Don’t care about achievements play games till like 70% then drop them. If it stops being fun I’m done, finishing a game is never a requirement don’t have time for that
I got to like 98% in RDR2 before I realized the gambling ones were going to be a giant pain in the ass. At that point I was in too deep to give up. I watched all 3 Robocop movies in one sitting and still didn’t complete the last blackjack one. Eventually got it but that was a frustrating experience.
Yea I was like looking for a solution online because I was like “there’s no way you’re just supposed to brute force this” and came across so many people that were like “no there’s no trick but I got in like 30 minutes”
Yeah unless the story is good I’m rarely going to stick around for the last bit, which is usually just padding. Actually, good difficulty levels / other accessibility options have been a nice development.
Let’s you turn down the volume on the gameplay so you can finish for the story.
152 is the sum of the + and -1 votes 82 % were + So 18% were - So 18% of + were canceled from the - So what we see is the remaining 64% positive, which means that 100 % are 237 votes (42 downvotes, 195 upvotes)
Interesting. My app allows me to have them separate, so I see all the up separate from all the down, and always have. I refused early on to use anything that combines them because I want the full picture of engagement.
If you use an app, check through the settings and see if it’s supported (all the iOS apps I tested have it). Idk about web, might be something to look into tho since the data is all there, so it’s just be a matter of handling.
That’s actually pretty easy once capitalist USA is abolished and thus no longer violently interfering with the internal affairs of socialist countries.
I am not so knowledgeable so forgive my ignorance, but why do most communist States have this knack for massive intelligence gathering on its own citizens? Are the concepts of personal privacy with freedom and working towards collective good so mutually exclusive?
Again this is not sarcastic, I genuinely wish to know.
PS I also hate capitalism from the core of my guts.
Are the concepts of freedom and working towards collective good so mutually exclusive?
Not necessarily, and I also disagree with the commenter above that without the USA suddenly the world would be singing kumbaya.
The problem was dictators seizing power in turbulent times. In Russia, Stalin abolished the soviets (A.K.A worker’s councils, kinda like mega unions) in the Soviet union. I think that says a lot.
In Romania (I’m a bit better equipped to talk about this one), things were a bit different.
The original communist government (1945) was essentially a Russian puppet state that drained the wealth of Romania via war reparations. Stalinist purges happened often during this period.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, Romania got a degree of independence and things were actually looking up. Society in general (infant mortality, gender equality, literacy, standard of living, etc) were all improving rapidly without Russia draining us and making decisions for us, and we didn’t have a surveilance state of the scale that would come later. This was a period marked by political battles between the liberal communists and the Stalinist communists for control, with Stalinists commiting some pretty horrible atrocities (if you want nightmare fuel for some reason, look up the Pitesti experiment).
Then, 1965, Ceacescu took power. During his early years, he actually looked like a liberal (EDIT: Just to be clear: I mean a liberal communist. This means more individual freedom for citizens in a communist economy). He allowed some emigration, some free speech, and even spoke out about the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. This, at the start, did not look like a typical authoritarian communist state. Unfortunately, Inspired by the “amazing” society of North Korea in 1971, he started to make changes in the structure of society to be more like it, which included an expanded Securitate. 2 years later, harsh austerity policies to repay foreign loans led to a massive drop in living conditions, which led to riots, which led to crackdowns. Things rapidly spiralled, and the Securitate were given more and more power to keep control.
This then became the police state that everybody thinks of when they think of communism. A combination of too much power in 1 person’s hands, an authoritarian imperialist overlord (Russia), and rising backlash against dropping living conditions.
“we didn’t have a surveilance state of the scale that would come later”
For all of you that preach communism please make an imagination exercise just for a minute and imagine what kind of Authoritarianism you ask for when you will have a neverseen kind of Technological Communism, using current available surveillance technology (in place) like your smartphone for example (which I know a lot of people don’t know what is its real use…)
In Russia, Stalin abolished the soviets (A.K.A worker’s councils, kinda like mega unions) in the Soviet union.
