I played it a long time ago, but still recall how the way of open fist and closed fist symbolized I guess concepts

Closed Fist, was a philosophy selfish desire and domination with the ideal of only the strongest getting to make the rules

Whereas open fist was selflessness with the ideal that one’s strength is only as strong as the weakest link

The morality was binary choice with the environments changing somewhat accordingly, but I recall it having a more noticable effect on the “kung-fu” you could learn and it was an interesting mechanic to try and match one’s fighting style to the philosophy one follows.

I recall open-fist felt more disciplined and “soft” in its impact whereas closed-fist had a more viseral feel with the intent to cause harm and show superiority

Although the choice was either open or closed fist it did leave a stronge impact on how different the ending sequence played out which at the time was something I really felt impressed with as the difference in tone during the last moments - showcasing that both paths can achieve the goal.

I think Mass Effect probably had its early roots, in regards to morality system, from Jade Empire with influence from KOTOR as well.

CDDA, takes awhile to get comfortable with the controls, but it does scratch a certain itch once one can get setup and start to test one’s luck in search of the good stuff.

One has to make their own objectives for it though otherwise one can sort of just get to a point and not know what to do. But getting to a point where you can just walk into a city and be the most dangerous thing there does have a certain charm to it considering the journey getting there. It certainly rewards exploring though as one can find all sorts of craziness hidden away waiting to be found.

I know it is cliche to say but it took me the longest time to really knuckle down and play it, but boy once I did - I basically started up another playthrough right after to see what I missed and the shift in perspective when I played a different type of character was interesting to say the least.

So started as a skeptical intellectual who had to pull themselves from a sorry cop to a regular cop and approached things logically with a touch of eccentricity and pangs of regret and then compared to a wishy-washy communist with fascist leanings (which characters called the character out on) psychic superstar cop with an alias he truly believed was his name and I enjoyed and saw a completely different side of the game which was unexpected.

I cannot speak on the rest of the series, but I have played devil survivor 1 and 2:

Devil Survivor 1 does have a bit of a difficulty curve that can take one by surprise with the first major boss and it is like priming the player towards what to expect but its story I personally enjoyed.

Devil Survivor 2 is lighter in tone, well compared to the Devil Survivor 1, but I felt it was a smoother experience - doesn’t feel as tightly packaged but it does compensate with having a better presentation and provides choice in a lot clearer manner.

I liked Devil Survivor 1 story better but enjoyed Devil Survivors 2 gameplay more

It would be glorious but that level of attention to the art of “dancing” is a dying breed in games, personally a fan of the “one-stop drop shot” and the “fire man shuffle”

I will also say, the original Fallouts are games of its time. It sold itself off its narrative and as I am playing Fallout 2, it is still enjoyable but I do concede there are moments of frustration that one learns to work around.

It is not a perfect game, but it is a game that was written in a plausible manner that could be considered too real look at human nature at times and in the same breath going off the rails crazy with something out of pocket that can catch one off guard.

It does a great job of allowing one to make it their story, although some of the writing might not gel with everyone it at least framed it well in setting.

It think it gels well with people that can roleplay in a setting as even the combat logs have humour to it. It requires a lot of reading and the people in the videos look like clay dolls but it is bound to envoke something in someone if they are enjoying themselves playing these types of games.

The turn-based nature of the combat can turn people off, but I cannot deny the charm of running up to someone and giving them a concussion by wolloping their head and then going in to gouge their eyes to make them useless in combat and finishing them off with a shot to the groin.

You would have hated the original Stardew Valley Gramp Pa, would give you a stern talking too and declare his immeasurable disappointment (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

I can somewhat understand though, I like the timer aspect even if I do not like the feeling of being “rushed”. But I understand, you would hate pathfinder:kingmaker though

I can see them doing a better job of it yes, they are probably the closest to understand the how the older Fallout works and already have experience making games like it too in a more modern setting

Thank you for more eloquently writing what I couldn’t really properly get out

There are things in Fallout 2 that stick with me since the first time I played it more than a decade ago because their are moments that feel impactful - it made me feel guilt for my actions, it made me laugh at something totally ridiculous and it has charm and subtlety that I feel Bethesda games struggle with.

I played and finished fallout 3 and new vegas, played a bit of 4 and besides New Vegas giving me some of that old fallout charm, it does not have as nearly as memorable moments that live rent free in my head

Fair enough, Fallout 2 at least did deal with a lot of dark themes that I don’t see Bethesda retreading.

In regards to the kids thing, there were ways around it, it was more an annoyance having to buy back stuff that got stolen if one didn’t take those precautions and on an evil playthrough could cut the pretense and do it without much consequence besides the perk reputation as the place was a craphole anyway.

The older fallouts needed one to get into the setting to start the ball rolling, it is not a pretty game and would not be above throwing the playable character in difficult situation if they didn’t prepare for it but it had a way with its writing that helped one to roleplay once one got to a point where one got established which is an older game paradigm that isn’t popular nowadays - building a reputation, and once you have one can start to interact with the world proper.

New Vegas scratches that itch, but isn’t completely the same

I suppose it is like playing a interactive book and then falling in love with the writing and systems that represented uncomfortable realities in an interesting way.

