Reality vs Adventure

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@StaceyPowers mentioned a topic on racism in games, but I can't think of a game that targets racism specifically, let alone tackling it. But I think the movie Crash would be a good drama game where you have to make decisions, and most being related to prejudice and racism. In the movie there are multiple characters whose lives come crashing together that evolves around racism and prejudice. 

Witcher 3: Yennefer and Ciri 
 


 

Being a classic gamer, I can guarantee that as long as I can play, the old stuff will never be forgotten. I got my PhD in Console Emergency Surgery when I was 5. I know how to administer CPR to a Nintendo better than anyone. So I’m going to keep them all alive.

I can only recommend Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft as it's the only book of his I've owned and read (just this morning have I finished The Call of Cthulhu, despite having owned it since my college days), but I think it does a good enough job of showing off his 'Cthulhu Mythos' (what he's most famous for) and some of his 'standalone' horror works.
Not really, no. Despite how generously fleshed out Lovecraft's works were during his life, they're still very cryptic and most adaptations revolve around others' work. Take for example the Call of Cthulhu (2018) video game - as I've just discovered it had virtually nothing to do with the short story of the same name, barring the tone and lots of green. However it was developed in collaboration with the rights holders of the tabletop roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu, by Chaosim Inc.
As said before, some stories are part of the Cthulhu Mythos (a 'Lovecraft Cinematic Universe', one might say), wherein the Great Old Ones are incomprehensible and more hauntingly, inevitable. Others are simple eerie stories about rats.
I personally would recommend looking up some Lovecraftian imagery to get a better idea in one's mind's eye when reading the original work, however what's said in the book has been lovingly recreated since. I'm surprised how true to the source material the look of Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones has remained over a century later, if a lot of the themes of the books have been downplayed because it's easier to acknowledge that Cthulhu's a big bad tentacle monster.
I'm afraid I can't fully answer this question, but here's my observations as to the central themes of good Lovecraftian writing:
The monsters don't can't die. While a Call of Cthulhu game can have combat, it's usually a pointless affair. While many cultist worshippers of the Great Old Ones are mortal and can be gunned down, some have been blessed with near invulnerability and features akin to their tentacled gods. As for Cthulhu Itself.... It can't die. It can be made to go away, but it will come back because its cult has existed since the first men, and will be there long after the last. This is always at no small cost to life and sanity. 'Tis better to die than to go insane. Dying is considered the win state in the grim darkness of the Cthulhu Mythos. You can't possibly hope to lead a normal life knowing what you do about the Necronomicon, the non-Euclidean architecture of Cthulhu's resting place, and shooting as many loathesome hellspawn as you'll encounter. Alternatively, being ignorant of these things is for the best. Chances are we won't see Cthulhu in our lifetime given how many countless millenia It and Its kin have existed, and it's a good idea to keep it that way. A product of its time. While Cthulhu's exploits have been recorded in Ancient Rome, the Cold War all the way to the Cyberpunk future of 1994, Cthulhu is at its best in my opinion when it's set in its gaslight era of the early 1900s, or before its author's time in the 1800s. I don't say this just because of the unfortunately liberal use of racist language common for Lovecraft's region of New England, but because nobody could conceive his eldritch horrors at the time. They'd thought the worst was over with the decline of religious supernatural belief, the rise of world-changing political ideologies and the Great War finally ending, and now they have to contend with the notion they don't have everything figured out? It was the perfect time to say science didn't have all the answers, for all the advancements it had made. So with all that said, what games do I recommend? Not many as I still need to familiarise myself, but here goes:
The Amnesia series. This was one of the earliest indie games to revitalise the horror genre for mainstream audiences after the so-called AAA industry had had enough of it. A first person puzzle and stealth game, the player is typically tasked with remembering what it is they're doing in the haunted house they're stuck in, chased by horrific flesh constructs and having to look at candles to stay sane. Call of Cthulu (2018) and Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth for the obvious reasons. You might also try Achtung! Cthulu Tactics for a game based on the WW2 tabletop roleplaying game of the same name (barring the 'tactics' addition). I was going to mention a few Warhammer titles like Space Hulk and Vermintide, but they don't quite do enough to capture the whole Lovecraftian theme, not that they try to however much inspiration they take. I think once you've read a few of his stories you'll end up seeing influences everywhere, and might say "this could be a Lovecraft story if it weren't for this being explained already", like I did in regards to Resident Evil lately.

