What are you playing right now?

[majestic]

 

I need more games with non-happy endings. I don't mean "game over" screens or you hit the wrong button/wrong choice and the world explodes/game over/reload.

 

...50 years (well, ok, 45 years) of happy/heroic endings in most entertainment and I'm tired of them. I need more character tragedy, pathos, ambiguous and bittersweet that builds and escalates throughout the whole game. Anything come to mind?

 

Mass Effect 3 has an ending that made almost no one happy.  Does that count?

 

 

It even works as a straight answer - the player does have the choice to let everyone die in this cycle after all.

[Keyrock]

Still playing Shin Megami Tensei Liberation Dx2. I managed to get another floor deeper in the Aura Gate dungeon, I'm on floor 33 of 50 now. The boss fights are getting really challenging, as they should.

 

I fused Alilat. This sets me back on my grind to get Susano-o, but Alilat is just way too good to pass up and will help me tremendously in the late dungeon levels where status ailments can ruin your day. Alilat is a peculiar demon (it's a pillar) with high magic, vitality, and luck stats and no elemental weaknesses. You can build Alilat as a nuker, but it's a perfect candidate for a disabler, which is the direction I'm going. High luck gives both increased resistance to status ailments and increased rate of inflicting them. Alilat also has a passive that grants a 60% increase to ailment resistance. An AoE almighty nuke is nice for relatively low but reliable damage to all enemies (almighty spells cannot hit weaknesses and thus do extra damage, but they can't be nullified nor drained neither. Basically they always hit for standard damage). Add in a very strong single target heal (it's never bad to have a second healer) plus a unique repel pierce ability that is extremely situational but a godsend in those specific situations and you have a very well rounded demon. I transferred Mahashiboboo (MegaTen has the best spell names) to Alilat which is a AoE spell that attempts to bind all enemies (bind and charm are by far the strongest ailments) and a set of sick brands to boost ailment infliction rate and heal brands to boost healing. I have one transfer spot left that I'm undecided what to get. Maybe a spell that removes bind since I already have a spell that removes charm in my party on White Rider. Alternatively, I can get Madness to further increase ailment infliction rate. Alilat's one weakness is pathetic physical damage, but I have other demons for that (currently Wu Kong, eventually Susano-o).

Edited October 4, 2018 by Keyrock

[Fenixp]

I need more games with non-happy endings. I don't mean "game over" screens or you hit the wrong button/wrong choice and the world explodes/game over/reload.

Let's go in the order of appearance through my library, picking only games with stories worth a look: Alan Wake, The Banner Saga, Bastion, Bioshock: Infinite, Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons, Sleeping Dogs, Spec Ops: The Line, Transistor, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, NieR: Automata, Prey, The Walking Dead, Freespace series as a whole, SOMA of course.

 

Then there are all of those unknown games, like Silent Hill series or Planescape Torment.

 

These are only games that I've finished, that presented stories I've enjoyed and that either don't have multiple endings or all of their endings are arse to some degree.

[bugarup]

D'awwww SOMA hurt me so good, even with telegraphing it and all. I will treasure that memory forever.    

 

Also, Pathologic, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC, Metro 2033, This War of Mine (or, frankly, most games originating from Eastern Europe; we do seem to hate Disneyish happy endings), Downfall, Cat Lady, The Last Door, Papers Please, What Remains of Edit Finch...SOMA creator's other titles -- Penumbra and Amnesia are not exactly shiny happy romps either. 

[Zoraptor]

I thought the true ending of Stalker SOC was a fairly 'happy' ending, though the alternatives definitely weren't. Clear Sky on the other hand must have been about the most negative ending ever in a game, though I guess FEAR 2 comes close and with The Nameless One being disqualified by dint of being a knob and just getting what he signed up for. Dead Space and FEAR (1) and even System Shock 2 would probably qualify as well, though they're more sequel hooks than genuinely negative endings.

 

Technically the ending of NWN2 would qualify as well, can't get more non happy than rocks fall, everyone dies...

[Hurlshort]

I need more happy games. I've been playing The Long Dark and it is pretty dreary, and then I did a run through the Banner Saga everything is hopeless. Star Control makes me smile, so I'll probably stick with that for a bit.

[the_dog_days]

I need more happy games. I've been playing The Long Dark and it is pretty dreary, and then I did a run through the Banner Saga everything is hopeless. Star Control makes me smile, so I'll probably stick with that for a bit.

 

Don't play Mass Effect 3? 

[bugarup]

I need more happy games. I've been playing The Long Dark and it is pretty dreary, and then I did a run through the Banner Saga everything is hopeless. Star Control makes me smile, so I'll probably stick with that for a bit.

 

Stardew Valley.  Although even that chill, zen game has its stressed-out minmaxers with spreadsheets and calculations. 

[Serrano]

I need more happy games. I've been playing The Long Dark and it is pretty dreary, and then I did a run through the Banner Saga everything is hopeless. Star Control makes me smile, so I'll probably stick with that for a bit

 

You could try the new adult games on Steam. Nothing but happy endings there.

