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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1239 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for November 21, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Requesting help to decide how to spend the next 100 hours of my video game time. I just want a game that makes me feel something (anything, really: wonder at visual spectacle, curiosity for the world, some sort of emotional engagement with story or characters, satisfying movement mechanics, etc.). Preferably would like a game not requiring sweaty gamer skills, since I don't have the patience to replay a boss 20 times to move on. Current backlog leaders in no particular order: Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, Metaphor Refantazio, Clair Obscur, Mass Effect Trilogy, Death Stranding 1&2, Spider-Man 1&2. Open to other suggestions as well.

Play Half-Life 1/2

Outer Wilds does a great job of curiosity/mystery, as well as some other feelings. I hesitate to describe more because the fewer spoilers you have going into it the better.

A lot less than 100 hours though, so it won't fill up all that space, but would slot nicely between other things.

I played through 98% of Outer Wilds. For some reason, I could not figure out how to make the very last stretch in time and just gave up and watched the end on youtube. Greatly enjoyed everything up to that point.

An alternate to Outer Wilds is The Forgotten City. Another game where you're better off knowing little going in.

I liked that one too. I am too picky about games and don't have friends who know my tastes well enough for me to blindly trust their judgement, so I never play any games completely blind. But just knowing the basic premise (of both of them) is probably fine. The first hour or so might be even better completely blind, but the majority of the gameplay is the same.

I found it nihilistic and depressing, and the time limit annoying given the realistically portrayed gravitational physics.

I just want a game that makes me feel something

Not on the list but NieR Automata will make you feel something alright. For me that game remains steadfastly unbeaten in terms of emotional impact and I will never tire of shilling it.

Aside from that I second the Persona recommendation.

I've (un)fortunately already completed Automata. I tried Replicant, but couldn't quite stay engaged enough to get past the 2nd/3rd ending.

Of the options presented, Clair Obscur. Reasonably fun to play and tells an engaging story. The first Mass Effect is good too, but the games go downhill hard after the first.

Have you played the Persona games? (3, 4, 5)

I get a rare amount of emotional engagement with the characters in those games. No sweatiness required.

Funny, Persona 3 Reload is the game I'm currently playing (I finished 5 Royal some years ago). I thought about jumping straight to 4 Golden, but decided to wait for the upcoming 4 Revival since I think 200+ hours of Persona back to back could start to feel too repetitive. Agree on the engagement though. I can't articulate the secret sauce but they know how to make you connect to characters.

I figured there was a remake of P4 coming after the sufficiently commercially successful remake of P3 (leaked numbers from five months ago showed 2.07M units sold), but hadn't heard the name yet. If they have the same team doing 4R that did 3R, it should end up being pretty satisfyingly done.

P4 is an excellent, cozy game with some very charming characters. They released a non-remade PC version of it a few years back, and it's perfectly playable despite the datedness. You can play in 4K 120 fps, for instance. But if I were given a choice between playing that version now or waiting a year for the remake, I'd probably stay patient and get more QoL later. Some QoL things that you take for granted in 5R and 3R are absent in 4.

Re: secret sauce - I read an interesting thing about the character designs in Persona games. They are designed to have an appeal that does not reveal the artist's gender!

There's an interview (in Japanese) with the lead character creator here: https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/interview/241125m

I vote for Mass Effect and Clair Obscur, both outstanding games.

I loved the originality of Death Stranding but hated the gameplay loop.

Hated the controls of Metaphor Refantazio so much I refused to play it.

CP2077 consistently fails to grip me. Now that I'm done with my first EU5 campaign maybe I'll give it a go after Dispatch.

I tried to do a completionist run of CP2077 and fizzled out about 2/3rds of the way through. It just failed to grip me enough. If I'd just spent more time focusing the main quest I'd probably have finished it.

I loved the originality of Death Stranding but hated the gameplay loop.

Hated the controls of Metaphor Refantazio so much I refused to play it.

You should include a disclaimer that you played with mouse and keyboard rather than with controller, so your experience may be highly unreflective of others'.

Well, I have always assumed most PC gamers play with KB&M.

As ToaKraka said, most PC gamers do until they don't. Something like Devil May Cry is a special kind of masochism to play on the text input device.

According to Steam's statistics, the proportion of PC gamers who use controllers varies widely based on the genre of game that is being played.

  • Overall: 10 percent

  • Real-time strategy games: Less than 1 percent

  • First-person shooter games: 7 to 8 percent

  • Third-person adventure games: 40 to 50 percent

  • Sports and fighting games: More than 70 percent

  • Racing and skating games: More than 90 percent

Those numbers are from year 2021. As of 2024, the "overall" figure has increased from 10 percent to 15 percent, but Steam has not seen fit to provide per-genre numbers again.

I personally played Death Stranding 1 with a controller. And I have seen several 4chan threads laughing at people who try to play action RPGs like Dark Souls and Nioh with mouse and keyboard, fail, and leave bad reviews on that basis.

I actually like the left part of the gamepad with its thumbstick. It's the right part that I hate. I have five fingers, and you expect me to press four buttons with my thumb, including buttons like jump/dodge and attack that I might want to press in very rapid succession?

I vote for Death Stranding 1. I played it for over 250 hours and didn't even get around to finishing it.

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