In Witcher 3 there are a number of cabins with cozy interiors of the old woodland life. I've even taken a number of pics to dream about it. Here at home I would throw down a bale of hay right in my living room floor and hang out drinking. That was in my hay days. I've seen some cool houses in RDR2 also. I find it kind of cool in AC Origins they would have small stone houses and sleep outdoor on the roof, or right on the floor with no doors or anything and just enjoy the life. So I like either a wood cabin or all stone and open air. 

So much gore and torture you can smell it through the tv. Walk by recently used torture devices with matted insides some of which are still dripping. And that dripping never stops. You can always hear it. Faint voices of screams that are on its last round of echoes. The sound of chains dangling in the silence from an unknown breeze. Hot inferno in one chamber, and cold ghostly chill in another. Bones and limbs laying around as if kicked to the side like garbage, or fallen from a cart of bodies. Growls from creatures that are somewhere, and every turn you anticipate the worst. Cold stone walls and hooks dangling from ceilings. Big roaches and rats scurry. A maze you can't get out, with endless sights of death to see. And that is all just the surface, till you go down another level. You might as well be in hell. Because your soul is now forever changed. Hallucinations has you tormented, making you a raving lunatic. You find yourself naked on the cold bloody floor, weakly crawling as each breath is the last. Mad demons laugh at you all around. The world is spinning. You finally can walk and stumble around delirious. Head spinning. Bodies dangling. Axe chops. Chops. Then you make it to a quiet chamber to collect yourself. And the exit is not a door, but a psychological puzzle you have to solve in order to escape the dungeon. And you then wonder if any of it was real. Flashbacks haunt you. You begin to think you are dead. Turns out you never made it out of the dungeon, and that quiet room was just a teaser. Now you have to run, cause the monsters are there for real. And you run not knowing where you are going, just running through the maze. Hiding, running some more. Then you wake up and it all seems like a dream. Because it is. You are still in the dungeon after getting knocked out. Now you are strapped down. And the torture begins. Non pain torture first. And you have to figure out a way to get yourself free and run again. 

I'm currently playing We Happy Few set in England's swinging sixties, or slumming sixties if you're a Downer. You don't want to be a Downer, do you? Take your Joy. Not got any? You'd best run off to one of those repurposed telephone boxes and get yourself some from the Mood Booth. I hear there's a new Coconut flavour coming out. Here, why do the Mood Booths say "telephone" on them? I.... can't remember. Not that I need to. Well, is that the time? I'm due for my Joy. Vanilla this time, my favourite!

The soggy outcome is that we were under the rule of a god damn nazi for four long miserable years, and our country was destroyed. The economy tanked, violence skyrocketed, millions were forced well below the poverty line when they had been middle class prior to Adolf. Healthcare was revoked. Equalities that the Obama administration had implemented were almost all revoked. We were a hairs breath from being nuked on a daily basis from North Korea. Adolf went out of his way to try to incite WW3, which surprisingly didn't work. All of our allies abandoned us. Even our closest. Millions moved abroad. The only ones that we had any relationship with was, surprise, Russia.
 

Yeah well said @reality vs adventure.
Have you watched " like stars in the sky". It's another movie that shows pity, I just wish there could be a movie which was done in a simply and normal environment, take for example, something done in a small apartment like you said and maybe someone who doesn't really have anything to offer falling in love with some girl who is only chasing her dreams, real life story.
For a change I think the story will be great, no kidnapping, no killing, no death, no get rich by the end, just normal life and nothing more.
If I was to think the way most movie producers and script writers think, they tend to make the stories more interesting by starting with a tragedy story and ending in something we all know as happy ending and I can't blame them cos it has been working fine for years and it has turn to a tradition in the movie industry.
May be they are just scared of making an entire new movie that doesn't follow the story line and they feel like it's not going to sell or something cos all these fake stories have sold a lot since the beginning.

Agreed, but when they take a tragedy and try to make a love story out of it, then it's simply going too far. Titanic and Pearl Harbor are two prime examples. There were a lot of WW2 veterans that were enraged by the movie Pearl Harbor. My maternal grandfather was one. He went completely ballistic when it came out. I've never seen anyone so pissed off in my life. I was genuinely scared and stayed away from him for several years. I was never comfortable around him anyway, but that cinched it.
The same was for Titanic. There were a few Titanic survivors still alive, and they went ballistic too. And rightfully so for those involved with both events.

