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I just finished DE about a week ago, in the midst of some of the most emotionally dire real life poo poo I've dealt with in years. I was stunned by the ending and I had such a good long think on it. I won't get into it right now because I don't have time, but I do want to highlight a couple of other things: The interaction with Lillienne really got to me. Harry realizing that he's too much of a dumpster fire for her at the moment is so sweet, so empathetic. He genuinely cares about her, which is why he can't bother her with his poo poo. And she seems to perceive this. I cried a bit (and not for the only time through the whole game). I picked up one Fascist point somehow, I think by reading too much Man from Hjeimmdal books  The Volition check against Klaasje was incredible, both in terms of storytelling, and in terms of iterating on the game's mechanics. So good. RIP Horrific Necktie. Pourin' one out for my homie.
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Sep 1, 2023 21:11
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I was a little disappointed when I found out you can't make yourself the killer by believing in it enough and telling Kim about it and blathering about it to everyone who will listen. I mean, not really. But there was a hot minute where I thought maybe the game's narrative had some postmodern, Pynchonian cause/effect inversion going on and you could shape reality by thinking. That ended up a big part of the story's metaplot, but not the murder mystery. I ended up seeing it more like a "whydunnit" than a "whodunnit." Yeah, you're looking for who killed the hanged man, but their means and motive are more important to the narrative and thematic thrust of what is essentially a visual novel.
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Sep 15, 2023 02:54
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Speaking of one-liners: my favorite one, or at least one that has lived in my head ever since hearing it, is an exchange with the junk dealer: "They're bad speakers. Lo-fi socialist junk. "I need them. I think I'm lo-fi socialist junk myself." GET OUT OF MY HEAD, HARRY.
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Sep 27, 2023 01:03
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Youremother posted:It takes a series of very difficult passive checks to even start the battle, I think it's well earned. It's also possibly the funniest thing in the entire game so I refuse to take it off the table. I'm partial to the Esprit de Corps bro-nods over by the boardwalk that can literally break your neck. OH gently caress OH poo poo (dies of camaraderie)
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Sep 28, 2023 22:18
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Samovar posted:I welcome the posting of fanart over computer-generated images.  Rogue AI Goddess posted:Looks like everyone runs Actual Art Degree in their Thought Cabinet these days. My hands do shake from anger how poo poo it all is
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Nov 13, 2023 12:15
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Yes, yes. But more importantly: what does Cuno think of AI art? Cuno doesn't give a poo poo
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Nov 17, 2023 00:55
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regulargonzalez posted:Desperately hoping for several more pages of AI art chat. It's as interesting as it is enlightening. And with red text like that, who could argue! Some fan art that isn't computer-scraped plagiarized busy dogshit: .jpeg)  .jpeg)
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Nov 18, 2023 20:23
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Zulily Zoetrope posted:There's an impossible/legendary Empathy check with Garte somewhere where your brain will chime in that he really hates being the guy who has to remind you that you owe him money, and that a bit of the condescending tone he has is aimed at himself. I got this one. Empathy was my signature skill. I was surprised how it humanized Garte and was well-earned on the part of the writing. I was also a hardcore Communist so I even added a bit of solidarity for a worker just trying to get through his job.
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Nov 21, 2023 15:06
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Heavy Metal posted:Ok, I bought the game on PS5, been interested for quite a while! Any newbie tips and character build stuff if you probably are only doing one playthrough and don't want it to be notably tough? I know messing around and failing at stuff is part of the charm too. Zulily Zoetrope posted:the only thing I'd recommend against is doing a 3/3/3/3 stat spread, and you're not doing that, so you should be good to go I toddled through the game with 1 in Motoritics and it was fine. 3's across the board is the coward's way out. As for tips: Get using whatever button highlights interactable things and shows your current thoughts around your head. On PC it's right-click, but I have no idea what it is on PS5. If you don't use it often, you'll miss lots of things. As your skills improve, in particular Perception, you'll see more things highlighted. I was a clumsy goober with 1 in Perception for a long time until I learned a thought that gave me +3 to Perception, and then the whole world changed. Hilariously, this works in reverse too, so if you have, say, 1 Perception and you put on sunglasses that give you -1 Perception, you won't be able to find the fucken door. If you're dying all the time, just put a point or two into Volition and/or Endurance. The game has a reputation for killing players unexpectedly, but it isn't that hard to avoid dying if you prep for it.
