's head, etc.

All of the styles for both characters felt good to use after upgrading them and I found myself switching on the fly. Even Beast Style, which I didn't use that much due to it being so slow, had its uses. (The heat actions and the ability to stunlock bosses)

My favorite part of combat was definitely the brutal and satisfying heat actions, though. It's something that set the game apart from others that feature hand-to-hand combat.

7: Most of the bosses. While there stinkers here and there, (We'll get to that later), most of the bosses in Yakuza 0 felt fair and fun to fight. I always looked forward to seeing what kinds of fighting styles these guys would have and finally getting to throw hands with them in the most macho way possible.

Out of all of them, my favorite has to be the final Kuze fight. Two badass dudes fighting in a big, open area... It was like something out of DBZ. I deliberately avoided using weapons and switched over to Rush Style so it would be boxer vs boxer.

8: The soundtrack. For the past few weeks, I've been addicted to Yakuza 0's soundtrack. The karaoke and disco songs especially.

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Things I disliked:

1: Enemies with weapons. In a game that focuses on brawling, these guys often ruined the fun, especially when there were multiple of them. (Which was often in later chapters). Guys with tasers, knives, swords...They all have annoying reach and can easily stunlock you. The only thing that made them bearable was being able to take them out with weapon heat actions. Guys with guns, though....They can go suck the warts off of Sohei Dojima's ass. Thank GOD none of them were bosses.

2: Those fatties that like to body slam you. Fighting two of them at the same time before the Finance King took me two whole days of suffering. They're fast, they're tanky, they're big... Ugh.

3: Small arenas. Some fights wouldn't even be that difficult if they didn't force the player to fight in a shoebox. You can't even leave into a more open area until it was done.

4: Certain bosses felt unfair. Thankfully, most of these weren't in the main story, but I still have to complain about them. Super armor, countering your attacks, (I'm looking at you, Sera), dodging or blocking constantly to a point where it feels like input reading, untelegraphed moves, immunity to grabs, etc. A good boss fight is a balanced one, where the player knows when to dodge and when it's their turn to attack.

The worst offenders, by far, were the coliseum opponents. A lot of these guys like Tobiyama, Hanzo, GJ were basically on crack the entire time I fought them. Eventually, I gave up and cheesed them with either a golf club or guns.

Special mention goes to the elder Amon. I don't care if he's a superboss, he shouldn't be able to oneshot you with a goddamn laser.

5: The grinding. While none of the side content is badly designed, the completion requirements are a bit much. Trying to beat Super Gold Rush with a controller, trying to get 100000 on Fantasy Zone, having to beat 50 tournaments... I could go on. It didn't help that a lot of these were pure RNG, such as the cat fights. While, again, I wouldn't remove any of the side stuff, I'd make the requirements a little less time consuming so that people who are actually sane (Which I am not), can finish them. Nearly 200 hours is... Yeah.

6: Until you can throw money, the frequency of street fights can kind of get annoying.

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Conclusion:

Overall, I'm extremely glad I bought this game for like 5-8$ when it went on sale. Though, part of me feels kind of empty after finishing it now. At least, as a new fan of the series, I have plenty more to look forward to. Tomorrow, I plan on starting Kiwami.