So much gore and torture you can smell it through the tv. Walk by recently used torture devices with matted insides some of which are still dripping. And that dripping never stops. You can always hear it. Faint voices of screams that are on its last round of echoes. The sound of chains dangling in the silence from an unknown breeze. Hot inferno in one chamber, and cold ghostly chill in another. Bones and limbs laying around as if kicked to the side like garbage, or fallen from a cart of bodies. Growls from creatures that are somewhere, and every turn you anticipate the worst. Cold stone walls and hooks dangling from ceilings. Big roaches and rats scurry. A maze you can't get out, with endless sights of death to see. And that is all just the surface, till you go down another level. You might as well be in hell. Because your soul is now forever changed. Hallucinations has you tormented, making you a raving lunatic. You find yourself naked on the cold bloody floor, weakly crawling as each breath is the last. Mad demons laugh at you all around. The world is spinning. You finally can walk and stumble around delirious. Head spinning. Bodies dangling. Axe chops. Chops. Then you make it to a quiet chamber to collect yourself. And the exit is not a door, but a psychological puzzle you have to solve in order to escape the dungeon. And you then wonder if any of it was real. Flashbacks haunt you. You begin to think you are dead. Turns out you never made it out of the dungeon, and that quiet room was just a teaser. Now you have to run, cause the monsters are there for real. And you run not knowing where you are going, just running through the maze. Hiding, running some more. Then you wake up and it all seems like a dream. Because it is. You are still in the dungeon after getting knocked out. Now you are strapped down. And the torture begins. Non pain torture first. And you have to figure out a way to get yourself free and run again. 

So much gore and torture you can smell it through the tv. Walk by recently used torture devices with matted insides some of which are still dripping. And that dripping never stops. You can always hear it. Faint voices of screams that are on its last round of echoes. The sound of chains dangling in the silence from an unknown breeze. Hot inferno in one chamber, and cold ghostly chill in another. Bones and limbs laying around as if kicked to the side like garbage, or fallen from a cart of bodies. Growls from creatures that are somewhere, and every turn you anticipate the worst. Cold stone walls and hooks dangling from ceilings. Big roaches and rats scurry. A maze you can't get out, with endless sights of death to see. And that is all just the surface, till you go down another level. You might as well be in hell. Because your soul is now forever changed. Hallucinations has you tormented, making you a raving lunatic. You find yourself naked on the cold bloody floor, weakly crawling as each breath is the last. Mad demons laugh at you all around. The world is spinning. You finally can walk and stumble around delirious. Head spinning. Bodies dangling. Axe chops. Chops. Then you make it to a quiet chamber to collect yourself. And the exit is not a door, but a psychological puzzle you have to solve in order to escape the dungeon. And you then wonder if any of it was real. Flashbacks haunt you. You begin to think you are dead. Turns out you never made it out of the dungeon, and that quiet room was just a teaser. Now you have to run, cause the monsters are there for real. And you run not knowing where you are going, just running through the maze. Hiding, running some more. Then you wake up and it all seems like a dream. Because it is. You are still in the dungeon after getting knocked out. Now you are strapped down. And the torture begins. Non pain torture first. And you have to figure out a way to get yourself free and run again. 

I couldn't say, as there are so many trading card games now. Back when I played there was only Pokemon and MTG. Yu-Gi-Oh! didn't even exist at the time. Some of the players now can build decks that can decimate their opponents in two turns, or even one turn. It's a brutal game. At the moment I only have one card that I'll never let go of. I won the sportsman card in a FNM tournament I played in. I'm willing to part with the rest of my cards if the price or trade is right, but I'm not letting go of that one.

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I would go for something more different, like a game that has another game in it. For example, I will mix GTA 5 with call of duty then towards the end add a little bit of resident evil.
The storyline will be massive, it will be a story that started with a peaceful town or city then boom, a war broke up and at the end the scientist will create an advance chemical that will turn everyone to zombie.
What do you think about that?

Innocence is that natural instinct until we are plagued by ideologies and the environment around us. You are right that a hero is in the 'eye of the beholder' meaning even villains can be someone's hero.
Just like someone who thinks they are a patriot but wants to enslave others, or a rebel that's wants genocide, or a hero that fights for pro slavery, a hero I refer to as being one has to uphold integrity and morality. And who am I to say what that is? Exactly
My point is, I think that siding with a criminal in a game shows that being a criminal doesn't mean they are automatically cut off from having the capacity in heroism. Would it forgive the things a criminal does if he does something heroic? Probably not, but you have to weigh it in at least. But if a criminal could still have potential heroism in them, then someone upholding the law could pervert heroism. I guess we really don't know until a situation arises that clearly divides us into being either a coward, hero, or villain. Those three characteristics are probably in all of us interchangeably depending on what situation we find ourselves in. But a villain in attack mode is way more obvious. 
Choices you make in the game could also define your character a little more too. I remember in True Crime Streets of LA you are a cop that chooses whether to be a good cop or bad cop. Lines are easily crossed. Referring to The Walking Dead again, one of the characters was on his way to prison for murder when it all happened, and he became such a lovable character. So our human nature can turn, whatever direction that is. I guess nothing is set in stone. But when we need some good, heroes will rise. I won't judge if they happen to be a criminal. 

