@ninokadic@philosophy guess it depends on what you mean by philosophy in this sense, but being quite broad about it:
Xenogears: interesting exploration of psychology and certain Lacanian ideas, plus religion, in a sci-fi setting.
The Last of Us/Part 2: I interpret these as explorations of guilt, hope, and nihilism.
Night in the Woods: exploration of coming of age against the decline of the traditional working class and townships built around it: the lost future of an adulthood to look forward to, I suppose. Hauntology, basically.
There are a lot of genuine moral dilemmas in the Mass Effect series.
I also found the game-play mechanic of Life Is Strange to have philosophical merit regarding free will and causation, though they could have taken it further.
And I think Braid and Journey both deserve a mention.
@jjfphd@ninokadic@philosophy i love mass effect but it irks me that choices don’t matter in the end. I’m playing it to avoid the harsh realities of life for a fantasy of syntax error extinction
@kierkegaank@ninokadic@philosophy The three endings only vaguely differentiated from each other isn't super satisfying, but your choices matter so much in the middle that it didn't bother me that it all headed to the same end. The Mordin genophage storyline alone was so damn good! And the quarians and geth!!
@jjfphd@ninokadic@philosophy It’s probably the best game script ever despite the disappointing ending. Sometimes even shakespearian in scale, like that part with Mordin
@kierkegaank@ninokadic@philosophy Nice! The mako in ME1 is so frustrating to me that I have only played the first game once. But I've played the 2nd and 3rd multiple times. Even did the suicide run in the 2nd one time. Surprisingly hard to kill yourself and your whole crew in the game, but possible!
@kierkegaank@ninokadic@philosophy You have to begin with a new Sheppard. Basically, BioWare says that if Shepard dies in ME2, their story ends there. From that point ME3 would be an alternate reality where you didn't screw up and kill everyone! So it isn't your Shepard anymore.
@jjfphd@kierkegaank@ninokadic@philosophy killing all my crew, and myself, and watching Joker fly away on an empty ship was a delightfully satisfying ending. It took effort and planning to make the worst decisions possible.
How many games let you achieve "mission complete" and perma-death the main character in the same playthrough?
@ninokadic@philosophy it is. The gameplay isn't for all, but the story and characters are, in my opinion, wonderful. The music is also phenomenal, which helps 😅
@philosophy@ninokadic I liked the melancholia of “Shadow of the Colossus” which prefigures the “wait, what am I doing here”-atmosphere of #BioShock (which I also like).
@philosophy@ninokadic I am basically too old and slow for the game, but there is something very rewarding about overcoming the enemies after multiple attempts. I also find the “and again” of the gameplay quite mesmerising.
@mnagenborg@philosophy I respect that, but my favourite games are either something like Disco Elysium (basically just reading) and Stardew Valley (you grow crops and get married). I think that tells you all you need to know about me haha
@ninokadic@mnagenborg@philosophy
Other than Stardew Valley, I haven’t played much of the games mentioned so far. Never thought of them as philosophical though. There is a bit of philosophical questioning in Remnant 2.
@FuzzyWuzzy@ninokadic@mnagenborg@philosophy I kinda think Stardew has a super secret philosophical undercurrent, though... There are all kinds of interesting background choices being made (e.g., the game doesn't allow you to cook with meat, makes gift giving and community building a central goal, requires you to have an animal companion in the form of cat or dog, etc.). And of course, the whole Joja Mart v. Pierre's battle is so tied up with capital / consumption...
@chertograd@philosophy Oh yeah, I loved BioShock too, though I should probably refresh my memory. I never played Amnesia, though I've heard of it. Will add it to my wishlist, thanks!
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