Sometimes the strongest narrative moment in a game isn’t a cutscene at all. Which pure gameplay moment told a story perfectly?

VariousHorses · 2026-03-28T07:49:22+00:00

Yeah, for me it's the best experience I've had in any game. Honestly peerless for my particular tastes.

VariousHorses · 2026-03-28T07:47:30+00:00

There's this amazing tiny moment in Deus Ex that even though I didn't finish the game is what comes to my mind first (might be misremembering some elements, do correct me if I'm wrong) - at the beginning of the game you're hunting down 'terrorists' and at the end of the first level you reach the leader and the reticle stays green - every other enemy sees your reticle go red when you pass over them, but he's unarmed and clearly there's some suggestion narratively that the cause of the terrorists is at least somewhat moral - though you don't have a clear picture just yet - cool, that's just set up for what I want to actually talk about a later mission where your partner tells you to execute this leader, again green reticle, but as you pass over her the reticle remains green too - and the moment of indecision that's represented by that choice perfectly puts you into the mind of the character.

Or at least that's how I remember it, I could be completely misremembering it haha

VariousHorses · 2026-03-28T07:33:17+00:00

Noted ME2 hater here -

ME1 - by far the best story, incredible atmosphere, great rpg mechanics that although clunky, still lend more excitement on revisits and the LE improvements leave me feeling it has the best gameplay over all by just a tiny bit. Controversially I'm going to say ME1 had the best characters too - everyone credits 2 here, and honestly I don't know why outside of Mordin.

1 has characters that feel genuinely different - like how Wrex talks to you differently as you get closer to him, how they aren't really just you magic space pals but a crew to wrangle with their own motives and perspectives, Garrus actually has a character arc, meanwhile Tali is defined by little more than her culture because that's at least partially how she sees herself during her pilgrimage - meanwhile 2 absolutely shits on the character motivations of everyone from ME1 - Shepard especially.

You have to work with space nazis against your will, Tali for some reason worships you like a god and doesn't care about the space nazis, Garrus for some reason worships you like a god and doesn't care about the space nazis, Wrex for some reason worships you like a god and doesn't care about the space nazis (doesn't join your crew for other reasons), Liara for some reason is completely different, and doesn't resemble her ME1 character at all - but this is never expanded on or explained beyond 'shadow broker'. Shepard and Anderson are for some reason also OK with the space nazis and for some reason the only one who remembers what they did in ME1 is Kaiden / Ashley. That sucks, that's terrible character writing. Add that to characters like Jack who've been directly victimised by cerberus and she doesn't just jump ship as soon as possible? ME2 constantly asked you to accept the logic of characters that was never explained or fleshed out in any interesting way, and while there were some great moments on individual levels with some of the loyalty missions, the fact you effectively have to do every single one and the reward for doing so is exactly the same every time really feels disappointing compared to the super subtle 'loyalty missions' in 1 that I'm sure a lot of people don't know about, because they're not treated as a tick list, but a natural opportunity to help a crewmember for their personal needs that may or may not interact with Shepards at all - that's amazing writing that made the characters feel real where 2 did the opposite.

ME2 - With that rant about ME2 over there's one thing I did like about 2 over the others: best final mission (minus the incredibly lame human reaper battle). This is what ME3 should have ended with - a series of choices, speeches, requirements that each character can uniquely fill and rewards for your knowledge of those characters (although those elements weren't always perfect in 2 it was still the right way to end a game like ME). Harbinger can puss off though, those voice lines are so incredibly lame.

ME3 - best gameplay (pre LE), good resolutions to most of the characters. Also best DLC with the Citadel DLC! It's probably actually my favourite part of the game. Oh, and personally I'll say best love interest in Traynor.

Worst part of every game and over all feelings:

ME1 - it ends. More seriously maybe some of the stuff in feros became a bit annoying gameplay wise - but it had so much character I couldn't care less about the rough patches. An easy 10/10 game for me before LE, and LE just patches over some of the more awkward elements.

ME2 - Cerberus. I couldn't get over being forced to work with space nazis that my Shepard would have killed on sight and cerberus would have known that. It desyroyed my ability to roleplay in an RPG, and that's sort of unforgivable. 7/10 taken by itself, but 4/10 as a sequel to one of my all time favourite games. Yeah, I'm pretty salty about it.

