I think it forms part of bigger meta narrative, and the end of the day you still go through with the white phosphur attack as the game is forcing the choice on you to proceed as the only way to solve the problem - which is what the character believed in

Its message is,to me, “are you having fun” playing a game of murder -it forced, albeit clumsily, the reality of war when you feel you have no other option - a choice you are forced to make like pulling the trigger of a gun. You can leave the game and not do it or you pull the trigger.

You are still killing after that point soon after, with character quick to stat blaming others and you are still going on for the ride by playing- to finish the game, to get to Komrad- it comes off pretentious i admit, but the wp was acting as a turning point and was using a blunt force narrative to make you start asking questions about the character’ sanity

Could it have been done better - sure, but the thing is you, the player, still went through with it and pressed the button instead of putting the game down and refusing - it is trying to sell the point of view of the player’s character you are playing decided that it was the “only way” and by continuing to play the game you have accepted the condition forced upon you and continued to be complicit in the events that unfold because you wanted to see the story through.

“No Russian is shock value, but there really isn’t much player consequence as it doesn’t matter what you do so long as you keep up, you could even skip it”

If you wanted to avoid the nastiness of what you were doing you could in No russian, specs ops decided to comfront the player with deciding for the player to either accept the nastiness or don’t and if you want to see the story to completion you better get your hands proper dirty and not half ass it.

Again, conveying that is not easy and what they did could have been conveyed better. You are seeing things from the perspective of a dude with severe ptsd and you have been murdering people up to that point on fragile pretense

Firstly, I feel offended you reduced the giant mecha vs a dragon cinematic to robot vs a doll army :P

Ff9 did the “all powerful god” but it is really a wtf out of no where momement that can feel jarring with the themes of the game - a ludonarrative narrative dissonance, unless I missed some obscure reference to it somewhere

I would argue that ff6 wrote a less jarring “kill a god” fight:

That is a shame, I would have thought that she would have some measure of control after the events of the first game

Especially, since the burden she was carrying was lifted.

FF 8 Spoiler Response

FF8 spoiler response

I do agree on it being a great game, and she fights gods on her way to her final goal but

Edit

It is a goofy game but that is what gives it its charm.

Environmental interaction( especially with spells) is great

Tip with the rogue, stealth will be very useful at one point

Haven’t finished 1,2,3 but spoilers below:

I would say anyone interested in the game a general rule of thumb would be trash mobs and easy fights = real time and bosses and difficult fights turn based.

One can luckily change that on the fly.

I mean if one is confident in their micro, then one can do most of the game in real time, but the game does have enemy encounters that just feel unfair when fighting real time while feeling better tuned in turn based.

Good game though as one journeys through one of initially 2 “ascension” paths that can eventually branch out into one of 10 different paths as one takes the fight against, technically, gods - but not in the heavenly sense.

I can only guess being dark and broody or “Bad Boys are cool heroes” was the trend at the time

A time where trying to be “edgy” was hitting a desired target market - a time Ubisoft put effort in their games trying to push boundaries.

Now that I think about it was also a time where games had to try new things because the target market hadn’t exploded in volume yet as well

The original 3D Prince of Persia trilogy - If I had to pick one I liked the most ( or left the strongest impression), then Warrior Within for the shear guilty pleasure of using time powers to hear what the Dahaka says to the Prince when it is chasing him and the story of the angsty, emo prince being knocked down a peg and starts the decision to take responsibility for his actions

I will admit Sands of Time had the most engaging story though and that The Two Thrones shook up the formula a bit with the a bigger focus on combat with the transformation ( which is a like a meta-narrative nod to the changes the Prince undertook over the course of the trilogy)

As somone who just made the move from Mint to Fedora, I hate how accurate that is for me as that was my first thought when I deciding what to install

That is fair in the case of fishing, foraging and to a lesser degree farming

If one wants to finish it as soon as possible then there is a pressure to not miss something - a bit of a heresy - but Joja Mart route can ignore that pressure, but it does feel better getting the community center up and running though.

I know the T.V. channel that Pam provides is helpful for fishing and for me I try to set up a schedule where I dedicate a day to get a particular item or to improve a skill to make it easier to get a item I am looking for.

