"The Sunday Friend" (spoilers, I guess)

[Lackluster]

I just spoke to "The Sunday Friend", and wow, what a biting critique. I hadn't missed a BG style "attack anyone" option right up to this point. The frustrating thing is that even if there were, it wouldn't change anything.

A game about hopelessness.

[Johnnius]

I've learnt that I'm most probably a moralist and I don't know what to think about that.

[Lackluster]

Originally posted by Johnnius:

I've learnt that I'm most probably a moralist and I don't know what to think about that.

I think it's easy to feel that way when everything is going okay. Personally, things haven't been going okay for me in awhile. Dead-end job, nobody can tell the difference between right and wrong, and there's nothing that can be done about it. This game was super cathartic, because it gave voice to thoughts I don't hear expressed anywhere but as a distant, strange language in my head.

[Johnnius]

Originally posted by Lackluster:

Originally posted by Johnnius:

I've learnt that I'm most probably a moralist and I don't know what to think about that.

I think it's easy to feel that way when everything is going okay. Personally, things haven't been going okay for me in awhile. Dead-end job, nobody can tell the difference between right and wrong, and there's nothing that can be done about it. This game was super cathartic, because it gave voice to thoughts I don't hear expressed anywhere but as a distant, strange language in my head.

Sorry to hear that mate and I'm not 100% all in but I can see it in myself but then I also have a problem with all the crap in the world and the ♥♥♥♥ people go through whilst those with money and power ♥♥♥♥ downwards.

I'm doing OK but I've also been through bad times and can totally relate.

I love the way that this game makes you question your identity.

[Lackluster]

Originally posted by Johnnius:

I love the way that this game makes you question your identity.

Yeah, it's something good. Or, maybe bad. Either way, it's definitely well written.

[Johnnius]

Originally posted by Lackluster:

Originally posted by Johnnius:

I love the way that this game makes you question your identity.

Yeah, it's something good. Or, maybe bad. Either way, it's definitely well written.

I'm not sure either, questioning your position on things and what makes you, you, is not a comfortable thing.

The fact that a game can do this is very impressive.

[NobodyNeuOnyx]

Maybe i'm just an idiot but he mostly confused me. Most of the game does, mostly in regards to all the different factions. I STILL don't understand what happened in some war, who attacked the city? The communists or royalists? I can't even tell who won. Is Revachol the city you're in now or is it that other name in the endless list of names, and Revachol is the country?

[Sisyphus]

The communists took over in a revolution, and the royalists assaulted the city, massacring millions. As a result of the war, foreign liberal/capitalist powers (the Moralintern) took control. My understanding is Revachol is the name for the country you're in, and it is part of a chain of islands. The city is Martinaise.

[Du-Vu]

Iirc, Martinaise is the neighborhood the union controls, Revachol West is the city you're in, Revachol is the country as a whole, and Caillou is the island you're on, part of a larger archipelago.

[NobodyNeuOnyx]

Thanks for clearing some of that up!

[Lackluster]

Originally posted by Neuronyx:

...who attacked the city? The communists or royalists? ...Revachol is the country?

The royalist and the communist revolutionaries where in a protracted civil war, and in a stalemate. Most of bullet-holes around martinaise (the district) was from this time. Then, "the Coalition" came in and bombed the hell out of everyone. The coalition.

The coalition was a collection of occidental developed nations who operated under a capitalist, liberal ideology. Those who have the mineral rights have a "moral perogative" to keep everything the same. Keep the poor comfortably poor, and the ultraliberals ultra-wealthy. This system if the same system that I have in the united states. If you've every felt frustrated with the system, that's what you're frustrated at.

[kokorecho]

@Neuronyx: I intend to play the game a second time, mostly because I want to try a different skill-set, but also to let the game tell me about who fought who again. I must say being confused in DE isn't too bad,be it because my limited experience shows that games rarely delve into complexities with no intention to handheld a player or provide extensive explanations that would help a player to easily find their place in the game world, or be it because you (and I) lack necessary experience. What I really liked about DE is how close to home it hits in many real life aspects.
"I can't even tell who won" is one of those hits.

[NobodyNeuOnyx]

Originally posted by Lackluster:

Originally posted by Neuronyx:

...who attacked the city? The communists or royalists? ...Revachol is the country?

The royalist and the communist revolutionaries where in a protracted civil war, and in a stalemate. Most of bullet-holes around martinaise (the district) was from this time. Then, "the Coalition" came in and bombed the hell out of everyone. The coalition.

The coalition was a collection of occidental developed nations who operated under a capitalist, liberal ideology. Those who have the mineral rights have a "moral perogative" to keep everything the same. Keep the poor comfortably poor, and the ultraliberals ultra-wealthy. This system if the same system that I have in the united states. If you've every felt frustrated with the system, that's what you're frustrated at.

Oh. I do remember the Coalition being mentioned now and wondered who that was. Also yeah, frustrating to say the least. On that note, there've been times the game and characters have told me i'm a communist or a moralist and i'm just... sure man whatever, I have no freaking clue what the hell I am anymore anyway, if this game is anything to go by.

[Sentient_Toaster]

Originally posted by Neuronyx:

Oh. I do remember the Coalition being mentioned now and wondered who that was. Also yeah, frustrating to say the least. On that note, there've been times the game and characters have told me i'm a communist or a moralist and i'm just... sure man whatever, I have no freaking clue what the hell I am anymore anyway, if this game is anything to go by.

It's just based on whether you tend to express pro-worker, pro-capital, whatever opinions. Hell, if you express pessimistic views enough, you can get the thought "Cop of the Apocalypse" and act like a prophet of doom.

The game's basically criticizing all the ideologies discussed, including centrism (the dialogue for the Kingdom of Conscience thought implies that it's implicitly support for stagnation due to obsessing about stability, rather than seeking to improve bad situations) -- but it *doesn't* tie centrism to the death of millions, IIRC, so it criticizes that a little less. It's just preserving ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rather than actively making ti worse.

[Lackluster]

Originally posted by Sentient_Toaster:

but it *doesn't* tie centrism to the death of millions, IIRC, so it criticizes that a little less. It's just preserving ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rather than actively making ti worse.

It does if you are to understand that the centrist viewpoint, or the moralist viewpoint, is in defense of liberalism/capitalism. That ideology is the only one which still does kill a great number of people.

[Sardonic]

If you think that's a biting critique wait till you get into the crate through with the rhetoric check.