iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 5h

worst one to play as is crazy shes the beast

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 20h

lol it's aight online video game tweets arent a high priority when you need some rest

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

whats the distinction between stim-toy action and "technical combat/mechanics" to you? ive been meme'd on for only liking technical combat games amongst my friends but im also the biggest mh liker too, so the idea that comes to my head prolly doesn't match yours

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

there is probably like 15 different chocobo remixes in rebirth lmao

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

i dont like it either but i wouldn't call this The Chocobo theme of FF7 Remake when it was a silly remix introduced in Wall Market and was used in One Scene in Rebirth, which ends up being a part of a running theme of genre remixes youtu.be/Br90AOjn2jg youtu.be/dVCmKftJFvE youtu.be/iBafpBSytQw

youtu.be

FF7 Rebirth OST Disk 8 07 Electric de Chocobo Rebirth

YouTube video by Tifa Gaming

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

hot tip: go into first person pov when you want to be a hero (late game AC8 mission minor spoilers)

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

would it be better to have a natural extension of them having AC protagonists be faceless and mute to leave their gender ambiguous or just make one of them canonically a woman without changing anything else about how they're presented

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

i will force myself to actually make my own website sometime before the end of the year 😤 but for now i put my writing into a shitty wordpress blog rexzakel.wordpress.com

rexzakel.wordpress.com

Rex Zakel's Blog

A place to dump my thoughts on things. I primarily talk about video games

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

its kind of an insane mission ngl, long endurance fight, so many conflicting targets, shit has me by single digit rockets left by the end ....and we arent even 1/3rd thru

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Finally got a jet in AC8 with some post stall maneuverability. Its a bit limited, since you go into a full stall after a sec, but thats still long enough to do quick turns and pugachevs cobra. Its time to start stylin' on the Sotoans 😎 This matches up with AC7 so I expect the PSM list to be the same

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The main character is also called Rex so this game is actually about me fr fr

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

While doing one of the early missions I noticed that Theve in Ace Combat 8: Wings Of Theve is based on Toronto! It has a CN Tower look-alike overlooking the train track I use to go to work, and the exact same island formation offshore from the downtown area. Guess the FCU is Strangereal Canada 😄

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

only issue with that is how SAEDs are pretty severely nerfed in GU so im not sure how effective it will be in that specific game. In 4U though Water CB SAEDs helped decimate Gravios. Plus you would need to play Valor so that SAED doesn't consume shield.

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

through a bigger and younger fanbase than ever before probably

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

elemental charge blade, dual blades, or switch axe works best in my experience if you dont wanna learn guns. CB is prob the hardest to use of this bunch, Dual Blades and Swaxe are nice for having moves with natural mindseye, combine with ele damage and you will break his legs super fast

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The weird thing to me is I don't see AC enthusiasts mentioning any of this stuff about the game when to me it feels like it lacks core elements of what makes Ace Combat's flight model and dogfight strategy click. Am I gaslighting myself somehow or am I missing something about this game?

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

So instead it comes down to whether your plane has a turn stat that outpaces the enemy or you just disengage and joust 24/7. It also just feels insanely slow, no sense of speed. The cherry on top is infinite flares on a 5 second cooldown which is emblematic of how little movement matters in PW 😕

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I played Project Wingman and I was really surprised this was considered on par with Ace Combat gameplay-wise. While it looks pretty, its flight model feels way worse than any AC I tried. Turning doesnt scale your speed which removes the entire dichotomy that is core to movement and dogfighting (1/2)

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

depends on how it looks. It seems like it leans even more to the action so I am optimistic

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

nah i didn't, i just wanted to beeline the mainline games after Super to sate my curiosity after having my interest piqued by that Ravenous trailer

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I didn't say its worse than Fusion, just less elegant which is a bit yucky in retrospect. Fusion was clear about how it worked and where it wanted you to go for better and worse, whereas Dread is kinda shifty, doesn't want to admit its linear. But for the most part it flows better regardless though

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

which discouraged me from exploring even though the puzzles to collect items were pretty fun. There is a lot of one way gates connecting everything for the sake of allowing you to quickly get to certain rooms to progress without backtracking but are unhelpful for general exploration. Odd design.

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Metroid Dread done. Strange game. Better than Fusion to me but not by much. Bosses are good but it feels like there is only 5 of them. They repeat a bunch of them without any escalation which is a shame. The way in which it chooses to be linear is a lot less elegant than Fusion somehow, which (1/2)

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

the unfortunate thing about this is that in Tri there is a way to directly dodge up/down on command with L2/R2 and it felt very designed around that. While its technically still there in 3U when you cancel from attacks with dodge forward/back (results in up/down), thats a lot slower than Tri :/

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

same dude...bad vibes number, 28 sounds cooler ngl

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

thats how its gonna be...

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

how does dread compare to this game cuz the reason i bothered to do this is cuz of how cool the Ravenous trailer looked lol

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

ur fighting passive bugs usually so moment-to-moment gameplay is boring. If you aren't gonna focus on exploration, then make the action good! Nightmare was a straight up megaman boss and was very fun as a result. Story was ok, i liked when Adam was being hostile. OST weakish, theres two bangers tho

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Metroid Fusion done. Wasn't a fan, felt like a downgrade from SM in every way that matters. I don't mind it choosing to be more linear, but it did so in really annoying ways, feels like a modern AAA game. It was at its best when it accepted being an action-platformer but that very rarely occurred

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Cant teach it with words mb but im pretty good at learning by observing 👁️ but asking u to record footage for a game you dont enjoy is more than a bit much so nvm that! I still relate to that feeling with other things and i value the thoughts that come from it even if im not yet on the same page 🙇

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Nah that's fair im usually the one who is "too good at games 2 enjoy them" with my friends so i don't mind being on the receiving end lol. I switch up my weapons a lot to keep learning, but maybe ur good enough to help me figure out some hard weapon matchups that I could never figure out in 4U 😭

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I thought I may have understood cuz I do feel that when going thru games where im already familiar with the monsters too much, but once I'm faced with learning something new and different enough to throw off my muscle memory it brings back the spark But apologies... I guess its more fundamental 😔

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I think a possible answer is to make monsters that are different and just challenging enough to test those differences. Wilds endgame despite its issues has moments where its fun when monsters are allowed to do things I haven't already learned already and the stats dont let me tank every hit

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

probably is, im sure i will stick with it next time i boot it up

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

yeah i played some of that one before, the style and ost is very cool but that game didnt have post stall meanuvres you know....

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

why did i typo the games title am i allowed to delete and repost this

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Acr Combat 7 got its hooks in me. Not surprising given my enjoyment of combat games with non-conventional movement and committal actions, a lot like another game that goes by AC... Anyhow you ever intentionally stall yourself to flip into a 180 turn while weaving thru incoming missiles? yeah its gas

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

i agree that girls look pretty in button up shirts but its too white girl core for me otherwise

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Returning to this game periodically is like a form of healing for me. I am not sure why. Just something I find myself doing every few years, as a bookend to a certain feeling.

bsky.app

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

How to kill The End in MGS3 and get away with it

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

thats the best my writing has possibly done !!! i am excited to see whatever you put out

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Oh... yeah I guess I am the North American Dreamcast

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

im looking forward to seeing what you put out there as well, thanks Kaim!!

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Rex Zakel @rexzakel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

its my birthday today for some reason. i think next year i wanna make it the year where i try a bit more actively to leave a trace of my existence out there. i feel like a ran out of things that felt substantial enough to write about in my blog this year so maybe i should try something else...

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