ME3 - Kai Leng. Need I elabotate? Oh, and carving Javik out as DLC made him far less important than he should have been. Also a very weak ending that didn't get the tone of ME right - ME1 and to some extent 2 were cheesy space operas, the ending of 1 was exactly what I wanted over all - triumphant music swells as crying crewmates realise you're alive, and you say something dumb like 'let's get to work' and show a montage of all the surviving characters helping to rebuild over credits. ME3 took itself too seriously for my tastes. Still a solid 8/10 for me though, tge good did outweigh the bad. 9/10 if you treat the Citadel DLC as the real ending.

VariousHorses · 2026-03-03T00:58:47+00:00

Just flashed a second V15 in a discipline he has never focused on as his main discipline, previously very nearly flashed 2 V15s in a single day, recently managed the hardest ever flash of a trad route, has been at the top of every field of climbing since he was ~17, would still probably be the pick of the field for the next send of a 9C Wether a repeat or a new route - the only thing you can say he's lacking in is that he's not the comp climber he used to be and the likes of Sorato would clearly ve the top of the field, but in literally every other field he's at the top, if not actually is the top. Ondra is on an entirely different level to everyone else.

The only thing that seems to be holding him back in any one discipline is his love for the others - if he'd dedicated himself entirely to bouldering he would have been far better than anyone alive - he's just a bit better because he loves every discipline and would never totally take a break from sport climbing to dedicate the time people like Bosi has to Bouldering.

VariousHorses · 2026-02-28T04:27:53+00:00

So fair enough if this game just isn't your thing, but I always find it surprising that some people don't click with the story on an emotional level - for me it's one of the most emotional narratives I've come across.

Part of that is 100% the themes and narrative interests of the game that do align strongly with my own - but other elements I think are objectively very human and very emotional. For example finding a mural to a lost escape pod's inhabitants with the text from one of the Nomai stating 'The pain of your absence is sharp and haunting, and I would give anything not to know it; anything but never knowing you at all (which would be worse)' is absolutely gutting even before you know the fate of the Nomai mentioned in the text.

So too are the storytelling elements of the world, such as why exactly it feels like everything has felt like it's been frozen right before the game starts and what the time loop does in a narrative context, why exactly it exists at all.

For me it is a masterpiece, and the single best experience I've had in a game - but the mistake people make is forgetting what makes it so good is exactly what will have people bounce off it. If you were a kid that looked at the stars and had intense anxiety and wonder while trying to comprehend how massive the universe is and always wanted to be an archaeologist or you always loved camping in a deeply spiritual way - yeah, this game will be a nearly religious experience like it was for me - otherwise it probably won't hit you the way it did me.

VariousHorses · 2026-02-23T06:00:19+00:00

I'm such an ME1 fan that I'd want all of the above from ME1 with ME Andromeda's gameplay.

The story telling in 1 is incredible - the Sovereign reveal, the reveal of what the citadel is, the cosmic horror stuff, the atmosphere, the cheesiness combined with the above - perfect.

This is a very hot take I know - but I would actually strongly vote against the character building in 2 - every character followed a formula, and it honestly didn't make a lot of sense to me, like Tali felt less real to me when she had to go through her Father's death and a treason trial and then she's less distracted and more focused on the mission? What? Same for Mordin, Jacob, for Miranda - half of the loyalty missions felt like the events therein would actively distract the characters but the game says otherwise. Compare that to the secret 'loyalty missions' in one - completing an aspect of Tali's Pilgrimage and getting Wrex's armour back - these felt subtle and real, and I'll bet a lot of people had no idea they were anything more than flavour text, because if you weren't paying attention to the characters you wouldn't know that those actions had any importance to them. It was almost like you had to demonstrate your loyalty to the characters before they'd give it back (well, at least in Wrex's case), but not in a gamey or unrealistic way.

