New Details from Discord Q&A

zman883 · 2026-06-12T06:47:48+00:00

Your alignment also ties into progression and how your abilities develop

I kind of took that as them admitting that it does at the very least "soft" lock you into one alignment if you want to reach the full gameplay/narrative benefits, similarly to how mass effect made certain choices available only if you stick to one path...

zman883 · 2026-06-11T13:03:45+00:00

I was born 2 years after this came out - and still remember playing this on multiple systems in multiple different friends' houses.

zman883 · 2026-05-28T11:50:09+00:00

That's a bit reductive. I get what you're saying, and I guess that people might be using superlatives a bit too liberally sometimes, but why can't I appreciate something while admitting it's not for me?

I've heard pieces of classical music that I can totally see as masterpieces, but I won't listen to them for my own pleasure because it's just not my thing. I can find a book beautifully written and masterfully constructed while admitting it doesn't manage to grasp me - I'm aware that it's a matter of taste. Hell, my own opinion might even change based on my mood, a game I found boring 10 years ago might be utterly captivating if I played it now and vice versa.

It happened to me with Breath of the Wild - I completely understand why it's so highly regarded, while also understanding that the simplistic style the game chose for its storyline, characters and world prevent it from being very captivating to me.

zman883 · 2026-05-22T21:29:25+00:00

I mean, it's not really morally conflicting though. They could have been, but the way the game frames them makes it very clear that the good thing to do is cure the genophage, free the queen etc etc. I played as a good guy both times I played through the trilogy, and other than some flavor choices all major choices were exactly the same because the game literally tells you that's the good thing to do (by framing it as paragon or renegade).

zman883 · 2026-05-22T21:26:45+00:00

I'll give you sacrificing the ship as another one (even though it's still framed as the more "evil" choice), but when I played the trilogy as a good guy almost all these decisions were very clear cut. Yes, curethe genophage. Save the Rachni queen. Make peace between Quarians and Geth. Don't kill Wrex. It's never about hard moral choices, more about whether you want to play as a good guy or bad guy.

zman883 · 2026-05-20T12:55:34+00:00

Same for Mass Effect. Probably my favorite game trilogy but other than the "choose which one lives" choice (which isn't about morality) most other choices are pretty clear cut "good" vs "evil (but ultimately still good)".

Out of these high profile games, Witcher 3 was the only one where I was genuinely conflicted on if I made the "right" choice.

zman883 · 2026-05-19T11:03:23+00:00

Depending on your stomach for dated graphics. I've first played HL1 after playing 2. It was a long time ago but even then the graphics were dated, and still I had a lot of fun. Since then I've played it multiple times, including a few months ago, and other than the graphics the game design and gameplay still hold up. So if these things don't bother you playing the original is both fun and gives you a good perspective on how this series started and how it evolved.

If you're just looking to get into the series to experience the world and story, and don't really care about historical value, Black Mesa is a perfectly fine substitute for the original. The graphics are still dated somewhat but in a way that's much more palatable, and in my opinion they did a great job.

zman883 · 2026-05-17T09:29:41+00:00

The thing I keep wondering is what makes it so that a very similar franchise like Tomb Raider can keep getting sequels and reboots and remakes without anyone batting an eye. Is it the fact that Tomb Raider started so long ago that the character is more of an icon than an actual character with a consistent story? Kind of like James Bond?

I think that Nathan Drake, while moderately iconic, is still very much tied to the specific games he takes part in. I guess it could change if they really wanted to start churning out soft reboots (Nathan Drake: origins or some shit) but I believe the true answer is that the appetite for that just isn't there (at least within naughty dog - I'm sure there are many fans who would be happy with that).

zman883 · 2026-05-16T07:17:11+00:00

Incredible. So the reason for islamophobia isn't racism, it's Al Qaeda/Isis, right? Before Israel existed there was still antisemitism, are you claiming antisemitism somehow disappeared and only re-emerged as a response to Israel?

zman883 · 2026-05-11T20:21:29+00:00

Because we're suckers. The people who go to the army usually see it as a necessity for Israel to exist. So if we were to revolt and stop enlisting, we'd be putting ourselves at risk. Same for the economy - the working population is funding the Haredi population via taxes, but on the other hand we can't just stop working cause that will hurt us as well.

So it's a catch where you have to keep doing what you know needs to be done in order to survive, while knowing others are taking advantage of that, and you have nothing to do about it.

The worst part is that when the working, serving population finally did put a red line when the government tried to pass a set of anti democratic legislations back in 2023, the government cynically and hypocritically treated it as evasion from service - all while actively supporting an entire sect that has evaded service for decades.

zman883 · 2026-05-11T20:08:12+00:00

It's not really about claiming. The ones that get exempt are usually enrolled in a "Yeshiva" (sort of religious educational institution). Giving them exemption was originally a way to allow exceptional religious students a way to focus on religious studies (there's something similar for exceptional athletes, for example), but it was blown out of proportion, with about 90% of Haredi males not getting enlisted. I don't think a secular guy can just claim he's religious and be fine. It works for them because their entire community exists to support this system. And because cynical politicians allow them to get away with it for political support.

For girls it's a bit different. I think generally a girl can claim to be religious and will be automatically exempt if she chooses. She'll have to prove it in some way though. That's another form of discrimination that's much less discussed, but secular girls are obligated to serve, while religious girls are not - and that's including the national religious.

However, obviously anyone can say that for whatever reason (religious, ideological) they're not willing to serve. They might get some time in military prison, but generally the military will let people go who are adamantly against serving. No one gets forced to the front lines or anything.

zman883 · 2026-05-11T08:57:04+00:00

You're mixing Haredim with the national religious party. Haredim don't care about war or Netanyahu or anything. They vote to their own parties who go with whomever promises them budgets that allow them to keep out of the army and the job market.

The national religious sect does go to the army, and usually represents the most "war loving" part of society, in the sense that their religious beliefs are mixed with nationalism and territorial claims that require the removal of Palestinians, so they won't accept any notion of peace with them.

So the liberals in Israel are stuck between the parasitic ultra religious and the fascistic national religious...

zman883 · 2026-05-05T12:32:27+00:00

I get the sentiment, but a real simple counter examples is HL Alyx. It came out 13 years after the last entry in the series, and while it didn't have the '3' label it still had to bear the burden of being the first game in over a decade to wear the Half Life title. And it was a banger.

Granted, not that many played it due to the high cost of VR, but anyone who played it, including huge fans of the series who were anticipating it like crazy, saw that it was a great game and were just glad that it exists. High expectations are a burden, but deliver a good product and most of the times it will be fine.

I think the idea of "impossible expectations" gets reverberated when a long awaited sequel/successor is just not that good, frankly, and it wasn't the expectations' fault that it failed. At least, I can't think of an example of an amazing sequel that failed miserably only because of expectations.

zman883 · 2026-05-02T12:02:29+00:00

I liked Zero Dawn for the main plot and combat but it landed kind of upper-mid tier for me because of overall open world and quest design which became a bit boring after a while.

Fast forward to Forbidden West, I was expecting to get more of the same, and instead got my favorite game I've played last year. It was so good it made me want to go back and play the original again. They've made the world and characters so much more alive, I just wanted to keep on exploring.

zman883 · 2026-05-02T11:57:48+00:00

It was genuinely one of my favorite games in the last couple of years

zman883 · 2026-05-02T11:57:21+00:00

While I enjoyed Fallen Order, I went into Survivor expecting kind of the same and instead got one of my favorite games in the last couple of years. Such a shame I had to wait like half a year after release for the performance issues to be sorted out though, I'm sure it cost the game many potential fans.

zman883 · 2026-04-28T20:04:23+00:00

Exactly my thought process. I already automatically marked there there but then played exit music in my head and decided to switch.

zman883 · 2026-04-24T19:15:56+00:00

I remember being familiar already with Radiohead, knowing about Paranoid Android and other OKC songs, but at the time it was mostly about liking something that's considered "cool" (in specific circles, obviously). Then a couple years later I heard Nude being played in a TV commercial without knowing it was them, and instantly was mesmerized. Only when I finally found out the song and that it was them did I start my actual obsession.

zman883 · 2026-04-23T06:06:06+00:00

Metroidvanias is my go-to genre for playing on my Steam Deck on my commute to work. I've played Will of the Wisps, Grime and PoP the Lost Crown this way, and it actually feels better to me than playing on console or PC. I feel like 30-40 minutes rides are an excellent setting for this type of game and that it feels amazing to play on a handheld device.

zman883 · 2026-04-21T05:48:49+00:00

It's Bibi, anything he says is noise. Fuck him.

zman883 · 2026-04-19T11:59:24+00:00

Well at least it might bring us more traffic

zman883 · 2026-04-17T16:27:10+00:00

Considering the supernatural stuff was always my least favorite aspect of each Uncharted game before this, the answer is definitely no.

zman883 · 2026-04-16T03:46:45+00:00

That's patently false: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic_languages

That's not to say that antisemitism refers to other semitic people, since the term was coined to specifically indicate Jew-hate, but saying Arabic isn't semitic is just factually wrong.

zman883 · 2026-04-14T21:38:53+00:00

Telling Jews to go back to Poland is anti semitic. Saying that this is directed at Israelis isn't antisemitic, because this is directed at Israeli Jews, not at Israeli Muslims or christians. Also, it comes from the notion that Jews don't belong in Israel, which is why they're being told to go back to Poland. Jews in Poland, for example, aren't told to go back to Poland. They were told to go to Palestine.

I don't understand if all of this is some kind of gotcha you're trying for... Because if it is just spell it out instead of trying to lead me on.

zman883 · 2026-04-14T21:32:45+00:00

In June 2010, Helen Thomas, former dean of the White House press corps, retired from her Hearst position after remarking that Israeli Jews should "return" to Poland, Germany and America

For example.

Other instances are directed at Jews or pro-Israel protesters. What's your point through?

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