The US is the only country to have dropped a nuke on a civilian population. And that was 80 years ago. Why are people surprised this is on the table and why do people hate the US only now? Despite all the regime changes, sanctions, and interference into nation sovereignty, no, no, THIS is what makes the US hated. Because the only hatred that matters is that from other Western countries.

Fucking

Finished Xenoblade Chronicles 1 a couple weeks ago and really loved it. There’s something about the story that stuck with me - the whole structure of a world where everything exists to feed one guy at the top, and the main character ends up rejecting the chance to become the new god. Felt like revolutionary potential even if it doesn’t fully follow through.

Tried Xenoblade Chronicles 2 right after and bounced off. Part of it was the sexualization, but what really started nagging at me was the Driver/Blade relationship - you’ve got this whole system where sentient beings are bound to serve and you acquire them through a gacha mechanic. It started feeling gross in a way I couldn’t shake. I ended up dropping it.

Now I’m playing Pokémon Leaf Green while my laptop gets fixed [I was playing Fallout 2 prior to it needing repairs]. As I’m typing this I just realized I’m sitting here catching creatures without a second thought after dropping XC2 for basically the same dynamic. Been playing Pokémon since I was a kid, so it’s easier to just fall into it without thinking. I also realize that thinking about games this way kind of ruins them.

He passed away in 2005. I wonder how he would have reacted seeing Obama continue Bush-era death and destruction.

After watching the second season of Fallout. I decided to play the others that I haven’t played, starting with 1 [only played 3].

I finished 1 today. It was very good but also very clunky. I wanted to go in completely blind, but I started to get frustrated with some of the games mechanics. Like fixing the pump. I had the parts but didn’t know you had to select them, then use them on the generator to get it fixed. I kept seeing the “you need wires” message, and I spent so much time looking for a tool that I thought was needed to help with repairing the pump. The same goes with trying to recruit dogmeat. I expected there to be some sort of dialogue option when you have the correct item in your inventory.

Then there are the cannon fodder companions that get so frustrating trying to keep alive. I gave up near the end. Once you get the Power Armor and high EW you don’t need them anymore. Also got blocked from finishing the Miles quest as an NPC stopped at the entrance of his building during the raid and there was no way to move them.

But I shouldn’t let the frustrations of the mechanics ruin the image of the game. I can definitely see why it’s regarded as one of the greats. There’s a lot of customization you can do for your character and how you interact with the world. The characters really sell the experience of living in a apocalyptic wasteland. Like hearing the story of Harold and the interaction with Set. The fact that Set is just a fuck you type of character was such a unique experience. Basically, “Thanks for killing those mutants. Here’s your reward, nuka coka. Don’t care you almost died. Eat shit.”

The combat was pretty fun. While it was frustrating, the way the game just throws you in the wilderness was an interesting experience. Like you and the character actually had to figure out how to navigate the wasteland. It was so unforgiving. You need to save. All. The. Time.

I’m going to replay the end one more time as I skipped the confrontation with the final boss. While I want to play NV+3, Im going to do 2 next to continue the story so I can appreciate the world building and story connections. Im going to be taking a break for a while as the last couple of hours of the game burnt me out.

My last gripe with the game is the implication that China would be the one utilizing bioweapons, when, between the two countries, the US is the only country known to have used them; twice. Then there’s the creators of the games saying the reason for the vaults and the FEV is to prepare the human race for space colonization since the world was going to be destroyed. I didn’t get that impression from what story there was via the various holodiscs scattered around, but I imagine that’ll be more expanded upon in 2 with more involvement with the Enclave.

The Switch version of DE is the absolute worst one. My wife played from beginning to end and had nearly 20 crashes. The last crashed occurred 2 seconds before the credits rolled.

She switched to the PS4 version for her second playthrough and didn’t experience a crash. It sucked because the Switch is the perfect console for this type of game. Yet it’s the most expensive piece of garbage on the console.

Gotcha, thanks for the info!

I take it that the clown images in op’s post are those emoji images that aren’t spoilered because they have been pre-approved?

How do you post an image without a spoiler?