Nuttism

@freemeerkat: Care to say what choice it was? You are free to use spoiler text. Is it the one at the end of episode 2?

I really like the choice system in that game because it lets you see the immediate aftermath but not the long term consequences. It makes the first season of Life is Strange superior to all other narrative heavy choice games (including other Life is Strange games).

Hey everyone. What is the toughest choice you have ever made in a video game? The genre doesn't matter, as long as you had a real choice at some point which you had to stop at to think for several minutes (or a night) before making a decisions, or in the case of time limited choices, something which felt like a real gut punch to decide on and you felt conflicted about. Games are really the only medium where choice is an integral part of how the story is experienced, so I'm really curious about your answers.

@lostsol's excellent blog on Disco Elysium is what sparked the question, as it reminded me of when I played it in late 2019. When I play role playing/story heavy games, I like being an asshole who provokes conflict as I think it makes for the most interesting story, and it's not something you see in much fiction. Luckily for me, Disco Elysium is almost custom built to play an asshole so I dove in headfirst. I made my character a reflexes/strength focused meathead, who feels bigoted due to the culture surrounding him and needing to latch onto something through his alcoholism, but I also wanted him to grow and develop through the story.

Everything was going according to plan (though I was cringing inwardly at some of the stuff he said), till after one too many rants, he had a rooftop encounter with his mind. The bigot part of it, which gave him and option to become a fascist. At this point, he hadn't been strongly political in any direction. He was mostly selfish and feeble minded, so I didn't grasp what was really going on, and what the consequences of the choice would be. On one hand, I was really curious about where the story would go, and what becoming a fascist would entail. I felt like not many people probably became fascist, and I liked the idea of seeing more exclusive content. On the other hand, you know, fascism. I was also genuinely unsure about what the investigator I had been playing as up to this point was actually in this deep, and I felt like accepting might stymie his progression.

I debated the choice for a good 10-15 minutes, but ultimately decided on... declining. I wouldn't have felt good about making him fascist despite everything, and he did reduce his fascist tendencies after this encounter. In the end, he didn't join any political movement as he was focused on the task at hand. Still, I sometimes regret my choice, as it would have been really interesting to see, and the choice doesn't matter too much in the wider sphere of things.

I 100% won't be buying it (not that I would anyways), but I noticed that a trans youtuber I follow is playing it, and I think she had a good entrance.

"There is a little bit of controversy surrounding the game, or really, a lot of controversy surrounding this game, but, I'm not going to go into supreme detail about it. You can always just look it up yourself. But as a trans person myself, I would just like to say: Fuck J.K. Rowling. She's such an unbelievably shitty person and I hope that she realizes the error of her ways, and that's really all I'm gonna say on this particular matter."

The video for those curious:

Upon seeing the thread title, my first thought was Terry Pratchett as well. I read his biography recently (Terry Pratchett: A Life In Footnotes) written by his assistant Rob Wilkins, and it was a great read. It got surprisingly touching and was difficult to read near the end.

This thread made me think, because I actually haven't read much of anything by LGBTQIA+ authors (that I know of at least). Well, I read the graphic novel Fungirl by Elizabeth Pich recently which features a lesbian slacker main character living with a bisexual roommate. It's absolutely hilarious, but the characters are deliberately cartoonish and a lot of the comedy stems from the main character being a sex addict asshole (still a big recommend).

Another recommend from me would be the Monster Prom series (Monster Prom, Monster Camp and Monster Roadtrip). It is focused on comedy, but the games have great LGBTQIA+ representation, with trans, non-binary and other characters you can romance (or play as). I wasn't quite as fond of Monster Camp as the other two, but they are all a definite recommend if you want something inclusive, but also hilarious and raunchy. Hmm... actually, a lot of the humor here is also due to characters being sex addict assholes. I promise it's not the only type of media I consume (I'm actually an ace).

Another incredibly writeup @lostsol! I've really enjoyed all of your writing on the site, but this is more than upholds your high standards. I feel privileged to know of and be able to read your writings on the site, and I second @tartyron that it would be great to see your writing in one place, especially if you have more pieces written before you actively joined the forums.

I have only played Disco Elysium once, and in the main, I agree with your analysis. What I really appreciate about Disco Elysium most of all is how it isn't afraid to delve into politics, and how truly varied people's ideologies and route to them are. As you said, people don't tend to change their opinions based on what some random asshole has to say, so the game definitely stays true to the real world in that regard.

The game isn't quite as special to me as it is for many others, and I think it's mainly due to two factors (both of which you mentioned).

The first is that the gameplay is pretty crap. Running around takes forever (especially after the world opens up), searching for items on the ground is annoying, and the rolls feel arbitrary. Actually, my biggest change to the game would be to remove the possibility of game overs altogether. It serves zero purpose in the game, feel really frustrating and forces you to put points in skills you might otherwise not bother with. I might also be a bit sour after I took some mental stimulants (without knowing how they work), and then saved right before the effect wore off so I would die upon reading most text (which passes the time). I had to wander around town till I found an item to give me brain juice, but if not for that, I would have been completely screwed as I hadn't saved for hours (my fault, I admit).

