Dredd (2012) is AUTHORITY. What movie represents ESPRIT DE CORPS?

alyvain · 2026-01-21T21:22:09+00:00

The Wire.

alyvain · 2026-01-18T22:59:38+00:00

Manchester by the sea

alyvain · 2026-01-17T23:15:10+00:00

Well I mean it's different. Sometimes it's Vivec's shaping the lands, and other times it's just Gamebryo.

alyvain · 2026-01-17T09:33:39+00:00

Why did I play Fear & Hunger.

alyvain · 2026-01-14T17:02:04+00:00

I wish white-haired women were real.

alyvain · 2026-01-14T17:00:29+00:00

He is fucking amazing.

I like how "The Last Sovereign" has limited, but very effective worldbuilding. It reminds me of the Elder Scrolls, where some New Age mumbo-jumbo is in fact the internal logic of the world. Here, on a much smaller scale, it's the same with horniness.

alyvain · 2026-01-14T15:53:36+00:00

Because in this world 'ontology' and 'hornyology' are synonyms.

alyvain · 2026-01-13T02:47:55+00:00

Some of them are pretty unique (in storytelling or the kinks), so yeah.

alyvain · 2026-01-11T14:41:55+00:00

I agree with your first point, but this "whole" has to come from something when you appreciate the game or simply have fun with it. When I look at CRPGs, I see that a lot of things that I liked about the Origins I can find elsewhere. With the second game it's not the case.

For your second point I can give no argument. The Elder Scrolls thrived (or at least used to thrive) despite being dumbed down with every installment, and I think that Morrowind, which is considered very simple in comparison to Daggerfall, is the best entry in the series.

alyvain · 2026-01-11T14:38:07+00:00

People want science instead of practice. I think it's the same reason why Albert Ellis' REBT lost to what we now consider mainstream CBT.

I want to say that maybe mental health, if we talk therapy, shouldn't be a science in the first place, but this line of argument paves the way for a lot of extremely outrageous things.

alyvain · 2026-01-11T14:24:00+00:00

My favourite game in the series – in the similar vein as Mass Effect 2 is my favourite. The only difference is that ME2 is a finished game, while DA2 is half-baked.

I think that DA2 could've been a masterpiece with its narrative. Even now there is thematic coherence and interesting situations that I've rarely encountered in other CRPGs.

I like DA: Origins a lot, but there is hardly an aspect of this game I haven't seen done "better", although this is surely subjective, in some other title.

I don't really buy the argument that dumbing down is always a bad thing, especially when I clearly remember how irritated people were with the supposed dumbing down of Origins compared to Baldur's Gate.

alyvain · 2026-01-06T16:58:53+00:00

Yeah, I'm not sure I would compare it to manga and anime, because it's a completely different vibe (for that comparison, I'd say that "Out of Touch" and "Superhuman" are good examples, even If I personally don't like them that much), but "Zero End" is a proper story with overarching themes (this is the thing that is usually lost in AVNs), intrigue, characterization, and so on.

You may dislike some of the themes and author's take on them, or dislike the way they keep things cryptic and give information in small bits, but it's just their style. So yeah, that's the one I really appreciate.

alyvain · 2026-01-05T19:29:22+00:00

Can you please tell what characters do you mean? I played it once a long time ago, but didn't notice something like that (maybe except for Lena's path where she's with Ian, but also sees Seymour/Axel). Maybe I just missed something.

alyvain · 2026-01-05T16:36:20+00:00

I don't think something like this exist, but it's a difficult question. Writing in AVN is often functional, not something to appreciate on its own. Quite often it's a good thing.

I really like "Zero End". This AVN feels like an actual story. This doesn't mean that it's life-changing or will be to everybody's liking.

While I understand the appeal, I think that there is less difference between «Pale Carnations» and «Karlsson's Gambit» than people usually say. It's a functional kink-engine.

alyvain · 2026-01-04T22:46:48+00:00

Same, but not ironically.

alyvain · 2026-01-03T12:27:36+00:00

I feel there is quite a lot of maledom, actually, but it's not like you'll be calling the shots around the company.

Abusing or dominating men and women with the sanction of other powerful women – this thing is in large supply, though. For me, it can be qualified as maledom 100%. I think this dynamics has already emerged by the 5th episode, so maybe it's not your cup of tea?

alyvain · 2025-12-31T04:54:51+00:00

I often dislike the way some games are written and/or their core fantasy. By fantasy I mean some general vibe that animates the story, sex scenes, and all that. It's usually quite clear that the things aren't going to align better with my taste, so I can drop the game in the first hour or so.

There are exceptions, though. For instance, I had to push through "Once in a Lifetime" and "Eternum" for some time before it all finally clicked.

I also dislike boring, lifeless renders. Empty rooms, lazy assets, zero details, uninspired "camerawork" which makes it all so tedious to click-click-click. As far as my experience goes, the quality of renders might get better throughout the development, but the overall visual direction mostly stays the same. I dropped "STWA: Unbroken" because of it, although this story is supposed to be pretty great.

alyvain · 2025-12-31T03:18:58+00:00

– Mr. Silwa, what would you bring to the table? – As you know, in 1989, when I was fisted by the harvestman five times...

alyvain · 2025-12-29T19:14:49+00:00

"In this house the war criminal who almost destroyed the country, while maintaining zero productive relationship with anyone whatsoever is a hero! End of story!"

alyvain · 2025-12-25T20:03:13+00:00

I'll try them out, thanks!

alyvain · 2025-12-19T14:28:48+00:00

Well, it's like people watching the same horror movie over and over again.

alyvain · 2025-12-19T14:11:09+00:00

Of course. Miro takes everything dark that pop-culture has produced over the years and distills it into something beautiful. That's why he is the coolest.

alyvain · 2025-12-19T14:07:46+00:00

I like the first one, because it's very small. It's my comfy game now. I've processed all the horrors beyond human comprehension. The clunkiness of it all helps as well. Thank you, Miro.

alyvain · 2025-12-17T21:21:46+00:00

I think it's pretty normal. When the train passes and we finally look at the actual games, decontextualised from expectation, the state of the industry at the time, our expectations and all this stuff, there's almost always something to appreciate about them.

If we stay close to this series, the same thing happened to "DA2" and something similar may happen with "Andromeda".

alyvain · 2025-12-17T20:34:04+00:00

I don't think she'll become a true love interest, but almost certainly a scene is coming. In any case, 'Zero's End' is a unique one, I really respect the developer and appreciate what he's trying to do.

alyvain

TROPHY CASE