Honor-that is the key. Spot on with that one. Reminds me of Witcher 3 when Geralt, who slays monsters, was asked to get involved in politics and help kill a king. He said he doesn't kill kings. He's said that on multiple occasions actually. And he only kills when necessary. Not all monsters deserve to die that were demonized by villagers that provoked the monster. 

Like with your example with Joel, I like the whole lawful/chaotic/good/evil spectrum to be blurred so we all get to decide for ourselves what is right, rather than a game telling us it is or not. I don't think Joel is either - he's just doing what it takes to survive which, taken to its most logical, pragmatic conclusion, is a very selfish goal. Selfishness is rarely - if ever - seen as heroic or the ends justifying the means, but he might see his actions in the final act that way. The writers might. I don't but I accept that a lot of his actions were necessary, just as cordyceps aren't evil when they spread spores to infect hosts solely for their survival.
Much as I like to lean toward anti-heroes, they're only as good as the ends which justify the means. An anti-hero isn't much good against a lawful-good leader; they have to be pitched against someone who also believes their way of survival and luxury is the right way. See the Punisher, who was made as a criticism of his world's judicial system which failed his wife and children, and a foil to Spiderman's own vigilante justice.
Is not the road to Hell paved with good intentions?

Deus Ex - Human Revolution and Mankind Divided shows what happens when Humans encounter a few who don't look like the others - the majority discriminate against them and perform all kinds of evil acts against them. Then the discriminated people start fighting back and suddenly they're being labelled as "terrorist" which were a product of their environment. This leads to a "civil war". I've seen so many examples of this throughout my lifetime and have experienced this a few times myself so I can completely relate.

AC Odyssey- not playing around
Fallout 4- tired of playing around

Yes it does defeat the purpose. I started leveling up too fast in Odyssey. But since they increased the skill level to 99 before I was even at 50 made it all ok. The enemy skill level usually stays around the same as mine. But for other games, a boost in XP could offset quest levels. 

The Walking Dead game series had a lot to do with human nature or their struggles with morality and against each other about as much if not more so than the zombies. Under certain circumstances, anyone can change and become 'the threat' to survivors whether in their own group or on the road. Trust, decision making, leadership, competence, integrity and morality and many other qualities are presented in the game. Even though it's just a game, it makes me think about those real behaviors in people and how they would act in crisis mode including my own self. We all think we are fully capable of handling situations but we never truly know. And it's weird to think about family and friends. Everything you know about them; how will they react with a group of people in a desperate survivor mode? 
Is someone very controlling who may want to dictate the group and not listen to everybody's input? Is someone a coward and throw you under the bus? Is someone immoral and may steal food, drugs, or supplies? Is someone a showoff who may murder to look tough? Is someone fearful and paranoid that may ultimately harm another first in false judgement? Is someone super quiet and self isolates from the group who creates distrust? Are you surrounded by man dogs that would take another's innocence? Or is there someone that you know you can count on? 

The Walking Dead game series had a lot to do with human nature or their struggles with morality and against each other about as much if not more so than the zombies. Under certain circumstances, anyone can change and become 'the threat' to survivors whether in their own group or on the road. Trust, decision making, leadership, competence, integrity and morality and many other qualities are presented in the game. Even though it's just a game, it makes me think about those real behaviors in people and how they would act in crisis mode including my own self. We all think we are fully capable of handling situations but we never truly know. And it's weird to think about family and friends. Everything you know about them; how will they react with a group of people in a desperate survivor mode? 
Is someone very controlling who may want to dictate the group and not listen to everybody's input? Is someone a coward and throw you under the bus? Is someone immoral and may steal food, drugs, or supplies? Is someone a showoff who may murder to look tough? Is someone fearful and paranoid that may ultimately harm another first in false judgement? Is someone super quiet and self isolates from the group who creates distrust? Are you surrounded by man dogs that would take another's innocence? Or is there someone that you know you can count on? 

You might not believe it, but I have these in my country, right at my school kiosk. Yeah... my school...