My first two years are usually very busy as my farmer is on a “sigma grindset” and approached as a game getting everything sorted.

I do feel that it plays better when I tried to compromise a bit and try to roleplay like start the day, sort out my fields and animals, have regular meals, visit the town, greet everyone, maybe look at the message board - doing something like fishing, foraging, mining or cave diving for a bit, head to the bar at night for a night cap and then make my way home for the night - especially Friday nights.

I break that habit a bit when it is a really lucky day but I can write that off as a day that my character felt like some “me” time or they are focussed on getting resources for an upgrade to the farm or an item for center

One starts to learn everyone’s schedule and you start to feel part of the Valley as familiarity helps build the “community” feel

That reminds me of the earlier versions where the Grandpa would judge you harshly if you didn’t get enough points and in the worse case scenerio would wonder if he should have given the farm to some other relative at the end of year 3.

But Concerned Ape removed that as it went against the spirit of the game - there is only one time sensitive event in the game and is a friendship event with one of the characters that should be done before the end of year one

I missed it for the longest time, but it does help flesh out that character but besides that, the valley is in a proverbial time bubble where everything can be done at your leisure within the time frame - which is usually dedicating a day for something.

I would say that that the desert dungeon requires planning and being efficient with your time to get to the 100th floor in a day though

Just my opinion - but Stardew Valley, for me, is best enjoyed in the same vein like something like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing.

It is like Sims: Rural. I liked the idea of someone being sick of the corporate drone lifestyle and being given the opportunity to start a new life in the country-side.

While I agree, especially in the beginning that the timers do feel restrictive, farming can be a chore when you are starting out and the stamina can be annoying but it has been built towards an idea that

“This is your character’s life and just enjoy a new start in the countryside”

It does get easier, more streamlined and opens up more options when one starts getting into the specialisations in leveling and gain benefits from progress which brings with it more “set and forget” tasks (like ancient fruit in a green house with sprinklers) which are profitable and if farming isn’t your thing I was going to say to try animal husbandry - which starts out with just giving the animals you buy some attention and food everyday ( buy hay or use a scythe on long grass), open the barn hatch in the morning (when not raining) and close it at night and collect the resource either by picking it up or having the right tool for the animal.

Animal husbandry is a lot of initial setup and then animal maintainence to get a resource, which leaves more time to explore other aspects of the game

I guess it is a game best enjoyed to roleplay as one learns about everybody in the valley and make your mark as someone of important as you can either make your fortune, have a family, make friends or just check off the list of collectables

I do feel it is a bit unfair to compare it to something like Rimworld as it is a great colony simulator in its own right with it having the focus of developing a “blank slate” community of random people in a harsh and cruel world where the player is the “architect” as you create the plan and the pawns enact it.

Comparatively, I do feel Rimworld farming is more involved than in Stardew Valley as there is a lot of external factors to consider like fertility, effective crop placement to avoid disease ruining all your crops if your pawns are too slow to contain it, raiders burning it, weather and events that ruin the crops, etc)

While Stardew it is a cycle of seasonal preparation, planting, watering, scarecrows placement to avoid crows stealing crops and harvesting - it is quite simple although more hands-on in practice and some of these steps can eventually be automated.

I guess Stardew Valley is predictable and consistent without much risk and can come across as a chore whereas Rimworld has a lot of external variables that keeps one needing to have a plan in the back of one’s mind when things go wrong.

Fair enough if you do not find it interesting, it might just not be your style of gameplay. Give credit where credit is due that you gave it an honest go at it and if you do not refund it it, maybe you will enjoy it one day

Clearly you didn’t mutate enough :P

Although the mutant aspect is a rabbit hole and a game unto itself once one draws attention to themselves.

Just embrace pure humanity instead and get yourself one of those fancy shields implants hooked in with decent power generation and you too can punch pyramids.

Its also been awhile, but the character that I was able to finish the story fully embraced augmentation in all its glory and was almost as good as a mutant with the benefit of plug and play setup to mix things up as a reward for all the token hunting.