Are you referring to the constitution of 1936, which established 4 layers of representative councils (local, regional, national, union) as Stalin dissolving the Soviets?
why do you think that is worse
why do you blame it on Stalin? Seems like a thing that was written and implemented pretty democratically.
No, I’m not talking about the 1936 constitution. I meant specifically the disempowerment of local and union soviets.
I’m no expert on Russian history, so I may be misinformed about this, but as far as I understand it he put in place a series of reforms that stripped power from the local level and empowered the central committee.
This is partially true. Issues arose from trying to marry central planning with localized production, so there were a series of reforms that shifted the balance of control. This didn’t end worker representation, it was a major shift that changed its form as the USSR industrialized and grew beyond where it once was.
Was it perfect and entirely democratic? No. Was it far more democratic than Capitalism? Absolutely, without question.
Shifted power in the sense of the local branches were federated within the same structure now, but honestly that seems more accountable and democratic?
Because once the dictatorship of the proletariat is installed it needs to defend itself from counter revolutionaries who want to reinstate class inequality. Actually similarly to how the US and other capitalist states are heavily surveilling and infiltrating communist and other anti capitalist groups in- and outside of their own countries.
It’s less that Communist States have massive intelligence networks on their own populace because they are Communist, and more that states kinda just do that. American privacy violations are horrifying.
The “difference” largely comes from bourgeois media overplaying the bad elements and underplaying the good elements of Communist projects, while downplaying the bad elements and overplaying the good elements of Capitalist projects.
Combine this with the widespread fact that the US intentionally infiltrates and destabilizes states that even flirt with Socialism in the Global South, with hundreds of assassination attempts on figures like Castro, and it starts to seem more reasonable.
Media nah leave it, advertising I’d absolutely be down for. Advertising and Marketing are essentially the science of tricking our brains, and when that lever is exposed to capital you get enshittification and misery.
Basically when you do a socialist revolution your national bourgeoisie and international bourgeoisie are willing to crush it through any means necessary. You unfortunately have to use the machinery of the state to protect from bourgeois subversion, or you get shit like Indonesia, Chile, overthrow of the USSR through executive coup, etc.
Thank you all for the valuable insight. I can’t reply to everybody individually so I am replying as a collective. From what I can surmise, basically, the state becomes the sort of mega Corp that capitalism inevitably breeds and data mining becomes legal as you are the law and data mining is necessary to hold power and prevent further revolutions.
It makes me wonder, how do new economic models come to be? Does it always have to be Einsteinian, that one man is a genius, or can economics do collective progress like modern science. Obviously economics has more artificial hurdles to overcome, but we should have something better by now when we know that both systems suck. I don’t know, I am just a random guy on the internet
BTW, correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that the root cause of these problems is one human having enough power to decide life and death of another human. Like maybe due to our origin by subjugation of other species, but people holding power over other people is creating a huge crap fest. Plus there is the worst inequality of all… Inequality of BIRTH.
Honestly,i dont know, most dystopias come about because of some persons dream of utopia.
That’s an interesting take, wanna tell me more? (I’m sick right now and my brain cells don’t function well enough to think for myself but that’s unironically an interesting take)
well I meant that most business tools have a free/affordable tier or competitor, there’s little structure holding back a profit-sharing model in terms of infrastructure
Shit, we have examples or socialized markets that run whole economies. We don’t need to go far… Shit enforcing the current rules equally would change the world…
Because communism requires everyone to be willing to work for the betterment of society, not money. But unless everyone (or at least almost everyone) does that, it doesn’t work.
Please recommend me your favourite story games. This is me and I’m in need of a good ‘book.’ :)
Edit: I’m going to tell you all to play Night in the Woods. Now, it is set in my home region and felt like a game made for me, but I think it has messages anyone could relate to.