[Malcador]

I need more happy games. I've been playing The Long Dark and it is pretty dreary, and then I did a run through the Banner Saga everything is hopeless. Star Control makes me smile, so I'll probably stick with that for a bit.

 

Builder games would work for that, you're focused on developing, building and creating rather than destroying stuff.

[Tale]

I finished Telltale's Batman season 2. And the final episode was very whelming. It felt like half the size as any other episode in either title. And Joker's ultimate turn ended up being just not as interesting as I hoped it would be. Maybe if the game had spent more time with that version of him it would have been better.

[Keyrock]

I need more happy games. I've been playing The Long Dark and it is pretty dreary, and then I did a run through the Banner Saga everything is hopeless. Star Control makes me smile, so I'll probably stick with that for a bit.

Play some Mario games if you have a Nintendo system.

[melkathi]

Hurlshot, don't play Ash of Gods. It makes Banner Saga appear happy.

 

Jeff approves of you playing Star Control though.

 

Jeffspeed, non-jeff

[Tale]

Is the entire Banner Saga trilogy particularly good, even if you like unhappy things? I backed the first part, but never really played it.

[melkathi]

I couldn't bear through the first. Dislike the gameplay. So someone else will have to comment.

[Tale]

Decided to put Kingmaker on the backburner until some more patches. Lots of talk about more issues in later acts and I'd hate to get to one and kill my momentum. But I have an itch. So I started up Baldur's Gate: EE again.

 

Why are good Sorcerer portraits so hard to find? It's an issue with Warlocks too. All the male spellcasters are old men or weirdos. Where's my sophisticated magicy prettyboys? Like Loki from the Marvel movies. Found a portrait of him, but I'll give up video games forever before I use a movie star portrait for a game.

 

Only decent one in the default game is Edwin's. Like I need two of him in the party.

 

Edit: Found a doozy. https://vk.com/photo-34109479_341917808

 

Rerolled until I had 93 beautiful points to spend and then made all of his stats almost high, 17 or 16 in everything but a 12 in strength and 15 in Charisma. Because Sorcerers in Baldur's Gate don't have a casting stat.

[Keyrock]

It still stings to set myself back in my quest to fuse Susano-o so much, but fusing Alilat has definitely been worth it. My success rate with binding enemies when casting Mahashibaboo has been impressive, and I still have room to increase the infliction rate. Enemies are surprisingly easy to defeat when they can't act.

[SonicMage117]

What is a "Jeff"?

[GhostofAnakin]

Okay, I think Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus just jumped the shark.

[bugarup]

Edit: Found a doozy. https://vk.com/photo-34109479_341917808

 

 

*click* DA2's Hawke really oughta stop with goth eyeliner. *click next* Ow! Dude! NSFW! NSFFW!

 

Aaaanyway. Now when I'm finally done with Deadfire for the time being there's time to come back to "Tyranny". Still not enamored with combat, but now since I discovered I was upgrading spells wrong (and hitting dudes with piddly level 1 kitten farts all that time)  and rectified that it does not get into way of me enjoying the story and the setting. Love the setting.   . It'll need at least three playthroughs though -- "sided with Voices", "sided with Ashe" and "glares silently". 

Edited October 5, 2018 by bugarup

[Starwars]

Is the entire Banner Saga trilogy particularly good, even if you like unhappy things? I backed the first part, but never really played it.

 

Try playing a bit of the first game, it will give you a good feel for it. All three games are very similar in how they play, with some additions as the games go along. So if you like the first one, you'll like the rest. If you dislike the first one, you'll dislike the rest.

 

Personally I enjoyed them all. Wouldn't call them amazing but unique enough.

[Fenixp]

The Banner Saga is trying to pretend that's not the case, but ultimately, it's a really captivating linear story with some good turn based battles thrown into the middle of it. If you enjoy Norse mythology, can appreciate plot that's seldom seen in videogames and enjoy looking at pretty pictures, you can't really go wrong with it - but it's not what I'd consider a must-play. Still, the music's bloody ace.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdJ913xkTPE

Edited October 5, 2018 by Fenixp

[melkathi]

What is a "Jeff"?

 

I thought you were playing Star Control: Origins, Not Jeff.

 

I don't want to spoil

Edited October 5, 2018 by melkathi

[Tale]

it's a really captivating linear story with some good turn based battles thrown into the middle of it. If you enjoy Norse mythology, can appreciate plot that's seldom seen in videogames and enjoy looking at pretty pictures

I can only get so sold.

[Hurlshort]

 

I need more happy games. I've been playing The Long Dark and it is pretty dreary, and then I did a run through the Banner Saga everything is hopeless. Star Control makes me smile, so I'll probably stick with that for a bit

 

You could try the new adult games on Steam. Nothing but happy endings there.

 

 

Gross and hilarious.

 

For Tale, I've played through the first Banner Saga twice, so I'd recommend it. Fenix explained it perfectly. There are some interesting choices to make that have consequences throughout the trilogy, so I like that aspect. I actually think the turn based combat is a bit flawed (how the turns are handled) but I still tend to enjoy it. My favorite storyline is the Rook/Allette one, so make sure you play long enough to get to know them a bit.