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Nov 22, 2023 12:38
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I also got the impression that Evrart isn't super well-off at least compared to folks like Joyce and the Light Bending Man. His office is in a shipping container, not just for comical, symbolic reasons. He's doing better than most in Martinaise (which isn't saying much), but the patronage system he has set up is also keeping the union afloat. So without the wealth he is skimming off the drug trade, the union might not exist, or at least not in the form we see it. We see the union as able to stage a strike in the face of violence and capital, and I take at face value Tidus' claims about the Hardie Boys being the local peacekeepers in the absence of the RCM. To perhaps oversimplify: no drug trade, no Evrart. No Evrart, no Hardie Boys. No Hardie Boys means materially worse conditions for everyone in Martinaise. So if you're a random, nameless NPC in Martinaise and you know this is going on, regardless of your thoughts on the availability of drugs vis a vis public health, your options are: have a drug-infested but marginally safer Martinaise, or have a sober but utterly immiserated Martinaise.
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Nov 23, 2023 12:36
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I only have one playthrough so far, so I just started a new game to try to see some of the stuff I missed before. I was a communist hobo art apocalypse cop before, so I'm going for being a hard-nosed cop this time, maybe a moralist or fascist. I'm also picking skills that I was bad at before. Half Light is my signature skill this time. I'm kind of letting the game guide things for a while, to show me some paths. And YIKES did I just find one five minutes in:    JFC this got so dark so quickly. You detect something between Sylvie and Garte, cram in some trad misogyny, and then convert Garte to this thinking. This run is not going to make me feel good. (Although I did learn that Sylvie broke the taxidermized bird. I assumed Harry did in my first playthrough and helped replace it. I also noticed the SpeedfreakFM radio button on Kim's car this time. My character was too bad at Motoritics to notice it before. I'm already learning new things!)
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Nov 23, 2023 13:25
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Youremother posted:I got the worst possible outcome at the Tribunal because I disliked Evrart enough to not bother doing the gun quest Bar Ran Dun posted:*Bratan* I was confused when I went through all that rigamarole to get my gun and a couple bullets over the course of the whole game, only to never use them, ever. Still managed to save Liz, Lt. Kitsuragi, and a few of the Hardie Boys during the tribunal with the help of the game's best and most morally and politically unimpeachable character. *~Bratan~* Edit: I can't tell if you have to be on drugs to be able to do this. During my first run Harry was abusing speed pretty much the entire game because my Motoritics was abysmal, so I can't tell if the Horrific Necktie's quest lines and use at the tribunal can occur normally, or if it was the result of cramming so, so much speed. Railing Kill fucked around with this message at 13:47 on Nov 25, 2023 |
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Nov 25, 2023 13:42
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Party Boat posted:You just need sufficient Inland Empire for the tie to start talking to you. I stayed (mostly) clean through the game and followed its questline all the way to the end, where my motorics dump stat meant that the spirit bomb exploded harmlessly on the cobbles. Good to know. That makes sense, given how high my Inland Empire was. I think it was the first skill I invested in, and the tie was talking to me basically as soon as I had it. I guess I just forgot the check for it. Even on speed, I think I had to roll a 10 for the spirit bomb to work. I hadn't save-scummed anything up to that point, and I wasn't about to start. It was the biggest fist-pumping, out-loud "gently caress yeah" of the whole run. It felt like a development arc for Harry: he goofed up seemingly every significant Motorics check up to that point, but goddamn did he make his one pass count.
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Nov 25, 2023 14:06
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Alchenar posted:The game gives you such an impression of freedom while you are playing it that it's naturally a bit disappointing to look backwards and see the rail tracks you've been on a lot more clearly - even though the game genuinely does give you a lot of freedom. I would rather a game tell a compelling story on rails than tell a bland or derivative story with ~player agency~. DE is at its core a linear story; the culprit never changes and the nature of the main plot is fixed, but the gameplay and player agency is in everything else: how things happen, rather than what ultimately happens. This places more of an emphasis on the player's choices for Harry's development, which seems right for this game and its writing. It's as much (if not more) about Harry as it is about the case he is investigating. The linearity did also strike me as odd in the moments after finishing the game, but I had such a good time along the way and the game provoked so many moments of reflection along the way that I don't mind. If I want a more mutable game narrative, I'll play a different game that cares about that over just solid writing.