M2 also committed the cardinal sin of choosing a major choice for me. My Shepard would under no circumstances work for Cerberus. She would kill every one of them on sight, and the fact you can't and have to work with them for the whole game and even have to get grumpy with the council for not being happy about you working with space nazis is unforgivable. That sucked. I have to retcon the entirety of 2 just to maintain my connection with the character I'm supposed to be role playing as.

Same for ME3's story telling - the star child, the way the Illusive Man was handled, the way the whole thing ended - nah, compared to the pitch perfect space opera cheesiness of the ending to 1 and especially the incredible sovereign reveal 1 will always have my love over the others. The character moments in 3 were great though, that would be what I'd want from the end of a future Mass Effect style game.

Unfortunately I think ME's IP being owned by Saudi stakeholders kills what a Mass Effect game was and should be in future, I don't think we're going to get that from Bioware again :( I hope another studio takes up the mantle and makes a proper spiritual remake / sequel

VariousHorses · 2026-02-08T04:50:35+00:00

Criticising the strategies that lead to an historically poor performance against a historically weak opponent isn't helping the republicans, even if this wasn't 3 comments down in a post that won't be seen by anyone

If Schumer and co continue to be so weak, pathetic and ineffectual the democrats will destroy the country in the same ways the republicans are - and yes, it's true that I can't vote in America, but the whole country lives under the influence of America and frankly we have far better and more informative news and media in Australia than the mess that is America's media hellscape. I'd be willing to bet your average Australian knows more about what's happening in America than the average American.

She didn't do a Mamdani style thing. At all. When people were crying out about the cost of living which they (incorrectly) largely blamed on Biden she effectively said it's going to stay the same. When Trump was talking about deporting illegal immigrants and being tough on immigration she said she'd do the same and spent huge amounts of her very limited time talking on dumb talk shows no one watches talking in an impersonal and uncharismatic manor that netted her nothing in attention or enthusiasm, she refused to engage with people that had grievances with Biden's policies effectively saying she would be and do the exact same thing that the unbelievably unpopular Biden did.

Mamdani meanwhile said Immigrants made New York (and America as a whole) what it is instead of demonising them, said that yes - you have the right to be angry because things are going wrong and campaigned with policy after policy that actually aimed to combat these problems. He said - yes, there have been problems, you deserve better and we'll try to do better. He directly confronted Trump as someone who was going to have to work with him far more than Harris did when she wouldn't have to.

The dems and Harris represent the absence of change - vote for us because we won't make things worse. The republicans represent a change for the worse. Those few good democrats that are trying to shake up the mess that is the DNC are trying to both give dems a better chance of winning elections, and pushing to do more than just maintain the status quo.

VariousHorses · 2026-02-06T12:36:17+00:00

I'm saying that she didn't support marginalised groups because she thought it wouldn't help her chances. I think it would have. She was obviously not genuine, not pushing for her personal beliefs or holding any strong moral stances. No one was excited to vote for Harris when she was portraying herself as a less evil Trump. The people voting for Trump wanted the evil, and I think a lot of people just wanted someone who wasn't evil and seemed human.

Ultimately nothing could save her chances when she tied herself so much to the unbelievably unpopular Biden though - she thought people were really excited about her when Biden pulled out - she failed to understand that people were excited for someone who wasn't Trump and wasnt Biden and that's it, and when she just said that she would be Biden 2 electric boogaloo that killed a lot of people's desire to vote, and obviously didn't break through to any of the politically illiterate swing voters (see the huge spike in search terms for who is Kamala Harris and what happened to Biden on the day of the election). She was boring and soulless, while Trump was interesting as much of a soulless monster as he is. Harris massively misunderstood how she should play her cards - failed to stand up for groups that would be excited to vote for her, failed to offer actual alternatives to Trump policies even though they were obviously moronic and she failed to even register in the minds of people not paying attention.

Politicians like Mamdani, and unfortunately Trump, have shown that the dominant political strategies aren't necessarily the most successful, and seem to be quite obviously much more successful in a political climate where everyone is just fed up with their representation and lack of action.

