Want to actually discuss some games that you've gone through?

[TheImmortalP]

I'm talking about actually talking about games that you're truly truly passionate about, where you feel that you have something of substance to say about them, not just saying "this game has a good story" while not really going into detail on it, or not really covering any specific interesting detail. Nor am I talking about giving a list of games.

I want this to be a topic where we actually have something to say, and if you're going to respond to someone's thoughts on something you actually respond to the specific things of substance that they want to say instead of just saying "this game bad because of reasons that have nothing to do with what you just said." And please, don't nitpick. The internet is flooding with people trying to invalidate people and their passions with nitpicks, and I think it's really lame.

The two games that are really occupying my mind in a really good way right now are Duet Night Abyss and Where Winds Meet. They both came out in the last few months of the year. They're 2 Live Service games that I think evolved what are known as Gacha games. Most gacha games have you pulling the virtual lever in hopes of unlocking things like characters and powerups, wheras these two games have you pulling the virtual lever for what are cosmetics, and while that is still pretty bloody terrible and exploitative, it's a massive step up from what this was before, and they still retain the actual reasons that gacha games have interested me, as I feel like the gacha games that I've tried nail combat that's fun in its simplicity, as well as well paced, fun story-rich content better than most games that I've come across. And thankfully the story rich content is usually told by giving you compelling, likable dialogue.

Where Winds Meet is what I'll focus on first. It's a Wuxia(think chinese medieval fantasy with martial arts.) RPG where you're just one character, and you earn your power and abilities through just playing the game and exploring. I don't wanna say that it's a souls-like, mostly because when I hear souls-like, I think "way way way too hard for me, I'll pass." Thankfully this game recognizes that there's people out there that want to keep games moving, and not be forced to "git-gud" so there's about 4 or 5 different difficulty options, and I'm happy to say that easy mode is indeed quite easy.

I also wanna say that there's a lot of things you can do in the game that are a combination of well implemented, good ideas that I've seen in a lot of titles like Yakuza, Dynasty Warriors, Ghost of Tsushima, and Devil May Cry, there are 2 minigames that I wanna shout out for giving me something really cool that I haven't seen in any other game. The game has 2 professions called Scholar, and Doctor. They're both sorta card based minigames. With Scholar the cards you draw and use determine what you have to say, and you essentially have arguments with people, usually to talk them out of doing something.

One of the best moments I had with this game was when I got caught stealing(and yes, you can steal in this game, and you do it with this interesting type of magic that I've also never seen in a game before.) and the person that caught me went off to tell an authority, the game warning me that I'd be given a wanted status if I didn't catch them and talk them out of reporting me, which led to me casting Martial Arts Magic to stun them, and then do the card based minigame to talk them out of reporting me. There's sort of a seperate hit point system that you and your opponent have, and 4 seperate argument styles, each of which having advantages and weaknesses.

The Doctor minigame is very interesting in itself as well, and has you assessing what someones injury or illness is, and then playing a card based minigame where you cure them. This also has its own sorta hit point system where you attack what'/s causing their injury or illness and cure it, and too is a lot of fun.

I hope that I'm not making it sound gimmicky or extremely complicated, as I think it's neither of these 2 things, and both minigames are a ton of fun, and I hope to see them implemented in other games in the future. And considering how this game is this huge financial and critical success, I can totally see this happening.

There is however a really big elephant in the room that deserves to be brought up about the game. It's something that I both despise, and I hope that they remove from the game as it goes along. Some of the conversations in the game are done via an AI chatbot, and some of the voice acting and lines in the game are AI generated. I hate this so much, and I hope that more people speak out against it.

Duet Night Abyss is a little harder to talk about what what makes me so passionate, which is unfortunate because it's not only the best of these 2 games, it's probably the best game that I've played that released in 2025, which is unfortunate because from what I understand it's not doing too well financially or critically, and what it nails really deserves to be talked about more.

