Life.

I don't mean getting bored because you mastered it.

I mean your wrong model of the game was actually more interesting than the real one. You thought an enemy was smarter, a resource scarcer, a choice riskier.

Then you learned the rule and something disappeared.

What game did that happen to you with?

I've noticed that guys often prefer a female character over a male one (if given the choice) in single-player games. As a cisgender girl who always chooses female characters, I get confused. The reason I only play as female characters is because I can more easily relate to a character of my gender, which affects the depth of immersion in the story. Would be glad to receive your opinions. Thank you:)

Is there any game where you play as a side character who follows the story with a main character (who is basically an npc)? Idk if this makes much sense bc I get that once u start playing the game you basically becomes the "main character" because you are controlling that character and ur choices have an affect on the game. What I mean is that you play the game as intended, you have a/some party member(s) with you and do quests and stuff i guess, however as the game goes on you realise that the story isn't about you, ur choices dont matter as much and u are merely just a subject/helper to the the "side chatacter npc" that turns out to be more important than u think.

I'm also not talking about detective games where ur just a guy who's finding out clues to a story and try figure out what happned to the main protagonist.

I'm not sure if this makes much sense (since I don't have any game examples to show). Obviously there might be something similar but I have no idea if this troupe is a thing bc I haven't seen or heard anything like this (unless I did see the games I just haven't realised it was this kind of troupe).

This isn't something urgent btw, I just had a thought and wanted to see if there's anything similar that have this type of gameplay.

For me, Red Dead Redemption 2 is possibly my favorite game of all time, mostly due to its fully realized open world... but, the linear, trial and error structure of the story missions really standout against the freedom of that world.

Other examples for me: Breath of the Wild and its weapon degradation system. Arkham Knight and those batmobile missions. Metal Gear Solid V's unfinished final act.

What are some examples for you?

Edit: Just to clarify, I agree that perfection in design is rarely (if ever), attainable for a game/art, that's why I put "perfect" in quotes. But for me, some games have such strength of design, so many joyous highpoints, that their flaws otherwise become invisible.

On the other hand, some flaws can be so pointed that they distract from what the game does well. That's what my question is getting at (and it is obviously very subjective...which makes for good discussion, I think).

Brother didn't complete some chores and parents took the ps4. (I play the most on it). Father took it to his work office and now apparently its missing(someone probably stole it). Im tired of this bs, happened way too many times, I really wanted to finish a game that ive been playing and now my whole ps4 might be gone. To those that have strict and impulsive parents, what would you do about this? Gaming is my hobby and I really like it.

Theres a lot but another example is if I don't switch the hdmi cable from the ps4 to the dish TV im considered banned for sometime.

Something the game probably expected you to know in the first hour, but you somehow missed for most of your playthrough. Sprinting, fast travel, upgrading gear, a shortcut that would’ve saved you hours…

What did you miss, and what finally made you notice?

Politics and art have been deeply intertwined for as long as they've both existed. To be against the presence of politics in art is to be anti-art.

There are tons of examples of games that are made infinitely better by the fact that they are political. Imagine an apolitical Disco Elysium or Bioshock, the entire soul of the games would disappear.

To be frank, it really seems like "politics shouldn't be in games" is a dogwhistle meaning "gay people, trans people, non-white people, and women shouldn't be games." I figured I should ask before locking in that assumption, though.

I’m not taking like “Single Player is better than Multiplayer”, I’m talking like actual hot takes.

I’ll go first:

One mechanic I thought was amazing is the way From Dust handled real-time terrain manipulation. You could redirect rivers, carve out valleys, or build land bridges using dynamic, flowing materials like lava and water. It felt incredibly powerful and creative—but very few games since have done anything like it.

Another example is the sanity system in Eternal Darkness. The game would mess with you directly—fake system errors, pretend to delete your save files, or make you think your TV volume changed. It broke the fourth wall in ways that genuinely stuck with me, and I’m surprised more games don’t take that kind of risk.

It’s always strange when a mechanic feels totally fresh and exciting, and then… just disappears from game design trends.

Don’t get me wrong I like steam and I understand that Steam’s dominance is in part because of the often poor competition. But there is a noticeable portion of people who have a steam or bust mentality as to whether they’ll buy a game and (although not recently as I’ve seen) support a steam monopoly treating Valve as a benevolent corporation.

There is a massive reliance on Steam for people to play their games on PC I’ll admit I’m no better in this even though recently I have begun to buy games from GOG. What’s incredibly concerning about this reliance is that you don’t really own your games on steam so we’re heavily reliant on a platform where you don’t own the games you buy as our main way to play PC Games.

Now sure the leadership in Valve is for the most part good but what happens when the current leadership inevitably retires? I worry there is going to be a day where gamers are going to regret being so reliant on Steam. It really is a tragedy that physical gaming on PC faded out we took that security of ownership for granted and gave it up for convenience. I don’t think we’re in an unrecoverable state I think if there is enough cultural changes we can act more vigilantly but that has to start now.

What the people who have a steam or bust mentality need to understand is that corporations are not your friends and Valve is not going to be benevolent forever people should and will have to act accordingly to that and there may be some very painful decisions along the way.

For me, it was the final ride back to camp in Red Dead Redemption 2. The music, the memories... I just sat there, completely overwhelmed. It was more than a game at that point. Honestly, the game is a 10/10. An ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE. Dammit, Arthur Morgan!

Cuz I'm in a sad mood today. So what are some sad games you played. It could be something like Red Dead Redemption 2 with a lot of sad deaths, or something like OFF where it makes you think.

And does it hold up or is it nostalgia?

Here are my main choices

1. Batman: Arkham Origins

2. Ghost Rider (tie-in game)

It could be because of the game's visuals, story, gameplay, cutscenes, sound design and music, literally anything.

For me, it’s Skyrim. No matter how many times I think I’m done, I end up reinstalling it and losing another 40 hours.

What’s that one game for you?

Minecraft, i mean the nostalgia is there but when I play it I just get bored of mining and making a house, fighting mobs, collecting materials, etc.

Also GTA online, idk what it's with this, guess i just don't follow along with it

What are (in your opinion) the 4 greatest games of all time?