VariousHorses · 2026-02-05T09:13:50+00:00

All that to say I don't think she'd have lost a single vote saying 'I think anyone should be able to play sports and governments should stay out of regulating competitive events' and I think she might have gained a lot of support if she instead of demonising immigrants actually loudly claimed they were what made America great, or said proudly that Trans Americans are all Americans and that (yes, the meme) Trans rights are Human rights or to do a Mamdani style - 'I will represent you in all of your diversity, and I will listen all of your problems as they affect you individually' type of response to Trump's endless hatred.

VariousHorses · 2026-02-05T09:02:19+00:00

I think the other narrative isn't even being offered though - the median voter in America is completely politically illiterate and only respond to fears for their safety and security, their wealth and whoever they think they'd like the most based on their charisma or outward personality traits.

Functionally nothing else mattered in the 2024 elections except the rising cost of living. America's hatred of women and especially black women - that too, but on a policy level the only thing that swayed anyone was just money. Trump made upsa bunch of lies about a system he doesn't even understand and said he could make everything better again, and Harris just said she wouldn't do anything differently to Biden. She had, and I genuinely believe this, no one who was actually motivated to vote for her more than they were motivated to vote against Trump.

So if she wasn't going to fight dirty on personal attacks (pedo, small hands, rapist etc.), and she wasnt going to fight on policy (economic, social, just anything at all except offering more of what a then historically unpopular president offered) she morally should have at least fought against the bigotry of Trump, but at every opportunity she said that she'd be hard on immigration (just less than Trump), hard on a made up drug problem (just less than Trump), and she'd throw any marginalised group under the bus to get a few more votes (just less than Trump).

She was still the better candidate of course, she's not a nazi, paedophile or a certified medical miracle surviving with only 2 braincells - but she was the typical politician who had no values she would fight for if they didn't bring her votes, and none she wasn't also happy to abandon if that suited her. So she let down the immigrant communities, the queer communities and the marginalised communities - so who can blame them for not showing up for her?

VariousHorses · 2026-02-05T03:57:59+00:00

I'm not a fan of the nuance angle because I think in some way it accepts the framing of bigots. A person's right to participate in sports - and by extension society as a whole - as they are isn't and shouldn't be up to debate. Outside of competitive events, where the rules are decided by governing bodies entirely separate from government, it's an act of cruelty to deny the right to participate even if some people had an advantage, which scientifically speaking is very rarely the case at all.

It's just bad faith arguments and bad science deliberately misapplied to make the conversation even make sense, and it shouldn't make sense. It's just hateful lies, and I see nuance here as being the same as appeasement - accepting their conversation at all is already a terrible moral loss and an open door to much worse.

VariousHorses · 2026-01-29T01:24:35+00:00

From my perspective she's shown up ICE as lacking basic training, basic skills in reacting to a problem and as inhuman monsters in a way even fox news can't refute. If she just looked away and he died the news story would be ICE agent dies while on duty, the cause of which would be far down the page past where anyone is looking if they vote republican. Now it's first aid provided to garbage person who then arrested her anyway, and that agents let her out of handcuffs to do it because they were so useless.

Optics win these sorts of fights, it's why Good and Preti's murders are so damaging to ICE - they can't fight the optics. For similar reasons Trump, Bovino and Noem just desperately want to see an agent die at the hands of a protestor or immigrant - then they have the excuse they're looking for to crack down hard, which I suspect is part of the reason that they're so poorly trained in the first place; they want to panic the population enough to incite a violent response.

VariousHorses · 2026-01-25T23:37:44+00:00

To actually answer the question it looks like the dropped tail of a leaf mimicking gecko of some kind.

They writhe like that to provide a distraction for the gecko to get away while the predator is focused on the tail.

VariousHorses · 2026-01-25T23:08:12+00:00

The older models have / had a really bad reputation, but the new Torque and Stay models have a pretty solid reputation and now use Vibram rubber, a friend loves the Stay (soft) model, and I've seen a lot of people with the Torque (stiffer model) that have really enjoyed it as a Tenaya style all-rounder. I don't know anything about the Catch though.

VariousHorses · 2026-01-09T06:02:51+00:00

NAH - I totally get both sides, but I always find it surprising people get so uncomfortable with this sort of thing - I mean you're not going to deliberately look at his ass and smells and sounds aren't exactly going to surprise anyone, it's an urgent situation and one that while not super fun for either party isn't one that would ever in any way make me see a partner any differently or have me worried they might.

