So basically your argument is, if you don’t like the gameplay loop, they force you to pay? I’m not arguing that there are idiots out there who will spend their life savings on digital crop, but you are dramatically OVERselling the difficulty of upgrade requirements. Sure if you wanna play 8 hours a day you’re eventually gonna have to spend money, but. If you play for an hour or so each day, hit the events that are worth the time, do some daily/weekly dungeons as they are available, a little exploration and a little questing, and have any sense of “progress takes time”, the actual gameplay is fun enough to carry without spending money. If it isn’t, for you or someone else, then just don’t play?

Also, oversexualization of minors is a term that gets thrown around a LOT with this game and I just don’t see it, basically ever. The few characters that are actual children are dressed conservatively, act like children, are treated like children by other characters, there’s never inappropriate commentary about them… if you wanna offense to the anime-style art that makes everyone, including adults, cartoonist, that’s your opinion. It’s weird that a lot of people act like it’s a pervasive issue when it really doesn’t exist at all in the game.

What the fuck are you talking about. This is an insane take.

Dang there is a lot of hate for this game here, like it’s definitely not the best game ever but it is one of the most compelling mobile experiences out there, with a decent story that has some great moments, and it can absolutely be played completely for free without missing out on much. The only thing spending money is good for is specific characters and weapons, none of which are required, and you can absolutely save up from playing for free and get almost any of those characters/weapons without spending a dime.

It’s not for everyone but I feel like this game gets a lot of hate simply for the Chinese origin, cartoony style, and microtransactions without any actual knowledge of what it’s like to play it.

This is almost definitely legal speak for “we ain’t liable”

They don’t care if you mod for game, but they’re not opening themselves up to get sued if you download a mod and it borks your computer.

I mean, I think the S23 Ultra is still getting updates through 2027, so it gives you plenty of time to get use out of it before upgrading in 2028.

Final Fantasy - VI

I actually think IV, but then skip to VI and go from there.

In addition to the community-aspects others have noted, the combat system is a bit slower-paced and extremely strategic. The jobs(classes) are all extremely unique and the sub-job system allows you to play them differently as needed. You can switch jobs on one character so you really grow attached to your specific character rather than making different characters for different classes.

You can swap-gear mid combat which gives you a lot of situational flexibility that makes it feel like you’re actively contributing to your success or failure. As an example you might have a set of great for a specific ability, or switch to defensive gear if you draw the enemy’s attention.

Additionally, the story is really nuanced and the side-characters are often very realistic in their choices, motivations, and there is a sense of consistency throughout the world that really makes it feel “lived-in” in a way a lot of other MMOs don’t bother with.

Honestly I could go on and on. It’s just a really special world and will stick with me for life. Even a few years out from playing I still get the itch to go back constantly. Vana’diel is like a second home for me.

FFXI ruined all other MMORPGs for me, because there is nothing like it and probably never will be again.

Final Fantasy XI and it’s not even close.

Hmm, I think I was responding within the context of some of the other replies, so I might have lost track of what OP said before responding.

from Episode One and Episode Two, along with ideas and experiments for the third episode that never came to be.

Emphasis mine. They mean HL2 Ep 3 was planned and canceled. Not HL3.

I will never be able to!

Bastion is one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, both art-wise and theme-wise. The entire end of the game was just chills and tears for me.

If only it wasn’t running Windows 11

Haha! That sounds like so much fun!

My wife, whose entire history with video games is Sims 3, Animal Crossing: NH, and Pokémon Go, played through this game start to finish and loved it. It wasn’t really made for “gamers”, it was made for Harry Potter fans that wanted to play a Hogwarts game. It didn’t succeed as a gaming revolution, it succeeded in bringing non-gamers to buy it.

Personally, I love that she got into it whether it’s mid or not, because it introduced her to a lot of the mechanics necessary to play “real” games in the future. And she had a lot of fun.

Actually, the last truly new content for FFXI ended in May of last year, but it’s still pretty impressive!

Civilization has settings buried in the menu like

New to Civilization (default)

New to Civilization VI

New to Civilization [Expansion 1]

New to Civilization [Expansion 2]

Disabled

Something like these options could go a long way -

New to Pokémon (all tutorials)

New to Pokémon on [Console] (tutorials specific to controls on that console)

New to Pokémon [Generation] (tutorials specific to new mechanics in that generation)

Disabled (no tutorials)

I used the Google to destroy the Google

Thanks, because I bought it after it got good and I’ve put 1000+ hours into it.

I don’t think it’s an overreaction - you have a line, and when it was crossed you switched.

3DS can emulate DS, my 2DS running homebrew can emulate DS, GBA, and everything prior. It’s pretty cool.

That was just eShop