Bethesda’s version is toned down

• Cannot kill children in Bethesda games (without modding)
• Fallout 2 dealt with some realities of porn, learnt about terms like being a fluffer if are not fit for porn and if you had the skills it provided a pretty salicious perk image and a stage name among a couple of other changes. Sex referencing was used quite a lot in game - sometimes disturbingly so at times.
• Gravedigging fair enough, there is a perk one gets in fallout 2 that hits you with karma penalty when you do it but otherwise point taken
• Joining the slavers in Fallout 2, you get branded with a facial brand telling the waste “Look at me, I am a Slaver” which had the effect to lock a character out of quests and be automatically branded an enemy of the NCR - which is a choice that can be made in the second town.

I really would not like Bethesda level writing and character gating to muddy the classics. I seriously doubt it will do the old series justice with the level of inappropriate content.

Easiest examples being the thieving children in Fallout 2, it allowed you “solve” that problem if you didn’t have patience and got a negative quirk in the process.

A low intelligence run was almost a completely new experience with a different level of interaction that was tongue-in-cheek look at someone who really struggles with “standard” game narrative.

That not to mention how much of a mess it will be for bethesda to code for a player plus up to 5 party members per encounter ( making Charisma not a “dump” stat). I strongly doubt they can pull it off if it as a company is still struggling to make the player character plus 1 work smoothly.

I also feel that the old fallout’s sense of humour might not fly with today’s sensibilities specifically the level of objectification, a female character can use to their advantage or the level of “male power fantasy” with specific perks and SPECIAL loadout - which I am sure is something Bethesda will try to avoid as they seem to push for a more gamified systems.

And I really do not think they will be willing to make The Brotherhood play a minor role as they are like a “minor” faction that tries to avoid too much attention in setting in their mission to preserve the old tech from repeating the mistakes of the past

I strongly doubt Todd and his team are the right people to devote resources to truly capture the dark world of old fallout into a faithful reproduction. I think it would be toned down and would most likely follow a bethesda vision for the series.

Maybe I am being overly negative, but I feel even if they maybe revamped it with some prettier graphics and modern system sensibilities, it might still lose some of its soul in the process. I am willing to be proven wrong though

Mass Effect - I see there is a legendary edition with all the content bundled in one package

• Mass effect 1: Is slow in the beginining, then opens up after the tutorial, although the secondary content feels like a grind one can find a lot of lore in between it all. Outside of the Golden path the environments and a lot of the combat feels samey, but the story really comes together well in the last moments

• Mass effect 2 : The game is streamlined a lot, better environments and the character and crew stories steal the show and everything comes together in the ending again, although your choices are a lot more meaningful in the way the final mission plays out

• Mass effect 3 : The culmination of the Mass Effect triology, even with the hits and misses the highs are high and the lows are low. The ending although improved on from what it came out with is serviceable now - although not going to harp and kick on that dead horse.

I will admit by today’s standards Origins is a bit dated, and it can feel janky but I think it was one of bioware’s better games in a single package

6 origins that each have their own effect on the story and has some enduring characters - it is a good fantasy story that has your character choices play out in the final stretches and it does feel good seeing results of that play out in way that, to me at least felt meaningful.

I want to add, it took me a while to warm up to Disco Elysium, but once I got past a day or 2, I ended up being compeled into its world.

It is probably one of the best games of failure not impeding progress and baring a few mission critical paths, it is a game where failure can have a more entertaining outcome than success.

Although there is a “Golden Path” to success, there is a lot of variance to get the there.

Doesn’t check all the boxes, but Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater hits a lot of notes, most notably in the boss fight department.

3rd person, Cold War spy, stealth, action game

• A hunger mechanic that effected performance (stamina and at around 50% would affect aim or have stomach growls that would alert enemies) and could get food via hunting, trapping or stealing and in a few situations could be used offensively

• Camo system

• Majority of the bosses that you could defeat lethally or no lethally

• Medical system was pretty nifty, not fully realistic doing first aid during battle, but had the spirit of battle injury management

• Can get a lot of lore tidbits here and there by being stealthy and eavesdropping either being nearby or using a longe range listening device and by communicating with your operational support

And there is probably other systems I am forgetting ( played it on a ps2 many moons ago). Seems there is a pc version but appears to be a port and with a controller requirement, but otherwise I thought it was a loaded game for its time ( released 2004)

Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice

I found the premise of exploring the psyche of Senua and after the end, even though she isn’t fixed, she can at least put a part of herself to rest and really rings home what she as a person and people like her can be living with.

Spec Ops: The Line

Getting through the game and then evaulating all your decisions and seeing the changes over time of a broken man getting more broken leaves an impression of “Are we the bad guys”, especially after seeing the tone change from dialogue, loading screens and even how the characters move and animation over the course of the game.

Dr Mordin Solus can be saved, all it costs is the ruthless suppression of Krogan : source trying a renegade run and feeling so bad that I shot him - for Solarian aide - started from mass effect 1 to do a renegade run that I could feel less guilty from my horrible decision

I would do my part, but that would require me to really look through the app store… Type in reddit in app store… and yeah… not going to scroll through app stores garbage bargain bin to find it

Besides the app doesn’t even work on my phone ( at one point I, in my foolish ignorance, downloaded the app, but my device was smarter ( or just too old) to be able to open it)

To confirm for misunderstanding I cannot rate as I have not used. No option in link and cannot find on app store

Not sure where it is from, misquoting and probably butchering the quote:

“If you think a headache is bad, break your arm then the headache doesn’t feel so bad anymore”

Basically if something is bad, but something worse comes along, then the bad thing doesn’t seem so bad anymore

Update:

Because this has got me thinking, going to update when I quote source ( also don’t want to double post)

Heard in Mass Effect 2, Thane quoting:

“When all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death.” Thomas Hobbes