I’m listening to the soundtrack right now and it’s awesome. The story is decent and the graphics and design are top notch. It was so captivating that I pretty much didn’t play anything else while I was working through the game.
Story first games: Tacoma, What Remains of Edith Finch, Life Is Strange, Botany Manor(more puzzle than story), Open Roads, Lake, Deliver Us The Moon, Firewatch, Kona, Day of the Tentacle (The remaster is incredible)
For more standard shoot or action games with good writing/story I love the remedy games, Alan Wake, Quantum Break, Control.
I was never a huge fan of Telltale style story games that much, but I really enjoyed the Back to the Future one that came out years back. Not sure if that’s still available anywhere though.
I picked up “Yakuza 0” on sale not too long ago, and I’m enjoying it so much that I picked up the rest of the remastered series while it was on sale. Based on how long I’m spending mucking around in the first one, It may take me the rest of my life to get through them all. I don’t know how “Like a Dragon” compares to the earlier games, but I really enjoy the narrative, combat, sub-stories, and mini-games in “0”.
As an aside, I really enjoy a well-done pool mini-game. I probably spent more time playing pool in the various space stations in “Rebel Galaxy Outlaw” than doing anything else. Likewise, Kiryu spends a lot of time in the pool hall, as well as hanging around the batting cages, and fine-tuning his pocket racers.
Don’t know that they’ll all be ported to PC but the Supermassive standalones (Until Dawn, The Quarry) and Dark Pictures Anthology are great, if you like horror movies. I prefer to watch my wife play them. They’re literally like interactive/choose your own adventure films.
I’ve read that comment a lot and it makes me feel like there’s something big that I might spoil if I ever Google about it. But like I’m a couple dozen hours in at this point… After how many hours of playtime would you say the “don’t look it up” advice expires?
Seconding the Blackwell series, with a caveat. The earlier games can be a little rough around the edges, resulting in a few Guide Dang It! moments. Walkthroughs are your friends.
Mostly in alphabetical order going down my steam list:
Great stories great games: Tales of Symphonia and Vesperia, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky trilogy, Metal Gear Solid, 2, and 3, Subnautica, Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Hollow Knight, Spec Ops: The Line, A Hat in Time, Hades, Doom, Deus Ex, Eternal Sonata, F.E.A.R., FF6, FF13-2, Nier Replicant & Automata, Sleeping Dogs, Undertale, Valkyria Chronicles (admittedly haven’t beaten it though).
Mindless fun simple stories: Ys (almost any of them), My Time at Portia or Sandrock, Resident Evil games, Rune Factory 4 and 5, Harvest Moon 64 and Friends of Mineral Town, Stray, Amnesia, Armored Core 6, Have a Nice Death, I am Setsuna, Life is Strange, Neon White, Cyberpunk 2077.
If you had to twist my arm I’d give you these variations of top recommendations.
Best typical JRPG: Tales of Symphonia
Best Metroidvania: Hollow Knight
Best where choices matter: Undertale
Best fps: Spec Ops: The Line
Best comfy story: My Time at Portia
Best environmental storytelling: Subnautica
Best simple stories in stories: A Hat in Time
Best story with a bajillion endings and things to keep playing for: Nier Automata (play Replicant too!)
Pillars of Eternity. I’ve owned the game for 8 years but finally sat down recently to learn how to play a classic CRPG. I haven’t been this engrossed in a game since Mass Effect 2 or Skyrim.
I absolutely adored a low budget game called Firewatch. It’s first person and your only contact with another human is through a radio. You’re running away from your life and work for a summer in a fire watch tower in a national park.
The story is nice and the characters are interesting and flawed and relatable.
Buy it on sale and have a fun evening or two with it.
Witcher 3. The story is insanely good, just remember: your decisions matter (but don’t look anything up).
Some people say it’s hard to get into it and to be fair it is a bit complicated first but you don’t have to use all mechanics, and it’s well worth getting into it.
