m76

Fun and varied gameplay. A game can have the best story ever, if the gamelplay is linear without much chance to do things differently, it won't invite me back to play again. For example I don't think I'll ever re-play TLOU2, because there isn't all that much more to it. Maybe if it comes out on PC and I can play it with a mouse and keyboard. Games that invite me back do so because there is a strategy to them, skill based linear games offer nothing that I didn't already experience on the first playthrough. Even RPGs fall under this rule, because how you build your character is a form of strategy.

Alien Isolation, Ghost Recon Wildlands / Breakpoint. - and other games were the danger of death feels real.

Realistic games I play on the hardest difficulty, as in closest to realistic. Like Ghost Recon Wildlands, DeusEx. Non-realistic action games and RPGs usually on normal difficulty. I skip games that are too difficult on normal, because it usually means an irreconcilable difference between how I want to play games and how the devs intended the game to be played.

I play immersive sims on the hardest difficulty, action games on normal, and everything on a console on casual because I hate controllers.

Dragon Age has a very uneven difficulty. The outcome of encounters are so random in it, that it happened to me many times that retrying the same encounter using the same strategy resulted in completely acing it one time, with no casualties then total annihilation on the next try. Too much is dependent on luck and not enough on skill.

What was the moment when you identified 100% with your character in the game and why? For me it was Abby in the last of us 2 on the skybridge level. I have a profound fear of falling off things, standing on the second step of a ladder is already terrifying to me unless I can hold on to something solid. So on that level I knew exactly what she would feel, so I had a very personal connection. It felt more real because I know how it feels IRL if you get what I mean.

No singular person should lead any country. Every decision must be made using the scientific method, that is all that matters, not the who, but the how.

Because they think a story can't be meaningful otherwise. Or they are trying to be edgy. I hate fail endings, it makes the whole story meaningless and pointless to me. It means I've wasted my time on a no-win situation. All games should be winnable/beatable. If the protagonist dies or fails to achieve their goals even if the player does everything right, that's not fair. What is the point of playing a game you can't win? It's like playing against a cheater.

It means changing something retroactively that throws your face value interpretation of previous events on the garbage pile.

If I see a good deal on games of interest I buy them, even if I don't plan to play them immediately. I admit some games I failed to get to even years later.

Yes, but mostly for smaller / indie titles. User reviews can be very helpful to find out about flaws that would be deal breakers to me. As for AAA titles, never. Had I listened to reviews I'd have missed out on a lot of good games.

I rarely encounter the same situations in RL as in games. So it's hard to say if I do the same as I'd do in real life. I do what I feel like is right for the character, not what I'd necessarily do myself given the same situation. But it would be a very mundane game if I'd have to deal with situations in it I already do IRL.

The way Splinter Cell Conviction retconned character Anna Grimmsdottir from analyst to field agent. I can't think of anything else right now.

Games that don't let you skip the company logos on startup even after the nth time of running the game. Games that don't let you into the main menu on first start before playing through some introductory gameplay sequence, which chances are will run at the wrong resolution or the controls won't be set up as I like it, so it is an utter waste of time as I'll have to re-start the game anyway with the proper settings. Games that have their checkpoints before unskippable cutscenes or conversations. Forcing you to re-watch them each time you retry a particular segment of the game.

No, it's whatculture, one of the worst copycats of watchmojo imo.

I'm sorry, but LOL. We are talking about Naughty Dog that is in the US. You are telling me that it is not possible to work from home in north america? Bunkers? supplies? What on earth are you talking about? It is not the apocalypse, people can still buy food and supplies as before. You just have to be a bit more careful about disinfecting and social distancing. Have you really been living in a bunker for the last year? I'm mostly working in software, and I've been working from home since March 2020, only going to the office 2-4 times a month. And productivity increased, not decreased because the stress of the commute is gone. When there is inevitable downtime I can do my own things, instead of sitting in an office staring at a wall. 99% of office workers could do their job from home as well as from an office or better. Not willing does not equal not possible. And what does getting careless after the first wave have to do with working from home as a software developer? Thanks to technology you can even do meetings virtually now without actually sitting in the same office. So yeah, for ND and most game devs in the first world, covid is a convenient excuse for delays, and not something that significantly hinders progress.

It seems to me that covid is just a scapegoat. It does not affect office productivity that negatively if at all. Some people just work more efficiently from home. No distractions from colleagues. Only get in contact when really needed.

It seems like they think a game can only be thrilling and dramatic if it ends on a sour note. If TLOU2 had ended after the farm scene it would've been perfect. But no, they had to "subvert our expectations". That term is a curse.

Frankly I'm sick and tired of all games and movies killing off some important character or making the protagonist fail in some way. All I want is a proper win, that feels like a win and not overshadowed by some terrible tragedy. From the games I've played in the past 1.5 years exactly zero had a happy ending. F that. Isn't it enough that real world gets me down? I want more uplifting stories.

At this point bad endings are the predictable ones, it's very rare to have a game or even a movie that ends without anyone important dying or something going horribly wrong.

1. Beyond: Two Souls It had such a profound effect on me, I've never felt such responsibility for the protagonist in any other game. 2. The Last of Us was great, too, but it never felt so personal as Beyond 3. The Last of Us II overall, I think the game is better than the first, but the story has many small things that could've been told better, or that were counter to the overarching narrative. I felt that it tried too hard, a more subtle approach would've raised it above the first game story wise, or even to the very first place on my list. 4. Detroit: Become Human there were some elements in the story that were great, but I felt it had too many parallel stories going on, and it didn't really do justice to most of them. 5. Ghost Recon Wildlands This might be an odd choice you think, but the game appealed to me exactly because it was not your story, for all intents and purposes the main protagonist in the game is an NPC, and you are just a mercenary on the ground helping her achieve her revenge. I think the atmosphere captured perfectly the mindset of mercenaries working in hostile territories.

It seems to me that most games have at best a bitter or ambiguous ending. What do you prefer? I much prefer happy ends, I don't like tragic ends to stories. I'm not for foreshadowing either. When a game ends every plot point should be tied up nicely with no open ends and unfinished businesses remaining. If the game was great, people will want a sequel anyway, you don't need to leave breadcrumbs for that.

I'm not a fan of dragging things out to the bitter end. Games that are only loosely connected to each other can last a long time, like GTA or Assassin's Creed, but otherwise I don't think doing more than one or two sequels is wise.

I try again if I feel there is room to do much better. If I don't feel I've made any obvious mistakes I don't try again.

I think it's more like a medieval cathedral, so it reminded me of skyrim.