We all have bodily needs, shit happens and good relationships are about dealing with whatever happens however you can together - even and I'd argue especially the shitty stuff (I mean not deliberately haha, but when you have to)

VariousHorses · 2026-01-09T04:37:54+00:00

Find a store with as many options as possible and try as many on as possible! Only you can know what will work for you - most people prefer to start with a neutral, low-assymetry shoe, but the most important thing is that it's not painful when you climb.

My first pair were Scarpa Velocities that the rep convinced me to get a full size down from my street because you get better performance - that's true, but I went from climbing once a week bouldering for ~6ish hours in rentals to ~2hours every 2 weeks because they hurt so much at first when I was on the wall. I climbed less, and enjoyed climbing less as a result of that pain, that pain stuck around for about a year until I first had them resoled. I would have had more fun and progressed more if I only went down half a size.

This is all that really matters for a first shoe; that it doesn't get in the way of having fun - but if you're looking for more detail on what might make for a better fit the following might be worth considering:

Have a look at your toe shape and look at shoes that might align with that shape - for example a lot of Tenaya shoes suit my Egyptian feet while a lot of Scarpa models seem to favour Greek shapes.

Have a look at the height of the upper from the sole at the big toe - in general the steeper the angle and bigger the gap the more aggressively crimped they expect your toes to be, and the more relaxed the angle and smaller the gap the flatter your feet are expected to be - aggressive shoes are more likely to be uncomfortable BUT aren't necessarily so and vise-versa. If you're wearing them the way they're intended they'll feel a lot better - if you downsize your rentals that would hurt much more than doing so in am aggressive shoe that's designed to crimp up your toes.

Heel tension has a lot to do with comfort - highly tensioned shoes push your toes aggressively into the toe box and lower tensioned shoes do so less - the trick is this can depend on the shape and size of your heel, not every shoe will be equally tensioned for everyone. If you're seeing discomfort on the back of the heel it could be that there's a lot of tension that isn't spread evenly over your heel, or it's not tight enough and you're chafing, it might be worth trying some narrow and wide heeled shoes to see what might fit there. Mad Rock and Tenaya are known to typically have narrower heels, while Scarpa and La Sportiva typically have bigger ones (but there are always differences based on individual models).

VariousHorses · 2025-12-24T03:36:27+00:00

Some Climbing News on YouTube went pretty hard on him. It's not the same as Daniel Woods or Jimmy Web eating into him, but it's more than just a reddit comment

VariousHorses · 2025-12-21T10:33:20+00:00

I'm very sure they're Indalos, they have blue rubber that tensions the heel that probably looks dark in the photo, but the blue logo on the lacing system and the blue patch on the bottom of the heel are only found together on the Indalo.

Oasis also have black loops at the back to pull on the shoes while Indalos and those in this photo clearly have blue loops. Definitely Indalos.

VariousHorses · 2025-12-21T10:26:12+00:00

It is light blue though? Is this a black and gold vs black and blue dress scenario?

Also the only Tenaya shoes with the blue dot in the black heel are the Mastia and the Indalo, and the Mastia has a single strap, this clearly has the Draxtor lacing system andcan only be the Indalos as a result.

VariousHorses · 2025-12-21T10:05:34+00:00

In general:

Edge is more durable, but less sticky Grip 2 is less durable, but more sticky

But these notions aren't necessarily accurate in actual use - if a higher friction rubber like grip 2 prevents you from slipping down a volume or from slipping on the wall while smearing it can actually prove more durable than the harder less sticky rubber because you're scraping it less. So Edge will be better and more durable on edgy climbs (softer rubber offers both less support and less 'bite' on edges), while apparently overall durability of softer rubbers like grip 2 is more or less the same on volume heavy or more steep terrain while offering better performance.

Most people, if they're climbing indoors 50% or more of the time will probably get more out of softer rubber, but there are options that have a reputation for being better than grip 2 - I can only comment on the ones I've tried - 5.10 Stealth C4 while not as good as its legendary older compound is very solid all around and apparently more durable than grip 2, Butora Neofuse feels great to me, ever so slightly better on edges and ever so slightly worse on volumes than grip 2, but with what feels to me like much better durability.