Duet Night Abyss has one of the most emotionally compelling main quest stories that I have ever played, and I think it's also super fast paced, which could not make me happier. The prologue has you running away and fighting at the same time, sorta reminding me of Left 4 Dead, at the end you're forced to fight the head of what's chasing you, and you end up seperated from your best friend. It's super exciting and emotionally compelling.

Then we got the first of 3 chapters which make up the 1.0 version of this games main story. The first chapters highlight is really getting to know these two very prominent characters, and god the plot twists you go through make it one of the most compelling experiences I've ever seen in a game. The set up is done so well, and the pay off is extrordinary. I feel like I'm not saying much of substance here, and I'm sorry, I'm not sure how to say it without going into spoilers, which I will try to in a later post for those that either will never play this but would like to hear about it, or don't mind spoilers.

Anyways, simply put the Second chapter does a really good job of doing something similar, only from a completely different perspective, and the third chapter does something similar only even better.

Well, that's all the energy I can put into this for now. I hope this gets some people that actually have some specific, tangible, and interesting things that they want to say as well. Please do.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

So far, It's been a long time since a game has left a lasting impact on me. What comes to mind are Omori, Ender Lilies and Magnolia, Mad Max and the Ezio Trilogy. My words can't give those games justice so all I will say is give them a try if you haven't already.

 

[Lod 10]

My favorite game is Animal Crossing; it's been calming me down every day. Even though I haven't played for very long. I'm feeling so-so today.

 

[JellyjamLu]

Yes another excuse to talk about SH2 AGAIN!

The only game i have ever been truly passionate about is the original release.

Every microscopic detail, the symbolism, the lore, atmosphere is perfect.
I researched it's development like a madman, I played the E3 build over and over. I must consume all & anything Silent Hill 2.
I worship it.

Every frame I admire & appreciate the overall craftsmanship.
I additionally enjoyed subsequent revisits to obtain the different endings, learning what the monsters could symbolize amongst other oddities.

The characters you meet along the way were strange yet memorable, the environments, use of silence and audio... bliss.
A masterful example of this would be the apartments, how it was specifically designed with claustrophobic narrow corridors in mind, being unable to see much beyond 3-4 feet infront of you unless you have the flashlight, combine this with an unnatural, industrial soundscape and the fear sets in. Brilliant.

This is but a taste, It is the perfect psychological horror masterpiece experience & my favorite game of all time.

 

[TheMinuMaster]

Instead of talking about games specifically, I’d like to share a personal thought. It’s honestly a bit hard to explain, but it feels as if some games are never truly played for the first time. I don’t know if it’s because they’re deeply impactful or something else, but even though I’m not a superstitious person, I sometimes feel like my passion for games transcends reincarnations.

Some games feel so natural and comforting that it doesn’t seem like the first time I’m playing them, even when it actually is. This often happens with older games, from before I was born, but it also happens with some that were released later. Two clear examples are TES: Oblivion and Demon’s Souls. I like to think that, in the case of these two, I once watched someone play them in the past, and somewhere in my subconscious that fascination — that feeling of home — remained.

Interestingly, when I played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the feeling was different: it felt like coming home after a long journey, days away, tired, but finally arriving. So who really knows what goes on inside my mind.

I can’t remember a single year of my life in which I didn’t play something. Nothing forced, nothing out of obligation. I won’t say I play every single day without fail, but it’s something that has never left my life, not even for a minute. Games have always been there, waiting for me, like a home I can return to at any time.

That’s more or less it. I hope I managed to convey at least a bit of the feeling I carry with me through this text.

 

[redux007]

I played through Nocturne, blind, when it first came out in the US. The experience was hard to describe. A collection of weird monster designs, vague, remotely placed cutscenes, and a constant Q&A challenge session where every other major NPC demanded to know what I thought of the nature of the universe and how it should be run. Combined with the extreme difficulty and arcane, almost mystical subsystems needed to progress made the game into more of an experience rather than a mere RPG. I'd never play something like this nowadays. As it's almost antithetical from a design standpoint to everything I like in video games. But, it's something I'll never forget and never recommend to anybody else, either.