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Nov 26, 2023 23:33
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My coworker and I were talking about The Wire today and I think I figured out how I'm going to guide my character for my second playthrough of DE. I'm just going to make a character from The Wire and make all of my decisions accordingly. For maximum stupidity I'm thinking Herc, but The Bunk could be great for different reasons.
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Dec 8, 2023 23:04
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christmas boots posted:You see these, DuBois? You see 'em? These are for you. These are for you for as long as it takes me to get even. zenguitarman posted:The Jamrock District way. I think Herc is more different from my first character than Rawls, at least in terms of stats. But holy poo poo would Rawls be fun to RP. General Battuta posted:I got this Oranjese wench in my gunsights, so to speak, and, uh... I am dangerously close to engorged when, all of a fuckin' sudden, out of fuckin' nowhere, fuckin' Detective fuckin' Harrier Dubois pops into my head Likewise for Jay Landsman. Just out there casually thumbing through skin mags all over Revochol while waxing poetic about the dumbest cop poo poo.  Come to think of it, Landsman might be too close to an art cop. My first character was an art cop, so I'm trying to avoid it.
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Dec 9, 2023 02:32
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Got a Steam achievement for how mad I've made Lt. Kitsuragi. Grumpy Gus doesn't like how Herc does policing the 
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Jan 4, 2024 12:49
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New player tips: Go in totally blind. Do not read or listen to anything about the narrative. In fact, most of this thread is probably a no-go. Make sure you have at least 2 in Endurance and Volition. That'll give you more staying power in the early game. Make an unbalanced build and let it guide you through the game. It doesn't matter what you pick to be great or terrible at. It'll be fun and possible to finish the game regardless because the game is well-designed enough to allow...creative uses of skills to advance major and minor plot points with multiple skills at each step. Do not play with completionism in mind. It's not possible (without cheating stats) to see and do everything in one run. Don't worry about what you're not seeing and enjoy what your passive checks have gotten you into this run. As someone else said, you have a second or two to pop some pills to save yourself from hitting 0 in health or morale. Save often. I got in the habit of saving every 20-30 min. of real time. What can give you a game over isn't always obvious. Then again, unless you got a game over, don't save scum anything. The game won't lock you out of any main plot stuff if you biff a check, so give yourself the freedom to take risky checks and deal with (and enjoy) the consequences.
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Jan 20, 2024 13:12
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EorayMel posted:1 point in intellect, 1 point in psyche with the bonus point put in volition, 6 points in physique, 4 points in motorics.  This goon gets it.Zulily Zoetrope posted:4 points in intellect, 6 point in psyche, 1 point in physique with the bonus point put in endurance, 1 point in motorics. This goon also gets it. But seriously: have at least one category at 5. Do whatever else you want otherwise. 2 in Endurance and Volition will help in the early going. But go 5 or go home. Specialize. It doesn't matter in what. Be weird. Go nuts.
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Jan 21, 2024 20:43
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sebmojo posted:Loads of inland empire is all that matters Indeed, *~Brattan~*. Indeed. You could also make a case for pouring singular focus into Shivers, Electrochemistry, Half Light, or Drama as the dopest ways to play the game.
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Jan 21, 2024 22:27
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I have been in a mind to get a new avatar since mine is about ten years old. Art from one of the skills seems like a good bet. I'm not sure which one to use, though.
