Trails of Cold Steel was great about this because of the journal the protagonist keeps in the game, in a literal notebook that diegetically exists. When I started playing again, all I had to do was look at the journal to have my memory jogged of what happened up to that point and what's going on presently.
Witcher 3 had a little hint of that by giving a short recap on load but it wasn't really enough. Would be cool if narrative focused games had recap movies that you can unlock more parts as you progress (not a big fan of reading since my memory is very visual)
Previously on Witcher 3, Dandelion had sex with the wife on an important figure and is being hunted. Geralt must win a game a Gwent versus the mercenary leader to get information. There's is a familiar scent in the air.
Morrowind fangirl here for duty. I love that games journal system
Lots of games have been doing something like this or similar lately, to the point where Rise of the Ronin basically has an in-game Wiki where you can click highlighted words to jump between entries.
Final Fantasy XVI did an amazing job with their Active Lore... I do like these new features, though I hope that plenty of games still decide to eschew them, as there was something special about oldschool PS1 games and having no fucking idea what is happening or where you're going.
Edit: Rise of the Ronin might have a decent in-game info thing, but I think I was actually thinking of Unicorn Overlord that has the wiki-style thing and it's huge. Either way, it's a good trend imo.
diegetic
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especially : existing or occurring within the world of a narrative rather than as something external to that worldCool thanks :)
yeah i thought it was cool how they literally handed the protagonist the notebook and straight up said "this is how you're going to document your assignments at the academy, also please make sure you summarize other things you learn, and lastly there are reference guides for the magitech tools you'll be using and various combat scenarios already in it as well". it's neat that it's both a menu element and a prop in the world that is interacted with in-character.
i'm glad i knew the word 'diegetic' to describe it :D
I decided to play Fallout New Vegas for the first time in a while. I started it up, realized that my character is in a sewer "looking for the source of the radiation" and I have no idea why, so I closed it again and played a different game instead.
That is one of the more unpolished quests that includes a half hearted trolly problem.
Honestly, it seemed pretty straightforward to me. If you're evil but want a negligible amount of NCR reputation for some reason, kill the vault dwellers. If you're good and don't care about faction standings, help free them.
We're not a bunch of unga bunga cavemen who can't deal with the vault reactor once the survivors are freed. That's just going to be a problem for the future settlers to handle, there is no chance of sudden starvation as long as the NCR supply lines exist and there is a vested interest in securing the dam and helios.
New game who dis?
And then I play for a few days and get to the same spot. And then get distracted and stop playing.
Time is a flat circle.
My issue with Mass Effect Andromeda. "Maybe it isn't as bad as people say and I somewhat remember. Why did I stop anyway?"
Get to the same thing that lost my interest last time "Ah, right."
The funny thing is they set up their goofy little mystery box "collapsed advanced civilization" plot, complete with a quirky Asari researcher, then fucked the actual gameplay into the ground and wondered why no one really cared about the reveals or further mysteries.
You already did this, and now you're making it a chore to get to the story. At least make it a nerdy Krogan or something.
I actually liked the direction the plot was going, because I'm always a sucker for an AI story, but just... Don't do that. You needed another Mordin to get people to care, not a manic pixie dream Asari.
I wonder why I stopped playing
Game starts up right before boss I am severely under prepared for
Ohhhhh
Cries in trying to get back into a 400hr+ Factorio space exploration save
POV: You've got 8 buffs that all expire like less than a minute and before they do you get oneshot by a character that looks like a third-rate mob and serves no storyline purpose but happens to stand between you and the area you want to be in.
And you remember why you stopped here.
ff iv, earthbound, any yakuza game, my last stellaris attempt. im not starting over tho.
I absolutely suffer from restartitis, especially with Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Borderlands, haha
Or basically every game ever if you have ADHD. I'll restart a game up to 3-4 times because it's been a few years/months/weeks/days since I last played it, and as such I have completely forgotten the plot or even how the controls work.
My restartitis is so bad that I can count the number games I've completed on one hand, with multiple fingers missing. One of the reasons why I prefer multiplayer games is cause I don't have to worry about beating them.
Borderlands definitely. I spend an hour looking through weapon inventory trying to remember why some are better than others, or what I like about them. Then I give up and shelve it again.
I usually roll a new character when that happens! Borderlands is fun like that.
This is why I try to just focus on one game at a time, if I fall out of the zone then I just won't remember where I am, what I'm doing, or even how to play the damn game
Renaming desktop shortcuts is a great way to leave yourself game notes if you’re an old like me.
Yeah I've got all kinds of tricks like that. Leaving things on the ground to spell out a reminder, if you can add custom map tags or signs I'll do notes there, sometimes it's having a system like "if I'm pointing at the ground it means I am not in the middle of anything important and I need to choose my next steps"
I might use that last tip, that's clever.
One of my favorite features on the steam deck is the ability to take notes that sync to each game. I've wanted the ability to do that ever since Zero Escape included a notepad for memorizing clues.
I think that's a general steam feature by now, not exclusive to the steam deck!
One great feature of Tales of and Trails games is that they both have a chapter summary of what you did and what you are trying to achieve now.
Sucks when you want to play "that game" but the updates are gonna take another 20 minutes to download and install...by then I've lost my "that game" boner.
And "that game"s save, if the update broke it
This, except instead of a 20 minute update, it's two days of installing mods for the perfect game experience I'll never have.
Done this far too many times.
Playing a Neptunia game, and it has one core mechanic hidden behind a certain control combination press, and no menu tutorials to remind you what it is (controls menu just shows individual buttons). First world problems.
I think I had that when trying to go finish the other routes in Senran Kagura Shinobi Versus, after not playing for 2 years.
Morrowind.
My Morrowind save has long since devolved into designing my own adventures, battles, and objectives. It doesn't matter where I find myself, because I have decades of headcanon to inform my next actions.
See also: when you go back to a multiplayer game after not playing for several months of updates.
6 months? It's been 13 years. Lost Planet on PS3.
Was that the snow planet one?
I beat it and I still don't remember the plot. I didn't know the plot as I was beating it.
Yes. I totally forgot. Something about a son finding his lost father to believe.
Yep, never finished it cause the mechanic of constantly losing heat got tedious
13 years? It’s been 43 years. Planet Fall on Atari 800.
this is me with witcher 3
I just finished an RPG today that I've been playing on and off for a couple years. I know the game very well so I can just figure out where I'm at.
New game + was very grindy.
I'm probably gonna do this for the third time when I next play HL: Alyx.
Built a new rig and decided to go back to it on max settings now that my rig could achieve it, worth the restart imo. And ill fucken do it again.
ROFL, I have a couple cyberpunk2077 and like three BG3 play through I have NO IDEA what I was doing in the last saves :(
It's bullshit that Elden Ring has a savefile/character limit. 😡
Honestly, the only limit to save files should be available hard drive space. Most of the time I get this sense of "wtf was I doing?" Is when I have to load a file to see if I want to delete it for a new character.
I have OCD about how I play games, I never forget what I was doing once I have a chance to see what I have in my inventory and quest screens
building shaders
One of the reasons I never progressed as fas as I wanted in Anno 1800. I never play long enough in the phases where I feel like playing it. When starting the next one I have allready forgotten how I set up all my productions and trade routes, etc. and it's just easier to start a new game.
I didn't realize that was a skill. If I put anything anywhere in a video game I remember where it is, permanently. It took me a few years to translate that into real life.