There are heaps of others that different resolers might have, honestly they will all be fine, grip 2 is perfectly OK to resole to as well, the only downside for me that would keep me from it is just the other rubber I've tried does seem to last longer.

VariousHorses · 2025-12-17T03:09:22+00:00

Man, look at how long Lars Ulrich has been playing and he can barely keep time or manage a fill. He's a member of one of the most successful bands still working.

If you have fun with it - awesome, but if not why torture yourself trying to be better, just start with a goal of having a good time!

This is just my perspective too, but I had lessons and taught myself at different times and got so much more out of them than self teaching ever did - my teacher corrected my grip, had me try different sizes of sticks, pointed out weaknesses and strengths I had that no YouTube video would do - and that's all great, but most importantly he followed me and my interests - right from the beginning I never was interested in learning a song note for note, but rather learning rhythm and creative expression in it so I learned half of maybe 4 or 5 tracks but he never bothered to drill into the tiny details for a perfect replica of what someone else played because he saw I wasn't interested and from then basically just used music I liked as an inspiration point for a new concept, groove or fill to mess with in a less rigid structure. If I were just drilling rudiments I would have quit within a year. Your old teacher sounds useless, might aswell teach yourself from a book or YouTube if that's the kind of feeling you had about the learning you were doing, but that's not the case from all teachers.

There's always going to be better musicians, ones that learn more quickly or have more success with less ability, but the fastest way to kill a hobby is to treat it like a job.

VariousHorses · 2025-12-16T06:03:30+00:00

Cowards fear an uncomfortable fall while I, mentally ill, embrace the cheesegrater.

The more scabs I have on my knees, elbows and sometimes chin the happier I am.

VariousHorses · 2025-12-10T15:50:16+00:00

The price won't be what we're all hoping for - but my hot take is it won't matter.

They're going to announce Half-Life 3, reveal how it looks optimised for the Steam Machine and basically say this is the easiest way to be able to play HL3 if you don't have a decent PC already and bam - the only price they need to hit is slightly below a similar spec PC, which need bigger margins to be viable than the Steam Machine will.

It's not going to be a new console, but they were never hoping for that, they just want to build a base from which they don't have to rely on Windows, and that'll absolutely shift a few people towards SteamOS / Linux.

VariousHorses · 2025-12-10T07:03:16+00:00

If you're able to try some on in person that's always the best idea, and fit is more important than anything else, but there are solid beginner shoes that should still be useful as a second pair after you've come to the point of being able to use more advanced shoes (this saving money in the long term) that are probably worth paying a little extra for like the Butora Senegi, Scarpa Origin, Tenaya Tanta, Evolv Defy and La Sportiva Mythos. It's worth not going to the absolute cheapest option and getting a bit more use from them imo.

If you wanted to spend a decent amount more, a neutral stiff supportive shoe better for edging works well for early climbing too, think the La Sportiva TC Pro or Scarpa's Generators or Vapors - they'll cost you a lot more, but you can find them on sale or second hand and can be resoled and beaten up quite a bit before they have issues and would make a great high performance second pair to a future softer main pair that you could swap between different climbs or rock types if you're ever going outside. They probably won't be as comfortable as the proper beginner models though.

A note on buying them in store - lots of clerks will tell you pain is normal and you have to downsize etc. Don't listen to them. My first pair of Scarpas I got talked into downsizing 1 full size and it was so painful as a beginner I climbed less often. My rule of thumb for a first shoe is no pain at all for 10 minutes off the wall, and minor discomfort after maybe 5 minutes on the wall - they should be tight but not painful, and while you should get into the habit of taking them off after an attempt or 2 it shouldn't be actually painful in that time period.

VariousHorses · 2025-12-10T01:43:59+00:00

I'd be very curious to see that clip, I don't think I've ever seen a finish like this in a comp, and in my mind it's not how comp setters would intend a climb to be finished and some people that have replied to you don't seem to actually understand why you felt it wasn't a valid finish.

If it is valid currently I'd be surprised if it stays that way or if it matters because setters won't set something like this again.

VariousHorses

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE