#i think part of why i'm so compelled by fo4 specifically over a game that's better in its execution

[rad-roche]

chit-chattin about voiced protagonist and pre-war stuff

i'm not big on the whole voiced fallout protagonist thing, don't get me wrong, it was an attempt to ape mass effect and that format had its problems anyway, but i think the actors are charismatic enough that i don't hate it on principle. the biggest problem arises in the 'four buttons for all options' speech system. to account for your psuedo-shep, npc and companion dialogue has to be scaled way, way back and be more expository and functional. there are a reason companions are far and away the most popular aspect of the game, and i'm saying that as somebody big in on a particular one because they conjured an interesting guy by what may be total accident. they get to be characters and have a distinct voice. everybody else either has to tell you, upfront, what their deal is or hide it behind a speech check so obvious that you can infer it yourself. the game isn't devoid of them, cricket for example, but there aren't too many

but i think the biggest missed opportunity, more than the valentine kellogg brain thing, is that the game picks up a person mired in a regressive, stagnant system, somebody who would know it intimately (lawyer) or enforce it through violence (soldier), dumps them in a future where these fixed points of their reality no longer exist, everybody dead, and forgets that this may in fact be an interesting vein to dig out. you're a soldier and the war you fought in killed BILLIONS of people and warped the face of the earth forever and, unlike the ghouls, it's totally fresh for you! and it sort of doesn't come up? you get a couple of offhand reactions but that's about it. your character isn't a fish out of water, they're somebody who got off at the wrong bus stop and has to stop a passing stranger for directions. oh wow, only center for learning left in the city is a ten foot cube in the baseball stadium teaching basic literacy, huh? I saw MIT at its peak two days ago! bye! you could blindfold anybody, tape them to a chair, spin them at centrifuge speed and make them throw darts with their mouth and i bet you nine out of ten times they'd hit something fascinating with that basic premise. let's try it with this guy. let's see here. 'find missing baby'. oh god oh shit it's john bethesda oh f

[earthnashes]

Heya Songie, hope you're doing well! I'm going to buy a game on steam but not sure what should i buy. I tried to play Outlast but it scare the shit out of me. I'm thinking to buy The Witcher trio, but i wanted to ask you. I want to buy a game that has a great story, the gameplay and graphics don't bother me at all. What is your advice? Other than horror i can play any games!

Oh I don’t play PC much: I only have the Fallout series and Skyrim in my Steam archive. All of the other games I’ve played are always on PS4.

I remember a few cool PC games (and a few games that aren’t exclusive), though, so I’d recommend:

Fallout 3, 4, and New Vegas: Legit if you haven’t played any of them I urge you to. Don’t care what anyone says, the games’ stories are always what drag me in and despite FO4′s shortcomings, specifically when it came to story DLC (they only had 2, Far Harbor was fantastic but Nuka World needed more to it), all of them delivers. Not just that, the mods. You want a game that can tell new stories over and over and over? Fallout provides that just fine alone, like you always discover something new even if it’s like your 20th playthrough, but it’s the mods that helps the game shine. I’m talkin’ the quest mods and complete overhauls into a new game. For example? Fallout The Frontier: I’m super excited for that one to drop. I’m keeping my eye on another, Fallout: Miami. Or Fallout 4: New Vegas, in which it’s basically building Fallout New Vegas from the ground up using Fallout 4 as a base. The remake we deserve but probably will never get. What is essentially a full remake, another a completely new game... All for the stunning price of... nothing. You get it for free thanks to these amazing people putting their worth into this shit. If you can, support your modders. They do some good work, dare I say better work putting so much care into their creations of the game.

Elder Scrolls Skyrim: Bro it’s basically the same deal here as it is with Fallout: get it for the game itself and it’s fun base-game stories, stay for the fantastic mods. They also feature DLC-sized mods, mods that are essentially brand new games, and once more the modding community continue to amaze me with their dedication.

Ori and the Blind Forest: I watched this game since I didn’t buy it myself and it is gorgeous.

Cuphead: if ya don’t mind being angry, I hear it’s hard but great. I admire it deeply for its animation style.

Stardew Valley: I actually played this one but on the PS4. It doesn’t have like a full and deep story but what’s great about this game is that it’s very relaxing, aesthetically pleasing, and it’s the characters that are surprisingly well written and have complex personalities you get to discover through tiny cutscenes.

The Walking Dead (telltale): Fucking fantastic game, specifically the first two series. 3 was aight, with Clementine stealing the show (but I personally wasn’t interested in playing it because you didn’t get to play as Clementine exclusively like no thx I wanna see Sweetpea.)

The Witcher 3: It looks like a truly beautiful game with a deep and engaging story, so much so that I’m considering playing it myself.

ARK Survival: Okay so, in my opinion ARK isn’t actually worth it’s price tag, primarily because of the toxicity of PVP (like it’s moreso than usual) and the plethura of bugs it has and the admittedly shady practices of its developer. Now, that said? I love the game. For all of it’s faults, it’s honestly really fun: I prefer solo play but if you get a good band of buds to play with on PVP or PVE it’s even more fun. It has like.. some sort of semblance of a story, but it’s mostly just background noise, but this game is absolutely fantastic if you like a game that gives you the tools to essentially create your own story and essentially roleplay it out. That’s what me and my friends kinda did and we used to play the game for hours and days at a time because of it. I’ll tell ya’ll some of the shit we got up to later, I fondly remember them.

7 Days to Die: It’s a lot like ARK in that it doesn’t actually have much of a story to tell (in this case. barely at all) so it’s up to you and your friends (or just you if solo) to make one up and roleplay it. Unlike ARK, this game is sinfully cheap for the amount of fun it provides and don’t let it’s dated-like graphics fool you. It is a very solidly built game and some of the most fun I’ve had with a zombie game in years. It’s also on sale right now I think?

MASS EFFECT SERIES: YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  SORRY BUT THIS IS LEGIT MY FAVORITE GAME OF ALL TIME???? FUCK. I love this game! The characters, all of them are so well written and compelling and arguably the best part of the game. The atmosphere is breathtaking, especially the places you get to visit while playing the game (especially Andromeda like wow the game’s gorgeous), the gameplay is fantastic (it has it’s flaws but it works for the game for sure), the dialogue is some of the best I’ve experienced, and the story honestly makes you feel like every little thing you do in the game actually matters. Like everything has it’s rewards and everything has a small story to tell in this game: it’s why when I replay the entirety of it I play all of the games from the very first one to Andromeda. Now, I will say if you’ve never played this game I highly recommend playing the first one first. Not only because of the story but because, as much as I adore the game, the gameplay is.... well. It’s kinda bad. Like it’s legit my least favorite to play because it can be kinda taxing in the gameplay aspect, specifically combat and that goddamned Mako. Also don’t just listen to all of the naysayers about Andromeda if you decide to play it because honestly, it is not that bad. And in comparison to the first? It does a much better job with setting up the series (if we ever get more of it, fuckin’ EA) than the first does, especially the characters. But like all games, I just recommend that you play them and make that judgement for yourself whether or not you think it’s worth your time.

Dragon Age series: I’ve never played the first, I will be playing the second soon, but I have played the third and I’m honestly surprised by how much it impressed me? This game seems to get a bad rep for a lot of stuff but from my perspective as a newcomer, it was a lot of fun to play and the story was fun and the cutscenes, when they mattered, were goosebumps inducing. That scene, the scene where they show their faith in you? I’m not gonna spoil it but jesus. The combat takes some getting used to but overall a fun game with a fun story and, once again, it’s the characters that draw me in.

Far Cry Series: From what I hear the stories are good enough as well as the gameplay and, from my experience playing the 5th one, that’s all true. I dunno about the rest of them but the 5th’s ending though? It’s total shit. I’d recommend playing it because, despite the bugs and some bullshit physics it honestly was really fun and the story did keep me interested to the bitter end. I’m just angry at how they ended it. Yeesh.