I think 4 runs decently now though? I have it installed on Steam Deck and that seems to handle 60fps well. I have only played around an hour of it, as I didn't feel in the mood for that type of game then.
I 100% see that it is satire and respect almost all of its narrative choices, even the torture scene. But that doesn't mean that it is fun to play. It just felt really draining to have to inhabit these characters for dozens of hours, rather than watching a film about them. Something about playing a game forces you to empathize more closely with "your" character, and it is so draining for me when that character is a dick.
I think it gets 10s because of the attention to detail and vast amount of stuff in it, but I agree that underneath all the polish and glamour it is just an average game with some very dated mechanics.
Weirdly enough, it is the story that makes it worthwhile, even though it was not relaxing to me it did have some amazing moments of both satire and just hilarious situations. I also really enjoyed Franklin as a character and the contrast with Michael (who you could argue is actually a worse person than Franklin).
I am playing sleeping dogs right now and really enjoying it! Runs very well on Steam Deck too.
The driving left on the road is proving to be a tougher hurdle than expected though, I find myself crashing into opposing drivers more frequently than desired :).
I came very late to this series. I only played GTA V last year and I have yet to start another one. While I felt it was an impressive experience and had some great moments, I was also quite baffled at some of the design choices: the game often felt quite clunky and seemed to ignore logical steps in game design that other developers have made (constantly tapping a button to sprint, some of the ways the menus behave).
This is going to sound a bit silly, but I also genuinely had issues constantly doing these reprehensible things in missions. The game is very cynical and constantly makes you do selfish acts for the protagonists. While it is at times extremely funny and is on par with some of the best crime comedies out there, doing this stuff for hours on end was really exhausting for me. I play games to relax and started to feel that this game wasn't giving me that. Compare this to Red Dead Redemption, a game I absolutely adored, where the protagonist is also morally questionable but at least tries to do the right thing within their frame of reference. I have no problem with morally gray protagonists, but something about the dial being turned up to 11 in GTA V really hit me the wrong way.
Right now I am playing Sleeping Dogs on my Steam Deck. It is clearly a GTA clone, but has an interesting twist in setting: Hong Kong is a really cool environment and the combat focusing more on melee and martial arts is also a fun change of pace. The story is quite simple and again you have to look past some ethical implications, but at least the game has some genuine characters and the events and relationships within the organized crime world are exciting to watch. In almost all respects it is clearly a lesser GTA, but I am having fun with it for the time being.
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I agree with most of what you're saying. Especially about top sports being a combination of both hard work and a unique constitution.
I just wouldn't call it segregation, as for me this term has quite a negative connotation (might be a language thing). I think it's empowering to have separate brackets to compete in so that every "group" of base constitution has a chance to compete. Though this does open the question of where to draw lines and such, to which I don't have an answer (as it probably goes to theoretical again as you were saying).
Thanks again for your input 🙏.
I by no means agree with the person you're responding to, and feel that especially in the scenario of kids they should just be allowed to do whatever they want and have fun.
I do wonder however, aren't there a lot of sports that become almost completely male dominated if you move away from the separation? For example the historical top 1000 men in 100m sprint are all faster than the fastest recorded woman in history.
I feel that taking away the separate competition would reduce these moments of empowerment for non-men.
I use "man" and "woman" with a grain of salt here, as it is what these people were assigned when they were performing the sport, I by no means want to reduce gender to a binary thing.
I also want to say that while it is a subject that I find interesting to discuss, I really dislike how bigots frame it as some sort of violent attack on their way of life. I see it more as an interesting conundrum that we can try and find a solution for together as a group.
As you've played it for so many hours, what is it that hooks you about this game? I've never played it, but I heard it's sort of a very deep / simulated survival game similar to dwarf fortress? Just love it when you can be so passionate about something that you can lose yourself in it for thousands of hours and keep coming back for more!
I have this with only 1 game (though I'm around the 1000h mark myself): Slay the Spire!
Is Outer Wilds indie? Because Outer Wilds is my favorite :).
I really like Donkey Kong Country as a kid. Great environments, fun platforming and a timeless soundtrack.
On GBA my most played game became an underated licensed gem: Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. The GBA version is completely separate from the ones on other platforms, but it's a great turn based strategy game in which you get to command the heroes and other units through all important battles of the original story. Really fun!
I recently did the opposite, I sold my Emerald and Blue for a decent price, which helped fund my second hand new 3DS. I don't really care for the cartridges as long as I can play the games, and I feel no guilt for playing roms for games that are no longer being produced :).
I do like seeing large collections of other people, but I don't have the same satisfaction from that compared to what it would cost. (I say quite hypocritically, as I have a larger than rational LEGO collection including tonnes of Bionicle sets that I will never let go for any price)
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One of the very few good pee jokes, congrats!
Aged like the best of wines! 🤌