That is not really fair, Raiden can do that because he must have special robotic-assisted magnets in his feet and legs.

I too would like learn where people can learn wrong art of the power of psychokinesis or have the wrist strength to be able to balance 3 longswords in the palm of one’s hand

Joking aside, good form makes the blade effective, even more than the danger the blade presents itself

Having people use me for their own self satisfaction

Finding out a “friend” is trying to hit on someone I liked after expressly telling them to stay in their lane, as they were very loose in their commitment to a relationship.

Attempting to have a relationship born on open and honest communication, to which it gets misinterpreted which leads to a situation where I would have been more forgiving if they told me about it before deciding to do something rather than tell me the next day about it.

Having one’s decision to accept something, feel bad about it and then come back to that the person and in accepting them again have them brag about something, double back on it and then try to make their own terms to try, with a time limit, to smooth over the offense - basically being tone-deaf to how I was feeling

Being promised something repeatedly, put up with a lot of non-sense, then with the promise in sight, asked not to participate as I watch the dream die in front of me

Being told I do not qualify for a bonus because I was “legally” employeed a month too late and only qualify at year 3

Having someone drag me into a social situation (a group chat room), then then proudly brag about something good they did with someone who I abhor

Working my ass off and my fellow employee taking it easy ( like sitting in the lunch room easy)

Repeatedly reporting a problem and because of the problem having a knock on effect on work efficiency, leads to another problem, that then the managerment is eager to gaslight how it can be a problem. A problem mind you, that the regional manager asked why their aren’t enough people and that I should insist when I am alone - which the manager would never want to have it reported or bother to properly resolve.

Going into an interview with one of the interviewees showing an attitude of such disinterest that I feel it would have been better to walk out as they clearly show no interest

Having to deal with someone dumping me for an ex( maybe not dump so much as having fallen for someone and then being thrown away after I could not serve a purpose), the moment I mentioned I felt a bit jealous, to then realise that I was only an attempt to get back at the ex for what they did(infidelity), which I did not take well made worse by working in the same place and having said person rub it in my face,essentially, how they are going back out

This then got worse when she showed a bunch of people where I lived which made me, I guess, put me in a dangerous mindset as I felt my actions were putting my family at risk and the “monkey brain” response was wanting to remove that risk. That got directed towards writing an inflammatory letter to her, which the little bitch of a boyfriend came with 2 of his friends to threaten me at work. He threatened violence after work, I got excited, followed by a self realisation of what the hell and proceeded to have a panic attack as tried to come to terms how excited I was getting at the thought of wanting to go out in a blaze of anger and glory.

People telling me they understand, when their actions repeatedly and clearly show me that they, in fact, do not understand

Asking someone to politely, at first, not doing something - like leave crumbs in the margarine (vegetable butter) or margarine in the jam, have it ignored and continue to do it

Using a electric kettle and only pouring enough water for themselves, as the water quality leaves residue in the water and requires it to be thrown out, and in my case given a wipe, when the water is too low. This leads to having to use the kettle twice

Being told to meet someone at a club, be an idiot and wait 4 stupid hours in the cold and rain outside waiting for them, telling me all sorts of bullshit, while they were in the club the whole time

Being told I was an equity employment - I guess for the Americans know it as D.E.I, and told I would basically be stuck at the position I will be applying for. A few years later, I am in essense doing work outside of speciality for the lower position pay, which the company was transistioning towards, I hate it because they are doing everything they can to “extract value while cutting costs” and pushing that narrative and then when I do not perform to satisfaction be rhetorically asked if do I not want to be promoted - which I know is just a bs ploy to try make me work harder because I will never be promoted.

Having my personal social information be discussed behind my back without asking permission - example having someone tell my parents above my relationship with someome in high school.

In high school,telling someome to leave me alone and they repeatedly violated that space, made worse when my parents allowed said person to come near when I expressly displayed in action to not want to engage with them. It ended up with a emotive kangaroo kick when they pushed to far and me going for a very angry through bushes to avoid being followed.

I do not know if all this qualifies, but that is all I can think of off the top of my head, I am willing to amend points that do not meet criteria