It just got an official mod creator (yes, that game from… 2015? (graphics from 2022 since there was a huge graphics update) still got a new update in 2024) and the community still is strong so it’ll get even better over the next years.
Oh sweet nobody’s mentioned it yet! One of my personal favorite “book-feeling games” is an FPS series.
Linear, tightly focused, and feels like a novel because it’s based on one:
Metro: 2033 and Metro: Last Light.(Haven’t played Exodus yet)
You play a young fella named Artyom. Living in formerly-Russia’s metro tunnels with other survivors after a nuclear apocalypse devastates the surface.
Your settlement comes under threat from seemingly psychic creatures called “the Dark Ones”, and you’re sent on a quest to go get help.
Across the way is a bit of a “coming of age” adventure. You run across really interesting and well-acted characters, sneak past hostile factions, contend with scary (and diversely behaviored) mutants, and risk dangerous excursions on the surface. This is a dark world where gasmask filters are precious and bullets are literally currency, but somehow it’s still beautiful and fascinating.
(That intro guitar melody will stay with me forever.)
Like any good hero, Artyom finds himself in one bad situation after another, and along the way if you pick up on the hints, may even come to understand the world around him and the role he plays in it.
There’s a morality system that’s more subtle than “be boyscout or be a villain”, and “ranger difficulty” is an amazing way to play because it makes gunfights feel tense and realistic.
You can only take a few hits in this mode, but unlike in most games, so can your enemies! It makes things feel much less “bullet spongey.”
Everyone begged for an “open world” experience and we got Exodus which is supposed to be awesome, but something will always stay close to me about this post apocalypse story that takes you on a focused, well paced, and at times emotional ride to save a transformed world.
And that’s just the first title mostly.
You won’t be running between towns for hours or making rubber bands and glue into machineguns. You’ll still feel like you’re surviving, but know exactly where you’re supposed to be going.
They go for super cheap on GoG and Steam all the time. Well worth the experience. :)
Martha is Dead. A tragic and frightening story. Heed to the warnings they give at the start, tho. My wife literally got sick from playing it. No other game or movie has touched me that deep.
“To the moon”, it will take you 4h to finish and the story is awesome, it’s worth playing in a single playthrough. I wish I could forget and play it again.
Steins;Gate. It starts slow, but once it picks up it’s amazing and puts all that slow build up to good use. Not sure if it technically counts though. Visual novels are a weird middle ground that aren’t really book or game, but there are some really good ones. Definitely the way to go if you’re in more of a reading mood but want some art and music to go with it.
Disco Elysium. Its an RPG, but most skills have an application both in the world but also in conversations (of which there are a lot, and very well written). Its got a very bitter-sweet vibe to it.
You got a lot of great recommendations already, but I want to add one more indie game: Lost Words Beyond the Page. Gameplay is simple and it’s not very long, but the writing is excellent.
Yeah, toilets in American homes tend to rely on a siphon to evacuate the bowl so the outlet has to be narrower. Also, Bidets are not very common so most people [insufficiently] clean themselves with toilet paper which is prone to causing clogs.
Personally, I installed a bidet a few years ago and I would never go back to not having one.
I live in Europe, and somehow my toilet gets blocked every couple of months. Might have to just clean it properly with a spiral, but so far the plunger has always worked.
Just don’t be too aggressive. There will be backsplash.
You went to a country with incredibly poor-quality, high fibre ultra-processed food, coupled with medieval-level plumbing, then clogged a toilet and said -
Problem as always with these Wishes. You didn’t really clarify what we will have instead of capitalism. Now he changed the world to some entire new system that no one ever thought of before that is even worse. :o You need to state as much detail as possible when wishing
I typically buy all the “best game of the year” games at steep discounts. Some of them really embrace a “live” game service and require hundreds of hours a season, which isn’t my thing.
But my most played game last year was Vampire Survivors, A single player game that looks like it came from the SNES era.
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