Seems I got a fairly good idea from your answer and OPs post.

Seems VP1 is more optimistic in its outlook by comparison as your companions seemed to have already been qualified to be tested to join the ranks for Ragnarök. But seems to place more value on an individual character as it has effect on the meta-narrative value.

I do know that CotP deals with some pretty heavy topics of the reality of the period and I did appreciate that rawness to it as it helped sell the setting and provide sufficient investment to see how far the rabbit hole went.

I have only played Covenant of the Plume - not sure that falls in the franchise - and I recall that game was grounded in human politics and the exploring the personal stories of the characters one interacts with.

It seems to be a more personal journey as the characters that one has access to and what type of story arc one plays is decided by the decisions one makes through the story and having to weigh the value of human life against a backdrop of colourful characters.

Seems the games are similiar in concept and design with some differing gameplay mechanics

I played it a long time ago, but still recall how the way of open fist and closed fist symbolized I guess concepts

Closed Fist, was a philosophy selfish desire and domination with the ideal of only the strongest getting to make the rules

Whereas open fist was selflessness with the ideal that one’s strength is only as strong as the weakest link

The morality was binary choice with the environments changing somewhat accordingly, but I recall it having a more noticable effect on the “kung-fu” you could learn and it was an interesting mechanic to try and match one’s fighting style to the philosophy one follows.

I recall open-fist felt more disciplined and “soft” in its impact whereas closed-fist had a more viseral feel with the intent to cause harm and show superiority

Although the choice was either open or closed fist it did leave a stronge impact on how different the ending sequence played out which at the time was something I really felt impressed with as the difference in tone during the last moments - showcasing that both paths can achieve the goal.

I think Mass Effect probably had its early roots, in regards to morality system, from Jade Empire with influence from KOTOR as well.

It is probably been said, but roll with the failures in disco elysium, sometimes the failures bring out a better result. It systems do a great job commenting on your decisions and whether you do your job as a cop or not, it still drives across a very human story

In regards to a game with a good story, I can say OneShot surprised me. It breaks the 4th wall by having you be the character that guides the protagonist through the world as they wake up in another world and go on a journey trying to get back. Simple graphics and one has to read everything, but by the story’s end was I left feeling some emotions in regards to its conclusion.

Had to look it up to check its dates as a kid they only sold rip-off NES machines here, but the oldest game, i enjoyed playing, I found by date was Dig Dug, 2D game where you dig tunnels to get to all the enemies and defeat them by what I can only describe as throwing a bicycle pump nozzle into their mouths and pumping it until the enemy pops like a balloon.

There is the usual like Super Mario Brothers, Contra and I recall playing something where I think Diddy Kong throws barrels and “mario” has to avoid it to save the tied up princess behind diddy can’t recall the name

There is also Bomberman, Lode Runner, Double Dragon( specifically 2), Arkanoid, Ice climber (co-op) and a game I really enjoyed called Operation Wolf

Oldest original game is most probably Pac Man, but prefered the “3D”-like one which allowed pac man to jump in the maze which is newer.

Edit:

My bad, oldest game played in 2024, hmmm, Heroes of Might and Magic 1

CDDA, takes awhile to get comfortable with the controls, but it does scratch a certain itch once one can get setup and start to test one’s luck in search of the good stuff.

One has to make their own objectives for it though otherwise one can sort of just get to a point and not know what to do. But getting to a point where you can just walk into a city and be the most dangerous thing there does have a certain charm to it considering the journey getting there. It certainly rewards exploring though as one can find all sorts of craziness hidden away waiting to be found.

I know it is cliche to say but it took me the longest time to really knuckle down and play it, but boy once I did - I basically started up another playthrough right after to see what I missed and the shift in perspective when I played a different type of character was interesting to say the least.

So started as a skeptical intellectual who had to pull themselves from a sorry cop to a regular cop and approached things logically with a touch of eccentricity and pangs of regret and then compared to a wishy-washy communist with fascist leanings (which characters called the character out on) psychic superstar cop with an alias he truly believed was his name and I enjoyed and saw a completely different side of the game which was unexpected.