The second reason is that the game is a bit too bleak for me. I enjoy it for its humor value, art and dynamic character development, but I prefer my stories to be a tad more... if not hopeful, then at least less cynical. I just get tired of everyone being kind of sucky, nothing working and the world being destined to end. I didn't even mind the ending (I kinda liked it actually), but the general tone has kept me from replaying it, and the individual moments aren't that memorable in themselves.

However, I agree with you on it being an amazing achievement which is well deserving of its sales and reputation. I'm very glad it exists and that I played through it, and it has some amazing art as well as you highlight in your accompanying pictures.

Thank you again for the great analysis. This is the type of content I live for, though I sadly only tend to get one or two of these pieces a year (and mostly from you).

If it's anything like when the Saudi Investment fund bought Newcastle United football (soccer) club, more money will get pumped in and WWE will increase their audience, if anything. Like @judaspete rightfully mentions, the saudi investment fund is very powerful, but most of their investments are in non-entertainment ventures so you don't hear about them.

Thank you for another great edition of the Moosies! I really enjoy reading these, and appreciate the effort and thoughtfulness you put into them. I have had it in my sights, but your words have definitely sprung Norco to the top of my "must play" list. I also appreciate your words on God of War's story. Valuing life is to me the most beautiful message there is, and I think it should always be highlighted when it seems like so many stories are about self sacrifice for the greater good to the point that life almost feels dispensable. My favourite book sentence ever comes in Hogfather, after DEATH moonlighting as fantasy Santa decided to save the little matchstick girl's life and is justifying his action to his assistant.

The Hogfather can. The Hogfather gives presents. There's no better present than a future.

Speaking of LGBTQIA+ representation, I recommend "I Was a Teenage Exocolonist" which came out in August. It is very technically a dating sim, but it's much more expansive than that, as you live out your life from 10-20 years old and grow up with other pioneer kids on an alien planet. You can just as well decide not to pursue anyone and focus on "the threat", or develop deep friendships. I think it did quite a good job of showing the growing up process, and it really does have some pretty important choices which lead to 29 different endings. I won't say it doesn't have problems (it feels a bit "sprawling" at times and playing for stats gets boring) but it feels like a real passion project.

I like how in the character creator you have two sliders; One for gender and another one for sex, or "look". For instance, I had a woman who was close to nonbinary in terms of identity but is more feminine in looks. I could also have made her look androgynous or masculine. I also find it interesting how one of the Trans characters (she transitioned before the start of the game) who is also really into science might in part have an emotional resonance with the subject because she wouldn't have been able to transition if not for advanced technology and also has a twin brother who is quite distant from her and they fight a lot. I didn't pursue her so I don't know how much this gets explored, but I liked how the game acknowledged her transition and how it might shape her instead of just slapping a "trans" label on her and nothing more.

The main question I have regarding the game (which I can't answer from a single playthrough) is whether other characters have distinct sexuality or if they are all bisexual so that you can romance them. This is actually a frustration I have with many games with relationship mechanics. While I think you should be able to "pursue" romance with everyone, I honestly feel like it can diminish characters when they don't have a distinct sexualities and so come across more as "trophies". I'm fine with bisexual characters, but I also feel like lesbians, gay men and asexuals (as well as other members of the spectrum, though that feels even further away) should have a role in romance stories.

Anyways, I didn't play many more games this year. Monster Prom 3: Monster Roadtrip is great if you are into that kind of game, but you will know very quickly if you are into it or not.

This is the main thing the game has going for it, but Azura's Wrath has two very memorable ones. The one I hear most people talk about is the first boss who grows to the size of a planet before being punched so hard in the index finger that he blows up (which is, admittedly, pretty cool).

The other one, and my personal favourite, is the fight with buff anime sword man. It has the fourth movement of From the New World by Antonin Dvorak playing while you fight on the moon which is a good start. After that, he unsheaths his sword, and it's revealed that it permanently enlarges. You hold on to it as you get pushed out of the moon orbit, until the sword digs into the earth and completely pierces it. It's been many years since I saw that scene, but I like how it has a good deal of anime epicness without being bogged down in too much nonsense (like most of the other fights).

Best part starts at around 7 minutes.

The ("good") end hour of Omori is absolutely incredible. It's the best single hour of a game I have ever experienced, starting from going to sleep in Basil's house, to the shocking revelation, the single most emotional cutscene in games (to me), the final boss and then the perfect last few seconds of the game. I dislike the description "perfect" when applied to stories, but I really can't imagine a more perfect end. It reminds me of the end to the Sopranos.

I have more difficulties coming up with the best beginning hour. Though I am not as in love with the story of it as some people, the first half hour or so of the Last of Us is incredible, and fully deserving of its status.

Edit: I've thought about it some more, and though I might be cheating, I think the first hour or two of Outer Wilds might qualify. You have this whole solar system to play with and the possibilities and sense of discovery are endless. Taken down a notch by the first 15-20 minutes not being that interesting.

@efesell: Exactly my thoughts. It frustrates me that they don't deal with the actual consequences so as not to make things too uncomfortable for you.