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Jan 23, 2024 23:08
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JOHN SKELETON posted:I have been watching some playthroughs on Youtube on the background lately, just as background noise, and I did it - I found the worst playthrough. A dude who actually distrusts Kim and gets genuinely angry talking to him. He did get some very misfortunate rolls and dialogue selections that made him skip most of the positive Kim background building where he has your back, but whatever, I think honestly this person is the Devil and we need to eat him to protect Kim. I'm in my second run and I'm deliberately trying to do things differently from my first. I'm playing a big, dumb Moralist rear end in a top hat and just a couple hours into day one I got a Steam achievement for making Kim so mad. : ((((((((
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Jan 25, 2024 02:12
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The solution to Kingdom of Conscience all but says out loud that Moralism is sinister. Careful, plodding incrementalism that looks forward to a distant, vague better world? Nope! The status quo is cool and fine actually, and all this fretting over how long it takes to make a better world is a screen for keeping things just as they are, no matter how lovely they are for everyone outside the power structure. It chides Moralists who cling to principles and ideals as rookies and children, and that once the philosophy matures in a person they become power-seeking psychopaths as much as any fascist or ultra-liberal.
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Feb 4, 2024 13:35
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sebzilla posted:I'm sort of glad that Disco is dead. This is what happens when we get the first game that's as well written as a good novel and not just well written by video game standards. Don't get it twisted: I really enjoyed DE and had a good long think at several points throughout the game. It's probably the only game I've played that made me react as much as a good book does. It's quite a work of art, but if anything it proves that video games can do something besides adolescent power fantasies, escapism, misogyny, and reaction in their writing. I'm skeptical about just about everyone in the industry, though, so it may be a while. But we already have evidence that the writers can do more that is just as good if not better. We have Sacred and Terrible Air. There's no reason to think they couldn't do more. Whether or not it is a video game is another question.
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Feb 16, 2024 13:12
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Pattonesque posted:alternate universe Harry The Northern Boys are so good and have exactly the right kind of divorced dad energy for DE.
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Feb 25, 2024 21:44
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Pattonesque posted:I mean come on I saw this shortly after I started playing the game for the first time. I think my YT algorithm got wise to it. "Party Time" is so on the nose for Harry that a friend of mine thought the song might be written for/about DE. It isn't, but goddamn could it be. Every single Northern Boys track on YT is a banger. Highly recommended.
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Feb 25, 2024 22:26
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Samovar posted:Any associated lore to go with it? Something about acorns. 
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Mar 7, 2024 12:45
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Yeah. Given how rapacious capitalism in our reality is destroying the environment for short term gains instead of slowing the gently caress down for long term survival, I'd say that squares.
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Mar 9, 2024 21:35
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I started a lets play of DE for my buddies over Zoom. I'm at the controls for moving Harry around and pickup up poo poo, but otherwise I'm letting them make all the decisions be simple consensus. We're having a great time with 5-8 people at any given time being the voices in Harry's head. So far, they are absolutely committed to appearing to be a normal cop, while running around personifying neckties and mailboxes in his rich, imaginative interior life. They refuse to admit to anyone that they are amnesiac or that anything is wrong. They chose two 1's (in intellect and physique  ) and have 6 in psyche and 4 in motorics.Harry is an adept liar but doesn't understand anything regardless. He is a stupid coward and we love him like a son.
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Apr 1, 2024 12:19
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sebmojo posted:You should record an episode if your buds are up for it, it sounds extremely entertaining I don't think I'm going to record it, but it has been fun so far. I can post out-of-context highlights from what the players are saying, like: "Can we finish this game without ever talking to that kid ever again?" "My wife can overhear the stream and is looking pretty mad about how racist this man is." "Kim might be willing to take a bullet for us, but we are willing to take a bullet for our best friend, a necktie."
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Apr 2, 2024 11:54
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 07:10 |
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Here's an update from the LP I'm running with my buddies: 1 Intellect, 6 Psyche, 1 Physique, 4 Motorics We are a Sorry Cop who has (so far) kept sober, although we have decided we might exclusively use psychedelics. We're also leaning into our strengths and utterly neglecting our many, many deficiencies with all of our gear. The only exception to that was to put one point into Endurance after we died kicking a dumpster. Our boy is interested in the paranormal, and we're increasingly playing Harry as a gullible savant. He's got super low intellect so he is bad at discerning information, but he's a whiz at using what he gets, or just intuiting things. I would describe him as an "aspiring psychic detective" in every way that connotes. Speaking of being gullible, we just picked a political path after spending most of day one being pretty apolitical. Our boy is an Ultraliberal. LINE. GO. UP. Diamond hands and all that. I'm pretty excited about this development, as I haven't seen or read the Ultra vision quest stuff.
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Apr 20, 2024 02:24
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