I cannot speak on the rest of the series, but I have played devil survivor 1 and 2:

Devil Survivor 1 does have a bit of a difficulty curve that can take one by surprise with the first major boss and it is like priming the player towards what to expect but its story I personally enjoyed.

Devil Survivor 2 is lighter in tone, well compared to the Devil Survivor 1, but I felt it was a smoother experience - doesn’t feel as tightly packaged but it does compensate with having a better presentation and provides choice in a lot clearer manner.

I liked Devil Survivor 1 story better but enjoyed Devil Survivors 2 gameplay more

I started a blog this month and happy I got 20 posts published

Mass Effect - I see there is a legendary edition with all the content bundled in one package

• Mass effect 1: Is slow in the beginining, then opens up after the tutorial, although the secondary content feels like a grind one can find a lot of lore in between it all. Outside of the Golden path the environments and a lot of the combat feels samey, but the story really comes together well in the last moments

• Mass effect 2 : The game is streamlined a lot, better environments and the character and crew stories steal the show and everything comes together in the ending again, although your choices are a lot more meaningful in the way the final mission plays out

• Mass effect 3 : The culmination of the Mass Effect triology, even with the hits and misses the highs are high and the lows are low. The ending although improved on from what it came out with is serviceable now - although not going to harp and kick on that dead horse.

I will admit by today’s standards Origins is a bit dated, and it can feel janky but I think it was one of bioware’s better games in a single package

6 origins that each have their own effect on the story and has some enduring characters - it is a good fantasy story that has your character choices play out in the final stretches and it does feel good seeing results of that play out in way that, to me at least felt meaningful.

I want to add, it took me a while to warm up to Disco Elysium, but once I got past a day or 2, I ended up being compeled into its world.

It is probably one of the best games of failure not impeding progress and baring a few mission critical paths, it is a game where failure can have a more entertaining outcome than success.

Although there is a “Golden Path” to success, there is a lot of variance to get the there.

Doesn’t check all the boxes, but Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater hits a lot of notes, most notably in the boss fight department.

3rd person, Cold War spy, stealth, action game

• A hunger mechanic that effected performance (stamina and at around 50% would affect aim or have stomach growls that would alert enemies) and could get food via hunting, trapping or stealing and in a few situations could be used offensively

• Camo system

• Majority of the bosses that you could defeat lethally or no lethally

• Medical system was pretty nifty, not fully realistic doing first aid during battle, but had the spirit of battle injury management

• Can get a lot of lore tidbits here and there by being stealthy and eavesdropping either being nearby or using a longe range listening device and by communicating with your operational support

And there is probably other systems I am forgetting ( played it on a ps2 many moons ago). Seems there is a pc version but appears to be a port and with a controller requirement, but otherwise I thought it was a loaded game for its time ( released 2004)

Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice

I found the premise of exploring the psyche of Senua and after the end, even though she isn’t fixed, she can at least put a part of herself to rest and really rings home what she as a person and people like her can be living with.

Spec Ops: The Line

Getting through the game and then evaulating all your decisions and seeing the changes over time of a broken man getting more broken leaves an impression of “Are we the bad guys”, especially after seeing the tone change from dialogue, loading screens and even how the characters move and animation over the course of the game.

Dr Mordin Solus can be saved, all it costs is the ruthless suppression of Krogan : source trying a renegade run and feeling so bad that I shot him - for Solarian aide - started from mass effect 1 to do a renegade run that I could feel less guilty from my horrible decision

Not sure where it is from, misquoting and probably butchering the quote:

“If you think a headache is bad, break your arm then the headache doesn’t feel so bad anymore”

Basically if something is bad, but something worse comes along, then the bad thing doesn’t seem so bad anymore

Update:

Because this has got me thinking, going to update when I quote source ( also don’t want to double post)

Heard in Mass Effect 2, Thane quoting:

“When all the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy of all is war, which provideth for every man, by victory or death.” Thomas Hobbes